The exhibition 'The Lives of Ephemeral Form' proposes an analysis of how architecture is maintained, altered, and disappears through its records, as well as what happens when these same records exhibit instability.
This event was created as part of the Japan Institute of Architecture's 140th anniversary program and constitutes the first phase of a two-year project focused on the documentation process. The show integrates various presentations, including installations, archival studies, photography, moving images, exhibitions, lectures, guided tours, and works publicly displayed in the gallery.
Although architecture is commonly associated with the idea of permanence, buildings are subject to volatile factors. Such factors include changes in economic conditions, technological advancements, constantly evolving usage patterns, material availability, and subtle influences that modify urban environments.
The methods used to record architecture are also not immune to risks. Films and video tapes suffer deterioration; reproduction technologies become obsolete; while photographs, sketches, models, and documents can be scattered, reproduced, restored, digitized, reclassified, or simply neglected.