Economy of Means suggests the challenge of using one means for multiple ends, investigating what makes this approach both a trademark and a precondition for rational architecture. It is a truth universally acknowledged that resources of all types must be managed with greater consciousness and care, a state of affairs that the 21st century has made even more urgent. By reducing the material, economic and conceptual means they resort to in their projects, architects explore the limits and definition of architecture itself. Within their discipline, this might entail a particular material, space, form or process.
The exhibition, curated by Éric Lapierre, proposes a typology of the ways in which the economy of means has been used until now, and questions the various ways in which it could be explored currently. Drawing on contemporary and historical examples, this multisensory exhibition explores the innovative ways in which authors are guided towards more responsible, ethical, sustainable and ultimately more beautiful solutions to local and global challenges. This exhibition is part of the 5th edition of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, entitled “The Poetics of Reason”.
