The renowned Belgian curator group, Rotor, invited the audience to join them on a playful journey through the impact of sustainability on architecture, while taking a both affectionate and critical look at sustainability and green solutions.

600 allegedly sustainable objects from the past 30 years

The exhibition was composed of 600 alleged sustainable objects from architectural offices, companies and environmental organisations from all over the world, which the Belgian curator group have collected over a period of several years. All these items claim to be sustainable, but in Rotor’s interpretation this is a temporary truth, and nothing is clear-cut.

Visitors encountered all sorts of objects: from the solar-powered lawn mower and energy-saving façades to sustainable work clothes and the table shaped according to the grain of the wood.

“The exhibition is open ended. Visitors are not offered a single narrative that ties everything together. There is no imposed sequence, not one overarching perspective from which to look at things, not one conclusion to be drawn. The exhibition doesn’t want to convince the visitor to live his or her life more sustainably, but instead wants to show how the concept of sustainability operates as a powerful agent of change in today’s world.” (Lionel Devlieger from Rotor)

Sustainability as a label

Visitors was introduced to the paradoxes, which crop up, as soon as you stick the “sustainability” label on something. The many objects were categorised partly by subject, and partly in a chronological order, starting 30 years ago, which winds its way through the exhibition rooms.