Same old, same old

About

For four months this year, the artist, Blue Firth, is transforming the Architecture Space in an exploration of the ways architecture informs and distorts our understanding of space, myth and history. Through the manipulation of materials and textures, the interaction of digital distortions and a hidden audio track, Firth poses intriguing questions for visitors entering the space, challenging preconceptions about architecture and how we respond to it.

Adjacent to the RA restaurant, the Architecture Space was formed in 1868 by the Royal Academy's erection of the Main Galleries 4.25 metres north of old Burlington House. For more than a century, this 'hinterland' was exposed to the elements and became home to a series of temporary structures. In 1991, it was cleared out by Foster + Partners and turned into circulation space for The Sackler Wing of Galleries, thus also creating the sloping area now known as the Architecture Space. More than 20 years later, Firth's site-specific work will show the Architecture Space in a new light, offering a multi-sensory experience of a space heavy with history.