Documenta; The Paolo Soleri Retrospective

This mysterious 10”x10”x11” cardboard box and its contents, designed for Documenta: The Paolo Soleri Retrospective held at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1970, re-envisioned the concept of an exhibition catalog. Paolo Soleri (1919-2013) was an Italian architect who studied in the United States under Frank Lloyd Wright. He developed a theory of “Arcology” which proposed a fusion between architecture and ecology. Look closely at the exterior of Documenta and you will see a collage of text sampling Solari’s manifesto. Inside you will find 16 paper scrolls of blue-gray sketches imagining utopian high-density eco-cities which would minimize humans’ impact on the earth. Although these projects were never built, they provide understanding of how scientists and artists were reacting in the early 1970s to a growing awareness of the Earth’s finite resources. The Hirshhorn copy is missing the original booklet, but needs treatment to preserve the stunning scrolls and original box.