Making Radical Rooms: In conversation with Di Mainstone and Charles Holland
In conversation with Charles Holland and Di Mainstone at the Royal Institute of British Architects, 5th July 2022, from 7pm
Join architect Charles Holland and Di Mainstone, as they reveal the design process behind making the latest exhibition at RIBA, Radical Rooms: Power of the Plan. Together with curator Margaret Cubbage, we will go behind the scenes of the exhibition, describing how architecture, visual art, and performance art have been used to present the exhibition’s narrative, as well as how the exhibition was designed, developed, and produced, in this unique, one-off event:
Purchase your tickets here
5 July 2022, 7pm to 8.30pm
RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London, W1B 1AD
RIBA Member: £6, General: £12
Radical Rooms: Power of the plan is the RIBA’s latest exhibition, created through a special partnership between architect Charles Holland and visual artist Di Mainstone. Spanning 500 years, the exhibition is anchored in three buildings from the 16th, 18th, and 20th centuries: Hardwick Hall, A la Ronde and the Hopkins House. Each present the profound role of women in their development and design, an influence that has persistently been left out of the history of architecture.
With a layout inspired by the Palladian house plan, the exhibition forms an abstract grid of connected rooms defined by curtains and floor patterns. Animated and occupied by the four women, the architectural patrons of the three buildings, Bess of Hardwick, Jane and Mary Parminter and Patty Hopkins, these spaces share their stories through elaborate costume design and a musical score by Jay Malhotra and Mandy Wigby that makes up an immersive audio-visual performance.
Where Charles Holland draws attention to the power in the plan through the organisation of space, Di Mainstone focuses on the people, bringing to life four key characters and revealing their history and influence on the construction of the three domestic properties. A shared language of pattern, decoration and colour link the two together. Throughout the gallery, original drawings and artefacts from the RIBA Collections are hidden for the visitors to discover stories that have been largely overlooked.
