Join us to celebrate the launch of Come Deck the Halls!, the third in a series of Christmas exhibitions organised by Alison Smithson, but never staged during her lifetime.
Alison and Peter Smithson had a strong interest not only in buildings, but also in the life unfolding within and around buildings. In their vision, the ‘signs of occupancy’ within a building not only give meaning to architectural spaces, but can also be regarded as an art form in itself: the art of inhabitation.
Christmas is a time of year when such signs of occupancy become obvious, as people re-arrange their living spaces to accommodate decorations. This is what fascinated the architectural duo. Come Deck the Halls! sheds light on their thinking, through the lens of Alison’s Christmas cards, spanning 1956 to 1992.
The exhibition is curated by architect and architectural teacher Ana Ábalos Ramos, whose doctoral thesis “A&P Smithson: The Transient and the Permanent” and subsequent scholarly output, encompassing articles, books, and exhibition curation, explores the contemporary relevance of Alison and Peter Smithson's legacy, with particular focus on their approach to processes of spatial appropriation in domestic and urban environments.
This exhibition has been made possible thanks to the support of the Smithson Family Collection.