#thenewnormal: MVRDV Presents Architecture in the Age of Instagram

In a stirring response to the rabble-rousers of architectural criticism earlier this year, Marc Kushner made a statement about architecture and social media that continues to gain in relevance as 2015 rolls on: “Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are fomenting the biggest revolution in architecture since the invention of steel, concrete, and the elevator.”

Events unfolding at this week’s Łódź Design Festival only serves to strengthen that argument: the design mavericks of MVRDV have curated an exhibition of their completed works made up entirely of Instagram photos shot by the public. The Dutch firm’s globally crowdsourced album includes images of projects at every scale and in every location imaginable, from the iconic Balancing Barn in Thorington in the United Kingdom to the playful façade of the Glass Farm in Schijndel, the Netherlands.

The collection of images reveals a fascinating shift in the way in which we consume architecture: everyone with a smartphone now has the power to select their favorite view, edit and crop each image, and add ambient filters to present the built environment in any way they choose. Furthermore, the potential for architectural design to “go viral” is higher than ever, as Architizer’s increasingly active Instagram feed attests.

MVRDV’s Instagram exhibition accompanies a model of the firm’s latest project in Poland, the mixed-use Bałtyk tower. Firm cofounder Nathalie de Vries is giving a lecture on “Socially Sustainable Architecture,” a key driver behind the firm’s work. Check out more images of MVRDV projects over on the firm’s Instagram feed and more on their extensive firm profile.