The Institute of Contemporary Art Receives $200,000 Grant from Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative to continue Architecture + Design exhibition series with two major projects by Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos (UN Studio, Amsterdam) and Peter Eisenman and Laurie Olin

May 23, 2005

PHILADELPHIA, PA - The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) is pleased to announce that the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative (PEI), a grant program funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, has awarded ICA $200,000 over two years for two upcoming exhibitions which showcase developments in architecture and design. In Winter 2006 (January 20 - April 2, 2006), Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos (UN Studio, Amsterdam) will conceptualize the sensibility of the "holiday home" in a site-specific installation in ICA's second-floor gallery. In Fall 2006 (September 10 - December 15, 2006), Peter Eisenman (Eisenman Architects) and Laurie Olin (The Olin Partnership) will create a landscape installation presenting key physical and perceptual elements of the pair's unbuilt environments.

UN Studio: The Holiday Home Based in Amsterdam, van Berkel and Bos have realized several internationally acclaimed projects, including the Erasmus Bridge (Rotterdam, 1990-96), the widely publicized Möbius House (Het Gooi, 1993-98), and the Mercedes Benz Museum (Stüttgart, 2002-06). Their work was also featured in the International Architecture Exhibition of the 2004 Venice Biennale. Lately van Berkel and Bos have been pondering the nature of the vacation home (or "holiday home," as they prefer to call it) as an "anti-contemporary, no-design haven" based on a fundamental fantasy of refuge and authenticity. But in its characteristic views and spaces-like patios and terraces-the holiday home falsifies a relationship to the ground. For ICA, they will create a new installation based on an exploded view of the archetypal house, with six auxiliary spaces twisting around a central volumetric structure. With projections, sound, visuals and tactile objects, UN Studio will embody and theorize the differences between the design conventions of the contemporary home and the alternative attractions of the holiday home.

The Eisenman + Olin Projects Over the past 24 years architect and theorist Peter Eisenman (Eisenman Architects) and landscape architect and educator Laurie Olin (The Olin Partnership) have collaborated on more than 20 design projects. Due to their speculative and unorthodox approach, however, few of these projects have been realized as built works. Three outstanding exceptions are the Wexner Center for the Arts, completed 1989; the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin, recently completed; and the Cultural City for Galicia, Spain, currently under construction. Built or unbuilt, the Eisenman/Olin collaborations represent a considerable body of work, exploring the aspects and possibilities inherent in the interaction of site and structure, of architecture and landscape. At ICA, a commissioned landscape installation will present key physical and perceptual elements of the pair's unbuilt environments. Their working concept includes a simulated forest at the point of entry , twining pathways, and rising and falling spaces opening in several directions at once.

Both exhibitions are organized by ICA's Director Claudia Gould with the assistance of ICA's curatorial department.

UN Studio: The Holiday Home and The Eisenman + Olin Projects continue ICA's Architecture + Design exhibition series, launched in 1999 to provide a laboratory for artists and designers to realize their ideas in a visual arts and academic environment. Architecture and design have been well-represented in our 40-year history, including ICA-organized projects by Hella Jongerius and JÜrgen Bey; Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture (Asymptote Architecture) with Karim Rashid (stratascape, 2001-02); and architect and theorist Greg Lynn (Intricacy, 2002-03). Architecture and design shows at ICA organized by other institutions include the work of Rudi Gernreich (2001) housed in a Coop Himmelb(l)au installation, KieranTimberlake (2004), and Ant Farm (2004).

The Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, and administered by The University of The Arts, was established to stimulate artistic development in the regional visual arts community by supporting public, visual arts exhibitions and accompanying publications of high artistic caliber and cultural significance.

The Pew Charitable Trusts (www.pewtrusts.org) serves the public interest by providing information, advancing policy solutions and supporting civic life. Based in Philadelphia, with an office in Washington, D.C., the Trusts will invest $177 million in fiscal year 2005 to provide organizations and citizens with fact-based research and practical solutions for challenging issues.

ICA is located at 118 South 36th Street at the University of Pennsylvania. ICA is open to the public, except during installation, from 12:00pm to 8:00pm on Wednesday through Friday and from 11:00am to 5:00pm on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $6 for adults; $3 for students over 12, artists, and senior citizens; and free to ICA members, children 12 and under, PENN card holders, and on Sundays from 11:00am to 1:00pm. For more information, call 215-898-7108/5911, or visit www.icaphila.org.

Institute of Contemporary Art
Founded in 1963, the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania is a leader in the presentation and documentation of contemporary art. Through exhibitions, commissions, educational programs, and publications, ICA invites the public to share in the experience, interpretation and understanding of the work of established and emerging artists.

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