In this exhibition, St. Petersburg–based architect Sergei Tchoban, who has always striven to understand the laws which govern the development of “canonical” European cities like his own, asks, “Is it possible to preserve their outstanding quality?” On the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the birth of Giovanni Battista Piranesi, who captured the development of the European city as a phenomenon which, despite many layers and internal contradictions, is nevertheless harmonious, the exhibition explores whether new capabilities in creating building forms and surfaces, which introduce new strata into the urban setting, really implies destruction of a masterpiece.

While Tchoban is known for such built works as the Russian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture and the Tchoban Foundation – Museum for Architectural Drawing in Berlin, this exhibition emphasizes his fantastical drawings, wherein he introduces futuristic volumes onto etchings by Piranesi depicting 18th-century Roman situations. Tchoban believes this painful transformation of the European city has been happening for at least 100 years and that society must finally work out how to relate to this process. Essentially, this is Piranesi’s true legacy: a call to an honest conversation regarding the condition of the layers and parts that constitute the European city as a highly important piece of our heritage and at the same time a space for future development. 

The exhibition is linked to “Giambattista Piranesi. Dreaming the impossible dream,” the Piranesi exhibition at Palazzo Poli. Both these exhibition projects are dedicated to the 300th anniversary of Piranesi’s birth.