Trees, Time, Architecture – Pinakothek der Moderne, Germany

Trees are not only among the largest, oldest and most complex living things on earth, they also grow extremely slowly – they often take decades or even centuries to reach their full size. This means that they exceed the scale of human life and their temporality is at odds with ever-accelerating social, technological and ecological change. At the same time, we need them now more than ever: locally, to adapt to the new reality of a drastically changed climate, and globally, to halt and perhaps even reverse climate change.

“Trees, Time, Architecture!” uses historical and current international examples to examine the potential and contradictions that “building on trees” brings with it in architecture and landscape architecture. The exhibition highlights the tension between the slowness with which trees grow and the urgency of finding answers to burning ecological and social questions here and now. Trees, both living and dead, can be understood as functional building materials that shape the built environment through their material and aesthetic qualities. Accordingly, the exhibition looks at the use of trees as living, constantly changing organisms and at the same time the use of the materials and specific structures that trees produce through their complex growth processes. The entire lifespan is always taken into account and placed in relation to the temporality of functional requirements, social, architectural-urban and technological developments. For the first time, an exhibition project addresses the topic of “Tree, Time, Architecture!” from a holistic, multidimensional perspective.

Project examples from different cultural contexts and climate zones make it clear that a paradigm shift, away from designing finished objects and towards designing processes, is necessary in order to establish a productive and long-term sustainable relationship between trees and buildings. This requires transdisciplinary cooperation that combines scientific approaches with artistic practices, indigenous knowledge and new technologies. The test buildings, experiments and technical developments in the research field of building botany illustrate what this could look like. At the same time, these examples show the complex, often productive and sometimes contradictory relationship between trees and architecture. The aim of the exhibition is to illustrate this relationship, which is as fascinating as it is irritating – because only then can we recognize the possibilities and seize the opportunities that need to be used to create a future worth living for us and for the majority of animal and plant species.

The exhibition is structured by space-defining installations and key exhibits that make the temporal and spatial dimensions and the role of trees in the global carbon cycle aesthetically tangible. Project examples are presented using photos, films, models and drawings, and selected aspects are explored in more detail using historical documents, tools and material samples. International projects are shown that range from indigenous forms of living architecture made of trees to artistic positions on the topic and critical reflection on the latest technological developments. In addition, the exhibition space is expanded into the environment of the Pinakothek der Moderne through actions and open-space installations: trees are temporarily stored in a walk-in installation under the canopy in the entrance area of ​​the museum – in order to present them as immediately available commercial goods in conscious discrepancy with their longevity. Through a performative use of the installation, the general public is encouraged to engage with the themes of the exhibition in a low-threshold manner.

Opening: March 12, 2025, 7 p.m.

Project management/curatorial management:  Ferdinand Ludwig, Kristina Pujkilović
Co-curation:  Andjelka Badnjar Gojnić
Project coordination:  Andres Lepik
Scientific and curatorial advisory board:  Noël van Dooren, Sonja Dümpelmann
Graphic design:  strobo BM
Exhibition design:  Buero Kofink Schels