Revery Architecture Reconsiders the Air Duct in an Installation for the London Design Biennale 2021

2021 Best of Year winner for ARchInstallation

As the effects of climate change grow ever more apparent, the mechanical systems that keep buildings usable have never been more essential—or, with the CO2 emissions caused by their use, more dangerous. Representing Canada at the London Design Biennale 2021, the Vancouver-based firm created the cheekily titled, 100-square-foot installation at Somerset House, which invited reconsideration of that humble MEP functionary, the air duct. Design principal Venelin Kokalov devised a pair of oversize conduits that traversed the space, stopping visitors in their tracks and forcing them to contemplate, navigate, and even duck beneath the pipes. “Facing the first duct, visitors couldn’t see what was coming ahead, symbolizing an uncertain future,” Kokalov explains. Instead of carbon-intensive steel, the ducts were made of gold-mirrored wood, the finish chosen for two reasons. “Seeing their reflection, viewers were invited into the artwork, like an insider,” Kokalov continues, “plus gold represents wealth,” the architect hoping that invited thoughts about where we, as a society, spend money: on giant heating and cooling systems or something else? Factoring in inclusivity too, counterweighted door panels allowed wheelchair users to navigate freely around the low-slung work.

revery architecture: venelin kokalov; mark melnichuk; kimberley glauber.