Building Community: British Council, Delhi, India, 2013

A solo-exhibition highlighting focusing on recent and upcoming projects, as well as theapproach and method of socially engaged practice in architecture.

“Building Community” was an exhibition exploring an approach to socially engagedarchitecture, emphasizing the processes behind recent and upcoming projects, rather than justthe final outcomes. Featuring rough sketches, material samples, structural tests, and on-sitefootage, the exhibition conveyed the reality of working hands-on with local communities anddesigning intuitively in response to changing conditions.In preparation for the exhibition, theteam led an AA Visiting School program with nine international participants over ten days.Together, they designed and built a series of material tests and full-scale (1:1) mock-ups foran upcoming project in Uttar Pradesh, displayed live in the gallery as part of the exhibition.This public, on-site process reflected a practice fully embedded within the community. Theexhibition also provided an opportunity to test construction techniques typical to Hariharpurand toinvite members of that community to Delhi. This facilitated discussions and reflectionson the upcoming collaboration that commenced a month after the exhibition concluded. 

Team: Alexander ErikssonFurunes, Clem Blakemore & Ivar TutturenPartner: AA school of Architecture & British Council.