Junya Ishigami: Air as Architecture at The Barbican, London

Currently the Barbican is exhibiting Junya Ishigami’s first UK installation, an architect working within the realms of art and architecture, toying with the perceptions of minimalism with an intriguing use of materials and scale. The installation was stunning. The unique space of The Curve houses a fragile structure appearing to be held together and supported by air, Ishigami describes it as ‘melting endlessly into space’ and it certainly does. The room is pure white, the structure and space at one, allowing only groups of up to five at a time to view the work (you also had to remove footwear.) It felt more intimate between the visitor and the structure viewing in small groups. It is highly difficult to see and you do really have to look hard. Why? Because what I found astounding was the scale of the structure, that of rain droplets measuring 1mm and cloud droplets measuring 0.01mm – it is bewildering to comprehend on that scale! The fragile atmosphere in The Curve is beautiful and tranquil and if I focused intently I caught glimpses of some of the 2,756 transparent threads of 'clouds' supporting the beams.

An artist statement accompanies the exhibition exploring Ishigami’s thoughts and concepts that fuel his desire to investigate and eliminate the walls between the internal and external, architecture and landscape, man and nature. But I won’t spoil it for you. The read is brilliant and thought provoking, I urge you, it is surely not one to miss. Unfortunately photography is prohibited so I haven’t got images for you, although if it is difficult to view in person I can imagine that photography would be futile. The images below are of Ishigami's previous works.

The exhibition continues until the 16th October 2011 at The Curve, Barbican.

Model research of the ultimate transparency, the boundary line between existence and non-existence. Images © design boom

'Balloon' (2007) at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo images courtesy Junya Ishigami + Associates. Images © designboom

Junya Ishigami's Japanese Pavilion at the 2008 International Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy. Images © designboom