Starting this weekend, New York’s Museum of Modern Art will feature twenty international projects by architects and artists including drawings, photographs, videos, large-scale models and a room-sized installation in a survey of the involved relationship between architecture and space. Running July 4 through October 19, the Conceptions of Space exhibition demonstrates the enduring significance of spatial creation to the work of contemporary architects. In an exploration beyond architectural formalities and functionality, the exhibition displays how the conception and articulation of architectural space continue to define architecture as an artistic pursuit and a response to wider cultural issues.

Spatial conceptions in the display range from ‘assemblage’ and ‘envelope’ space, to ‘fictional’ and ‘performative’ space. With a focus on recent acquisitions in MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design, Conceptions of Space showcases acclaimed architects such as Herzog & de Meuron, Álvaro Siza, and Kengo Kuma, as well as the emergent practices of Pezo von Ellrichshausen, Chile; Ryue Nishizawa, Japan; Ensamble Studio, Spain; and the New York-based SO-IL and MOS Architects in a global panorama of contemporary architecture.

The exhibit is located in The Robert Menschel Architecture and Design Gallery on the third floor and organized by Pedro Gadanho, Curator, with Phoebe Springstubb, Curatorial Assistant, of the MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design.

Feature image via: Iwan Baan (Dutch, born 1975). Herzog & de Meuron’s National Stadium, Beijing. 2008. Digital C-print, 36 x 54″ (91.4 x 137.2 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the artist. Photograph © Iwan Baan