Exhibition MAKE SENSE White Arkitekter

“Make Sense”, a title that is both a reference and an imperative for the world of architecture. The exhibition at the Architekturgalerie München explores the work of one of the world's biggest architecture firms, White Arkitekter, a collective of architects, social anthropologists, urban planners, artists, sustainability specialists and researchers.


Sweden-based White Arkitekter, founded in 1951 by Sid White is the largest architecture firm in Scandinavia, numbering about 1000 associates and 16 branches in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and UK. It is also one of the 50 biggest architecture firms in the world, as well as being at the centre of the exhibition. The practice has been committed to sustainable design for many years, to improve society through architecture, and indeed the exhibition running until 19 May 2017 at the Architekturgalerie München is about the architecture of being human. 
The modus operandi of White Arkitekter involves a whole range of professionals in addition to the architects themselves, including anthropologists, artists, sustainability specialists, researchers and urban planners, all driven by the desire to do something that makes sense, something that goes beyond just the built space and leaves a mark that is not simply a architectural icon.
So the director of Munich-based architecture gallery, Nicola Borgmann is presenting a selection of works by White Arkitekter with a totally democratic set-up: small square tables that contain images and information about the different projects exhibited, irrespective of their actual size. 
In this case, there is also a strong contrast between the white walls, referencing the name of the firm, and the many, brightly coloured details that encourage visitors to find out more about the architecture by White Arkitekter. Emotional architecture that is also a challenge for the actual designers, and makes it possible to open up the discipline thanks to their search for architecture that “makes sense”.

Christiane Bürklein

Exhibition MAKE SENSE – White Arkitekter
6 April - 19 May 2017
curated by Nicola Borgmann
Architekturgalerie München, Germany
Images of the projects - courtesy of White Arkitekter; images of the exhibition: Saskia Wehler (Instagram: @alpenlust to find out more about her Husky Malamute)