Exhibition: ‘PoroCity – Enabling Structures’ at Kalakendra Dhaka

‘PoroCity’ is a site-specific spatial intervention by the Swiss architecture studio Graber & Steiger at Kalakendra Art Space, Dhaka. The installation in the gallery and the adjacent urban space gives the opportunity to explore the notion of ‘enabling structures’ in different architectural and urban scales.  The installation aims to trigger a dialogue about architectonical structures that may be the actual DNA of welcoming places which unfold a porous setting for vivid social interaction and future oriented transformations.  The exhibition provides a glimpse into architectonical works, which are characterized by permeable spatial structures that invite for a free appropriation by the users. The scenographic setting of the installation is embedded in a circular concept for the reuse of the modular exhibition structure in the everyday life of Dhaka’s micro-urbanism. Besides the visitors of the exhibition, we invite city dwellers to participate in the project in a long term.

After their studies at ETH Zurich and GSAPP/Columbia University New York, Niklaus Graber and Christoph Steiger founded their Lucerne based architectural studio in 1995. In 2020, Architect Roland Stutz joined the Executive Board of the firm. The work of Graber & Steiger to date includes public and institutional buildings as well as private houses. By winning various competitions, the team could accomplish among others the Panorama Gallery on Mount Pilatus, the Window Factory in Hagendorn and the Art Space Extension to the Panorama in Thun.

Graber & Steiger’s work has been awarded, exhibited and published internationally. Among others, Graber & Steiger were participating at the Swiss contribution to the 7th International Architecture Biennale Sao Paulo in 2007.  Between 2008 and 2015 Niklaus Graber & Christoph Steiger were teaching in the BA and the MA of architecture courses at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Since 2012 Graber & Steiger maintains a steady exchange with the architecture and culture scene in Bangladesh. Since 2016 they have been visiting faculty members of the Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements in Dhaka/Bangladesh. Niklaus Graber acted as the leading curator of the exhibition “Bengal Stream – The Vibrant Architecture Scene of Bangladesh” which was shown at the Swiss Architecture Museum Basel, at the Centre Arc en Rêve, Bordeaux, at the German Architecture Museum DAM and at Bengal Gallery, Dhaka between 2027 and 2023. In May 2023 the exhibition ‘PoroCity’ – Enabling Structures by Graber & Steiger Architects is on display at the Kalakendra Art Space in Dhaka.

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