Musings on a Glass Box by Diller Scofidio + Renfro

To commemorate its 30th anniversary, the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain presents a exceptional project.

View of the Mussings on a Glass Box exhibition, Diller Scofidio+Renfro in collaboration with David Lang and Jody Elff, 2014. Photograh © Luc Boegly. Image courtesy of Fondation Cartier.

Musings on a Glass Box, a new installation created especially for the occasion by the internationally acclaimed interdisciplinary design studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

The Fondation Cartier building designed by Jean Nouvel will be used as raw material for their work, a first in the history of the institution. Musings on a Glass Box is a complex work occupying the entire ground floor of the Fondation Cartier, where a disturbance in the ceiling will trigger a surprising reaction. The result is an immersive environment, including an integral acoustic component by American composer David Lang and sound designer Jody Elff, that works with the building’s architecture to raise questions about transparency, perception, and one’s relation to space.

Musings on a Glass Box

«Jean Nouvel’s distinctive glass exhibition spaces in the Fondation Cartier have been a provocation to artists and curators for two decades, upending the conventions of the white box gallery and pushing the limits of architecture. The large, transparent walls of the building were at the forefront of glass technology in the ‘90s, aspiring to one of Modernism’s highest goals: to dematerialize the wall and seamlessly connect interior to exterior.

Musings on a Glass Box empties the ground floor galleries in order to put them on display. Their visual and acoustic qualities are heightened through a few strategically placed interventions in the building’s plumbing, electrical, and facade systems. Using a cliché of time lapsed and the appearance of neglect, the project begins with a single, mischievous leak from the ceiling. A response ensues with the aid of a bucket, a chorus, sensors, robotics, remote communications, video, and real-time sound processing. The two ground floor galleries interconnect in a feedback loop. Small gestures in the large gallery are amplified in the smaller one, making the familiar seem uncanny and turning the banal into the grotesque.»

Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Elizabeth Diller, Matthew Johnson, Ricardo Scofidio, Trevor Lamphier, David Lang in the Mussings on a Glass Box exhibition, 2014.

A History of Innovation

The Fondation Cartier has collaborated with Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio for over 20 years. For Elizabeth Diller, this dialogue has been of great importance for their work: “The Fondation Cartier was a very adventurous place to exhibit… [It] pushed lots of creative people from different disciplines to act outside of their norms.” Beginning in 1992, the duo participated in the exhibition Machines d’architecture, along with Daniel Liebeskind and ten other international architects. Their sophisticated installation, entitled Para-site, echoed the exhibition’s objective of expanding common perceptions of architecture to include the awareness of one’s physical relation to his or her surroundings. For the 1999 exhibition Un monde réel, the team designed Master/Slave, which explored the relationship between reality, fantasy, and science fiction. The installation displayed an assembly line of robots from the collection of Rolf Fehlbaum, Chairman Emeritus of Vitra. Advancing through an X-ray machine on a conveyor belt, the robots were housed in a huge glass case, which was intentionally reminiscent of the Fondation Cartier building itself and an early precedent for its incorporation in their recent work, Musings on a Glass Box. Reflecting Diller and Scofidio’s ongoing preoccupation with surveillance and technology, Master/Slave became the centerpiece of their 2003 retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Diller+Scofidio's Master/Slave, 1999. Mixed media installation with toy robots from the collection of Rolf Fehlbaum, installation view, Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, Paris.

The installation Exit, based upon an idea by the philosopher and urbanist Paul Virilio and created in collaboration with Mark Hansen, Laura Kurgan and Ben Rubin, formed an important part of the 2008 exhibition Native Land, Stop Eject. Within an immersive circular space, a visual representation of a database of information was presented in the form of animated maps illustrating recent global human migration and its causes. This cutting edge work epitomizes Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s unique ability to fuse research, technology and design to produce aesthetic works of art. Exit was shown again as part of the Fondation Cartier’s Vivid Memories exhibition in 2014.

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Mussings on a Glass Box exhibition, Diller Scofidio+Renfro in collaboration with David Lang and Jody Elff, 2014. Photograh © Luc Boegly. Image courtesy of Fondation Cartier.

A study of the trio's new exhibition 'Musings on a Glass Box' at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain. Courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Photograph by Trevor Lamphier/Diller Scofidio+Renfro.

The screen presents a wavy, watery view of the Jean Nouvel building's ceiling. Courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Mussings on a Glass Box exhibition, Diller Scofidio+Renfro in collaboration with David Lang and Jody Elff, 2014. Photograh by Luc Boegly.

Repeat Cartier Fondation collaborators Charles Renfro, Ricardo Scofidio and Elizabeth Diller of architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Photography by Cedric Bihr.

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More information

Label

Exhibition

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Musings on a Glass Box.

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Architects

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Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

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Project team

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David Lang and Jody Elff.
Project Leader: Matthew Johnson assisted by Trevor Lamphier and Patrice Gardera.

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Collaborators

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Engineering: Perfection Electricks.

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Dates

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From October 25, 2014 to February 22, 2015.

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Location / Venue Localización / Lugar

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261, Boulevard Raspail - 75014 Paris. France.

Stations Raspail / Denfert-Rochereau. Métros 4 et 6 / RER B-Bus 38 et 68.

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Photography

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Luc Boegly, Cedric Bihr.

Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Scofidio, Charles Renfro and Benjamin Gilmartin. Diller Scofidio + Renfro Studio

Diller Scofidio + Renfro Studio. Founded in 1981, Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) is a design studio whose practice spans the fields of architecture, urban design, installation art, multi-media performance, digital media, and print. With a focus on cultural and civic projects, DS+R’s work addresses the changing role of institutions and the future of cities. The studio is based in New York and is comprised of over 100 architects, designers, artists and researchers, led by four partners--Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Scofidio, Charles Renfro and Benjamin Gilmartin.

DS+R completed two of the largest architecture and planning initiatives in New York City’s recent history: the adaptive reuse of an obsolete, industrial rail infrastructure into the High Line, a 1.5 mile-long public park, and the transformation of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ half-century-old campus. The studio is currently engaged in two more projects significant to New York, scheduled to open in 2019: The Shed, the first multi-arts center designed to commission, produce, and present all types of performing arts, visual arts, and popular culture, and the renovation and expansion of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Most recently, the studio was also selected to design: Adelaide Contemporary, a new gallery and public sculpture park in South Australia; the Centre for Music, which will be a permanent home for the London Symphony Orchestra; and a new collection and research centre for the V&A in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Recent projects include the 35-acre Zaryadye Park adjacent to the Kremlin in Moscow; the Museum of Image & Sound on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro; The Broad, a contemporary art museum in Los Angeles; the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive at the University of California, Berkeley; the Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center at Columbia University in New York; and The Juilliard School in Tianjin, China.

DS+R’s independent work includes the Blur Building, a pavilion made of fog on Lake Neuchâtel for the Swiss Expo; Exit, an immersive data-driven installation about human migration at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris; Charles James: Beyond Fashion at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; Arbores Laetae, an animated micro-park for the Liverpool Biennial; Musings on a Glass Box at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris; and Pierre Chareau: Modern Architecture and Design at the Jewish Museum in New York. A major retrospective of DS+R’s work was mounted at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Most recently, the studio designed two site-specific installations at the 2018 Venice Biennale and the Costume Institute’s Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. DS+R also directed and produced The Mile-Long Opera: a biography of 7 o’clock, a free, choral performance featuring 1,000 singers atop the High Line, co-created with David Lang.

DS+R has authored several books: The High Line (Phaidon Press, 2015), Lincoln Center Inside Out: An Architectural Account (Damiani, 2013), Flesh: Architectural Probes (Princeton Architectural Press, 2011), Blur: The Making of Nothing (Harry N. Abrams, 2002), and Back to the Front: Tourisms of War (Princeton Architectural Press, 1996).

DS+R has been distinguished with the first MacArthur Foundation fellowship awarded in the field of architecture, Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential" list, the Smithsonian Institution's 2005 National Design Award, the Medal of Honor and the President's Award from AIA New York, and Wall Street Journal Magazine's 2017 Architecture Innovator of the Year Award. Ricardo Scofidio and Elizabeth Diller are fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and are International Fellows at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

Ricardo Scofidio

Ricardo Scofidio, AIA (New York,1935), is a partner of Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R). Alongside partner Elizabeth Diller, Ric’s cross-genre work has been distinguished with TIME’s "100 Most Influential People" list and the first MacArthur Foundation fellowship awarded in the field of architecture. He led the design of the High Line – the adaptive reuse of an obsolete, industrial rail infrastructure into a 1.5 mile-long public park, Blur Building – a pavilion made of fog on Lake Neuchâtel for the 2002 Swiss Expo, and contributed to the redesign of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, and The Broad in Los Angeles.

Ric spearheads many of the studio’s independent works, including Soft Sell, a video installation in an abandoned porn theatre in Times Square; Tourisms: suitCase Studies, an investigation of American tourist attractions at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis; and Musings on a Glass Box for the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris. He is a Professor Emeritus at The Cooper Union School of Architecture.

Elizabeth Diller

Elizabeth Diller, (Poland,1954), is a partner of Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R). Alongside partner Ricardo Scofidio, Diller’s cross-genre work has been distinguished with TIME’s "100 Most Influential People" list and the first MacArthur Foundation fellowship awarded in the field of architecture.

Elizabeth Diller has also received the Wolf Prize in Architecture. Most recently, she led two cultural works significant to New York: The Shed and the expansion of MoMA. Diller also co-created, -directed and -produced The Mile-Long Opera, an immersive choral work staged on the High Line. Diller is a member of the UN Council on Urban Initiatives and a Professor of Architectural Design at Princeton University.

CHARLES RENFRO

Charles Renfro, AIA (Baytown, Texas in 1964) joined Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) in 1997 and became a Partner in 2004. He led the design and construction of the studio’s first concert hall outside of the US - The Tianjin Juilliard School in China - as well as the studio's first public park outside of the US - Zaryadye Park in Moscow. Charles has also led the design of much of DS+R's academic portfolio, with projects completed at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Brown University, the University of Chicago, and the recently completed Columbia Business School.

Charles is also leading the design of two projects in his native Texas: the renovation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Kalita Humphreys Theater in Dallas, and Sarofim Hall, a new home for Rice University’s Visual Arts department in Houston. Charles is the Co-President of BOFFO, a nonprofit organization that supports the work of queer LGBTQ+ BIPOC artists and designers. He has twice been recognized with the "Out100" list and has also been distinguished as a notable LGBTQ leader by Crain's New York Business. He is a faculty member of the School of Visual Arts.