Architectural Institute of Japan Explores Unstable Records in 'The Lives of Ephemeral Form'
The Architectural Institute of Japan has introduced 'The Lives of Ephemeral Form,' an exhibition that explores the ways architecture endures, evolves, and fades through its documentation, particularly when those records are unstable. This event marks the initial phase of a two-year initiative focused on documentation, coinciding with the institute's 140th anniversary. It features a variety of components, including installations, archival research, photography, screenings, discussions, guided tours, and public work in the gallery. Launched on September 25, 2026, during Architecture Culture Week 2026, the exhibition's primary visual was crafted by Book Shop Boys. While architecture is typically linked to permanence, this project highlights the reliance of buildings on fluctuating factors such as economic conditions and evolving technologies.
Key facts
- The exhibition is titled 'The Lives of Ephemeral Form.'
- It is part of the Architectural Institute of Japan's 140th anniversary program.
- The show is the first phase of a two-year project devoted to the act of documentation.
- It opened on September 25, 2026, during Architecture Culture Week 2026.
- The main visual was designed by Book Shop Boys.
- The exhibition includes installations, archival research, photography, moving images, screenings, talks, guided programs, and public gallery work.
- It examines how architecture persists, changes, and disappears through its records, and what happens when those records are unstable.
- The project notes that film and videotape deteriorate, playback technologies become obsolete, and photographs, drawings, models, and documents are dispersed, reproduced, restored, digitized, reclassified, or forgotten.
Entities
Institutions
- Architectural Institute of Japan
- Book Shop Boys
Locations
- Japan