Exhibition of architectural drawings by Sergei Tchoban, on the theme of representation of the urban setting and its density

Galleria Antonia Jannone, Corso Garibaldi 125, Milan

Opening 3 October, 19.00

Until 16 November 2018

Texts by Matteo Vercelloni

The exhibition of drawings by Sergei Tchoban Den-city – Urban Landscape addresses an important theme in the output of the Russian architect: his narrative pictorial fantasy and the constructed architecture of the city.

“What is the future of a densely populated city? How can an urban landscape change our way of perceiving architecture and its artistic language?”

The exhibition approaches the theme of representation of the urban setting and its density, combining history and contemporary conditions, architectural visions and scenarios for a possible near future.

The architectural drawings, ‘caprices’ from the fertile imagination of Sergei Tchoban, depict urban landscapes in which Piranesi meets suspended works of architecture summoned to overlap, through stylistic and temporal accumulation, on the scenes of the historical city. The overlays, counterpoint, stratification of languages and volumes form a series of urban visions.

Den-City presents the pictorial work of an architect-builder, who uses this form of expression as a tool to communicate the objective condition in which architects must operate; building in layers, rather than seeing the context as a tabula rasa, as in the late modern tradition.

The sum of different architectures and their interaction, depicted in this series of fantasy drawings, finds its reflection and analogy in the real city: the ‘portraits’ of Macau and Shanghai, Bangkok, Delhi and Tokyo, snapshots of urban landscapes of our present layered with signals and architecture, signs and images.

Tchoban’s work also includes pastel sketches inspired by his travels in Asia, capturing the density of urban structure and the inevitable mingling of urban settings in a state of continuous change. Using watercolors and ink on paper, the artist expresses the unique qualities of places, also in terms of their cultural history.

Sergei Tchoban studied at the Academy of Fine Arts of St. Petersburg, Russia, before moving to Germany in 1991. His most famous works include the Federation Tower in Moscow, the Benois House in St. Petersburg, the Chabad Lubavitch synagogue and Jewish Cultural Center, and the NHow Hotel in Berlin. In 2013 Tchoban founded the Museum for Architectural Drawing in Berlin. He works as an architect, curator, teacher and speaker.

Matteo Vercelloni