1to1 Architects Build Small Spaces at the V & A

Entry: Free

I like to bring other people to the free exhibitions, partly because I just like company, but partly because I like to hear the other person's reaction. I don't bring people to the paying exhibitions because it seems unfair to ask others to pay so I can do my homework. I had two people join me for the 1:1 exhibition at the V&A, and not only was this exhibition the most fun to attend I think it's definitely one that's best visited with other people.

Ratatosk by Helen & Hard Architects

The V&A are apparently concerned about architecture exhibitions, specifically that “their emphasis on drawings, models and photographs, sometimes deny their audience an engagement with actual buildings”.* Some people might point out that this is because buildings are usually too big to exhibit, but the V&A went ahead and asked nineteen architects to present concepts for “structures that examine notions of refuge and retreat”.They then displayed all nineteen proposals in the Architecture gallery. Oh, and they picked seven to build in the V&A.

Ark by Rintala Eggertsson Architects

That's right. Within the V&A museum are seven smaller buildings, all of which are open to the public, though you may have to queue to get into them when the museum's busy. Each structure has a video playing next to it in which the architects talk about its design and construction, but these really take a back seat to physically exploring the structures themselves. And these structures really do need to be explored. You want to get inside them, to touch them, to climb up them or through them. It always seems like a missed opportunity to me when I go to textiles exhibitions only to find “do not touch” signs up. While I understand that this helps preserve the artworks I think that it doesn't allow the artist to fully exploit the media that they use. Surely an artist working with any sort of textiles is drawn as much to their tactility as to their appearance, so why wouldn't you want to incorporate that tactility into your audience's experience?

Beetle's House by Terunobu Fujimori

This has gone off topic a little, (in to one of my favourite areas – textile art, not just as something to look at, but as something to touch, to wear, to engage with as the audience engages with textiles in their everyday lives), so getting back to practicalities I should point out that one of the structures is only accessible by a ladder, while there are two others that have stairs inside. The seven buildings are also spread throughout the V&A, so there's a fair amount of walking if you want to see them all. If you're prepared for that though it's loads of fun – one of the people who accompanied me described it as a treasure hunt afterwards, which is pretty accurate. A treasure hunt through the V&A with seven fantastical houses to find!

Inside/Outside Tree by Sou Fujimoto

(I've just looked over the exhibition list and I've been to five of the eleven exhibitions now. I've missed two - the Henry Moore exhibition at Tate Britain and the Textiles Advanced Workshop show at the Morley College Gallery – so there's just four left. Unfortunately, I'm pretty busy over the next few weeks so I'm not sure I'll have time to get to any of them before the course starts, which means I may end up missing two more – Maison Martin Margiela at Somerset House and Sustainable Futures at the Design Museum.)

*All quotes come from the free exhibition guide to 1:1. This exhibition guide includes a map of the V&A showing the location of all the structures.