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Modernism in Miniature: Points of View

The exhibition ‘Modernism in Miniature: Points of View,’ curated by Deriu, explored intersections between the model boom of the early twentieth century and the parallel explosion of mass media in architectural culture. The project was rooted in the preliminary work undertaken during a residence at the CCA Study Centre as a visiting scholar in 2007. He was subsequently invited to carry out further research at the CCA archives and to curate this exhibition. Drawing primarily, though not exclusively, on materials from the CCA collections, the show illustrated various means by which architectural models were produced, reproduced, and disseminated to the public. The exhibition was installed in the CCA’s Octagonal Gallery and included photographs, magazines, film, and additional source materials that illustrated a variety of visual practices that contributed to position the architectural model as a preeminent tool of design and representation within European and American modernism. These objects were grouped according to six interrelated themes, which were presented in such a way as to create visual links between primary and secondary sources. The exhibition was widely reviewed in the international press and gained wider impact through a website, which has been further developed after the show to include selected images, installation shots, and downloadable materials, along with the video of Deriu's curator's talk delivered on the opening day.

Deriu was invited to present his project at the conference ‘Still Architecture: Photography, Vision and Cultural Transmission’ at the University of Cambridge, 2012. The same year, he was also invited to give a lecture at Nottingham Contemporary Art Centre, in conjunction with the exhibition of model photographs by the German artist Thomas Demand.