Skin as Shelter
The House of Lucie – Center for Photography in Athens proudly presents Skin as Shelter, a photography exhibition curated by the New York-based Thalia Vrachopoulos.
“Skin as Shelter relates the concept of human skin to develop its innate relationship with architecture. Visual artists Nikos Giavropoulos, Artemis Alcalay @artemisalcalay, Domniki Mitropoulou @domniki_mitropoulou, Frank Gimpaya @frank.gimpaya, Cyriaco Lopes @cyriacolopes, Lilia Ziamou @liliaziamou, Alexander Zafeiridis @alex.zaf.alex, George Kanis @georgekanis, Eva
Petric and Maria Bourbou examine the idea of skin as an architectural sanctum, in order to visually compose geometrical or irregular, complex structures of organic modulation and biomorphic patterns, that exceed the function of animal skin or the human skin.
Architecture extends the organic and psychological qualities of the human skin. Heat regulation or vital protection against external environments are all functions proper, both of architecture and human skin, as the organ of skin essentially constitutes a physical barrier or shelter against the immanent dangers of the outside world, just as architectural works.
In the history of art the metaphorical concept of architecture as skin has evolved alongside material and technological advancements. Modernists like Adolf Loos and Gottfried Semper’s theory of cladding and innovative systems like double-skin facades, photovoltaic panels, and kinetic cladding exemplify how buildings can regulate heat, light, and air, in the same way as skin does for the human organism. Moreover, such architects as Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier emphasized transparency and fluidity, aligning with the functionalist notion of form following function that led to a post-modernist architecture, digital fabrication and smart materials that enable adaptive facades -surfaces capable of responding dynamically to environmental changes, just like human skin.” Thalia Vrachopoulos