Past Exhibitions

Same old, same old: A multi-sensory installation by Blue Firth
2 February—26 May 2013

For four months in early 2013, the artist, Blue Firth, transformed the Architecture Space in an exploration of the ways architecture informs and distorts our understanding of space, myth and histor Read more

Eros to the Ritz: 100 Years of Street Architecture
22 September 2012—27 January 2013

This exhibition takes Piccadilly as its focus to explore how architects manipulate proportion, shadow, composition, ornament and representation to create memorable and compelling street architecture. Read more

The Weird, the Wacky and the Wonderful
22 June—16 September 2012

This exhibition brings together an array of refreshing, entertaining, playful and in some cases intentionally provocative, examples of ‘quirkitecture’, which challenge architectural norms and stimulate the imagination. Read more

Nicholas Hawksmoor: Architecture of the Imagination
4 February—17 June 2012

An exhibition exploring how the striking buildings of the great English Baroque architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, such as Christ Church, Spitalfields and St George, Bloomsbury, have sparked the imaginations of generations of architects, artists and writers. Read more

Re-creating Tatlin's Tower
23 September 2011—29 January 2012

Coinciding with Building the Revolution , this exhibition explores the conception, vision and symbolism of Vladimir Tatlin’s unrealised monument to the Third International and reveals the intriguing process led by Jeremy Dixon to recreate a special scaled model of the tower in the Annenberg Courtyard at the Royal Academy. Read more

Morphosis
17 June—18 September 2011

To coincide with the 2011 Annual Architecture Lecture given by Thom Mayne an exhibition of recent works by Morphosis will be on display. A selection of photographs and drawings of the Giant Interactive Group Corporate Headquarters, Shanghai and the Phare Tower, La Defence, France will be on display alongside a new 3-D artwork by Thom Mayne exhibited for the first time. Read more

Constructed Landscapes
18 March—12 June 2011

This exhibition explores the ways that artists and architects can reframe our perceptions of, and relationship to, landscape. Featuring the Rolex Centre in Lausanne designed by Japanese architectural practice SANAA and works by artists Jane and Louise Wilson and Suzanne Moxhay. Read more

Will Alsop RA: En Route — Proper Behaviour in the Park
13 January—13 March 2011

With Grange Park, Toronto as a case study and focusing on behaviour in public space, Will Alsop works alongside students from the Ontario College of Art & Design, to create an installation developing ideas that uncover new clues as to how to provide for the users of shared places. Read more

The Brandhorst Museum by Sauerbruch Hutton
25 June—7 November 2010

Berlin-based Sauerbruch Hutton are acutely aware of the importance of colour and its ability to delight. This exhibition illustrates the practice’s newest building, the Museum for the Brandhorst Collection in Munich. Read more

Relics of old London: Photography and the spirit of the city
10 February—22 June 2010

This exhibition presents a selection of photographs from the 1870s and 1880s commissioned by the Society for the Photographing of Relics of Old London which sought to document buildings that represented old London threatened with destruction. Read more

Anish Kapoor and Leonard St, New York
30 October 2009—7 February 2010

Anish Kapoor's collaboration with Herzog and de Meuron redefines urban sculpture on the corner of 56 Leonard Street, New York City. This exhibition looks at the process by which this work has come about. Read more

Paper City: Urban Utopias
31 July—27 October 2009

Paper City: Urban Utopias showcases a selection of extraordinary drawings, collages and photomontages that have been produced for Blueprint as part of their back-page ‘Paper City’ commissions over the past three years. Read more

Snøhetta – Works
2 June—28 July 2009

Accompanying the 2009 Annual Architecture Lecture given by Norwegian architectural practice Snøhetta, this display showcases their recently completed new National Opera & Ballet House in Oslo which won the 2009 Mies van der Rohe award. Read more

Andrea Palladio: Through the eyes of contemporary architects
27 January—28 April 2009

Palladio’s enduring presence has shaped our experience of architecture and permeated its practice since the sixteenth century. This exhibition establishes a dialogue between the Renaissance master and contemporary practitioners from different generations who are shaping the future of architecture today. Read more

David Chipperfield Architects: Two Projects
7 November 2008—11 January 2009

This exhibition sees David Chipperfield Architects present two current UK projects: the Hepworth Wakefield in West Yorkshire, due to open at the end of 2009; and the Turner Contemporary in Margate, due to open in Autumn 2010. Read more

Diverse Minds: Photographic Portraits from the Architecture Programme
15 August 2008—9 January 2009

A new exhibition of original black and white photographic portraits by Alexander McIntyre depicting a selection of the contributors to the Royal Academy’s Architecture Programme from 2004-2008. Read more

Kengo Kuma: Nature and Architecture
6 June—12 August 2008

Kengo Kuma, the celebrated Japanese architect who is the Royal Academy’s Annual Architecture Lecturer for 2008, selected seven buildings for his display Nature and Architecture. Read more

The Architects Who Made London
15 February—4 June 2008

Against a backdrop of contextual photographs of London by Richard Bryant, this display looks at six architects from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century who have had a significant impact on the London we see today. Drawings, plans and photographs of their major London buildings, illustrate the impact of architects including Norman Shaw, Lutyens and Lubetkin on the capital. Read more

Eric Parry RA: Working Spaces
8 November 2007—13 February 2008

Working Spaces presents four buildings designed by Eric Parry. Two are office buildings in the City of London, one an art gallery (for Tim Taylor) and the last is a music centre for Bedford School. Read more

Marking 30 Years: Architecture in 1977 by Royal Academicians
16 August—6 November 2007

In 1977 the Friends of the Royal Academy was founded by the then President, architect Sir Hugh Casson. The year was significant for his fellow architect Academicians and those who were to be elected in the future. This display surveys projects done in and around 1977, some refining the modernist tradition and others looking beyond it. Read more

Architecture in the RA: Diller, Scofidio + Renfro
8 June—14 August 2007

Large images of projects by the New York-based interdisciplinary studio Diller, Scofidio + Renfro are on display in conjunction with the 2007 Annual Architecture Lecture, delivered by Elizabeth Diller. Read more

Agents for Human Interaction
13 April—6 June 2007

This display shows short-listed entries for the competition held with World Architecture News, calling for ‘agents for human interchange’ that makes propositions about how to strengthen and facilitate interaction between individuals.
Read more

Architecture on the Ramp: Peter Cook RA Drawing on Inspiration
2 February—11 April 2007

Focusing on the creative and inventive significance of drawing for architecture, Peter Cook curates a display that highlights the work of key contemporary and historic figures whose drawn work has effected the course of architectural thinking. Read more

• Royal Academy of Arts