Architecture doesn’t need words; it stands on its own. So when I saw the title of the current architecture show at MoMA posted outside the gallery, 9 + 1 Ways of Being Political: 50 Years of Political Stances in Architecture and Urban Design, I wanted to turn around and leave. It sounded more like a PhD dissertation than a show, and promised little delight.
The exhibit, culled from artifacts in the musem's permanent collection, is text heavy, like an exploded book. Most of what’s on display describes speculative constructions and consists of drawings, collages, posters and pamphlets. But those things on display – those actual, tactile, three-dimensional objects – are enchanting. There’s a facade panel from the Ricola headquarters by Herzog & de Meuron, printed with the image of a single wildflower, that magically fuses elegance with kitsch. And there are models that bring projects to life in a way that renderings and photographs simply cannot. Foremost among these is a foot-high, laser-cut, clear acrylic massing model for a proposal to rebuild the World Trade Center by United Architects. It’s a group of narrow towers, in staggered heights, that are becoming gently tangled up in one another. Someone I know, a poet, says that the Twin Towers were lovers. This model makes this notion that buildings harbor desire perfectly real.