Warburg Models, AA London
Warburg Models: The Architecture of the Itinerant Archive opened at the Architectural Association on 18th January 2024. Here the Warburg models moved from the powerful elliptical space that had characterized the heart of the Warburg Institute’s 1920s home in Hamburg into the linear space of the Architectural Association gallery, a room not dissimilar in its proportions to that of the Institute’s first research space in Thames House in London. Aspects of the Hamburg display moved with the models, and the gallery in London presented hyper-detailed portraits of the display panels used in the elliptical space of the Warburg-Haus presented the archive material and architectural drawings on which the Warburg Models project was based. In London the Warburg Models were set in the context of an equally stunning exhibit on the history of the AA’s own lantern-slide collection, assembled during the 1890s. Bespoke furniture commissioned for the exhibition in London, and inspired by the designs developed for the Warburg Models exhibition at Blaker (2021), presented facsimile material for both exhibitions.
