Mirko Zardini

Mirko Zardini (born 1955) is the current Director and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montreal, Canada.[1] He is an architect who teaches, curates exhibitions, and writes about contemporary architecture and urban issues.[2] Zardini is an active member and former trustee of the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD), is on the Executive Committee of the International Confederation of Architectural Museums (ICAM),[3] and a member of the Canadian Art Museum Directors Organization (CAMDO).

Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA)

Zardini was Senior Consulting Curator of the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) from 2003-2005 and was appointed Director and Chief Curator in 2005. He has shaped the institution's collection, research, exhibitions, programs and publications to emphasize the CCA’s role as a venue for critical discourse about contemporary culture and the relationship of architecture to politics and society.[4] His thematic approach often juxtaposes contradictory ideas to highlight the complexity of social and urban issues.[5]

The CCA’s collection of international architectural archives received significant additions during Zardini’s ongoing tenure, most notably those of Pritzker-prize-winner Álvaro Siza Vieira,[6] Abalos & Herreros[7] and Foreign Office Architects. A research project on the early application of digital tools in architectural design developed in collaboration with architect Greg Lynn resulted in the exhibition series "Archaeology of the Digital"[8][9] and also led to the acquisition of digital project archives by the featured architects including Chuck Hoberman, Shoei Yoh, and others.

The exhibition program developed under Zardini has been recognized internationally. Design Observer named “Imperfect Health: The Medicalization of Architecture” the best exhibition of 2012[10] and published a review stating “it is worth noting that this show is just the latest in a series of inventive exhibitions that engage in social themes (energy consumption, proactive urbanism, war) undertaken by the CCA under Zardini, shows that together reassert that institution’s place as a center of architectural culture.”[11] About the exhibition “Architecture in Uniform: Designing and Building for the Second World War”, The New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff wrote “Simply put, it’s one of the most important architecture exhibitions I’ve seen in years.”[12]

Zardini is an advocate for online access and the need to strengthen long-distance research tools and collaborative digital projects for a global audience. In his 2012 text “A Project for Two Buildings”, Zardini outlines his vision for an institution with “two buildings: the physical one, anchored to a specific place, and the digital, accessed online from any place at any time.”[13] He launched the CCA's digital book publishing initiative with an electronic version of the exhibition catalogue for "Imperfect Health: The Medicalization of Architecture” and then created a digital-only epub series featuring individual projects from the "Archeology of the Digital" exhibitions.[14] The series was designed and developed by the New York-based graphic design studio Linked by Air and features technical innovations such as interactive slideshows and responsive design within the standard formats of reflowable e-books.[15]

Exhibitions

Exhibitions organized and co-organized by Mirko Zardini at the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA)

Other exhibitions organized and co-organized by Zardini

Editorial Work

Zardini was editor of Lotus International Magazine from 1988 to 1999,[25] and editor of Casabella Magazine and Quaderni di Casabella from 1983 to 1988. He has also guest edited an issue of El Croquis Magazine (number 105 dedicated to Bolles+Wilson architects in 2011),[26] the February 1999 issue of Archi Margazine, and served on the Editorial Board of Domus Magazine from 2004-2005.

Select Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ “Mirko Zardini Appointed as New Director of the CCA” Canadian Architect (Toronto, Canada), 31 May 2005. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  2. ↑ ICAM News
  3. ↑ ICAM Executive Committee
  4. ↑ Andrade, Sérgio C. “Entrevista Mirko Zardini” Público (Lisbon, Portugal), 6 November 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  5. ↑ Makovsky, Paul. “2012 Game Changers: Mirko Zardini”, Metropolis Magazine (New York, NY), January 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  6. ↑ “Álvaro Siza’s Archive”
  7. ↑ “Out of the Box: Ábalos & Herreros”
  8. ↑ “Archaeology of the Digital”
  9. ↑ “Archaeology of the Digital: Media and Machines”
  10. ↑ Lange, Alexandra and Lamster, Mark. “Lunch With The Critics: Third-Annual Year-End Awards” Design Observer, 10 December 2012. Retrieved on 21 July 2015
  11. ↑ Lamster, Mark. “Life Support: Can Architecture Make Us Healthy?” Design Observer, 6 January 2012. Retrieved on 21 July 2015.
  12. ↑ Ouroussoff, Nicolai. “Wartime Architects: Creating Amid Chaos” The New York Times, 1 June 2011. Retrieved on 21 July 2015.
  13. ↑ Zardini, Mirko. “A Project for Two Buildings”. icamprint 04, p.30. International Confederation of Architectural Museums (Vienna, Austria), 2012 . Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  14. ↑ Canadian Centre for Architecture on iBooks
  15. ↑ “Linked by Air on Archaeology of the Digital” Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  16. ↑ “Rooms You May Have Missed”, Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2014.
  17. ↑ “Imperfect Health: The Medicalization of Architecture”, Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2011.
  18. ↑ “Other Space Odysseys”, Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2010.
  19. ↑ “Actions: What You Can Do With the City”, Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2008.
  20. ↑ “1973: Sorry, Out of Gas”, Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2007.
  21. ↑ “Sense of the City”, Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2005.
  22. ↑ “out of the box: price rossi stirling + matta-clark”, Canadian Centre for Architecture, 2003.
  23. ↑ Sulcas, Roslyn. “An Architect and a Sociologist to be Honored at Swiss Pavilion in Venice”, The New York Times (New York), 5 March 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  24. ↑ Marcoaldi, Milano Franco. “piccola apologia dell’ asfalto”, La Repubblica (Rome, Italy), 31 March 2003. Retrieved on 21 July 2015.
  25. ↑ “Editoriale Lotus: History”
  26. ↑ “El Croquis: Issue 105”
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