Yes Is More

Description

Yes is more is the title of an exhibition and a book presenting B.I.G. in solo format for the first time in Denmark at the Danish architecture centre. Unlike a classic architectural monograph, this book is more of a popular cultural manifesto, which is also literally the first actual documentation of B.I.G.'s trailblazing practice. As the book demonstrates, this is a practice where method, processes, instruments and the approach to the concept of architecture is precisely as wild, unfettered and result-producing as the world it is part of and greets with an unqualified Yes. Bjarke Ingels attracts highly talented co-workers, but also gifted and ambitious clients from all over the world. He does so because his own talent is above all to swiftly create intelligent synergies out of indomitable "movements", wild energies and unforeseen dynamics and transform them into hitherto unseen, surprising, functional, valuable and beautiful solutions to the specific and complex challenges in each task. The results of B.I.G.'s practice has already won awards from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Architecture Biennale, the prize for "The World's Best Housing Project", "Best Building in the Nordic Countries" as well as many other international kudos. The project and the title Yes is more is a double-edged wordplay on the dogma in modern architecture that "less is more". Less is only more as far as dimensions go - the ability to encompass as many dimensions as possible (more) with as few expenses as possible (less). As a design parameter for an aesthetic retro minimalism this only amounts to idiosyncratic architectural idiocy.

Reviews

"Yes is more is a popular and easily accessible manifesto for architecture as one of the most relevant aggregates of the 21st century in which we may epitomise and answer many of the global agenda-setting questions. In the exhibition and in the book, B.I.G. shows how they conceptualise the polymorphous demands, complex rules and highly specialised knowledge of society, creating tangible solutions through artistic processes; solutions which time and again attract the interest of the population at large as well as the respect of global aficionados. Yes is more is a communication created in this very spirit - combing elite and popular elements - allowing the sublime to shone through in the commonplace. Thus audiences are invited into B.I.G.'s processes, methods and results using the most approachable and populist means of communication available - the cartoon. -Kent Martinussen, Architect, CEO, Danish Architecture Centre"

Author description

Bjarke Ingels is a "yes man." He rises to the challenge of just about any demand, be it reasonable or otherwise, with an unqualified "Yes." This fuels his ambition to absorb all the political interests surrounding a project and to turn them into backbending forms that disarm the opposition.