Context, Form, and Light Exhibition: William Mulvihill

Exhibition Details

Title: Context, Form, and Light

Dates: December 11, 2024 – December 26, 2024

Location: Yunchou Building, First Floor, Sino-Spanish Campus, Tongji University, Shanghai

The exhibition, Context, Form, and Light, explores the interplay of context, form, and light - three essential principles that define architecture - through the lens of William Mulvihill. The curated collection captures how buildings respond to their environments, transform functional needs into powerful forms, and use light to shape space and evoke emotion. By presenting diverse architectural works from around the world, the exhibition offers a narrative that celebrates the ingenuity and universality of design while inspiring new perspectives on the built environment.

Shanghai, China – December 11th, 2024 - The Sino-Spanish Campus at Tongji University recently hosted Context, Form, and Light, an architectural photography exhibition that explored the profound principles shaping the design and experience of architecture: context, form, and light. Parallel to the Spanish Biennale BEAU XVI’s visit to Shanghai, the exhibition highlighted the collaboration between Spain and China in the fields of architecture and design.

The inauguration, held on December 11, 2024, was graced by esteemed guests including Iñaquii Carnicero, Secretary General of Urban Agenda, Housing, and Architecture of Spain; Manuel Blanco, Dean of the School of Architecture at ETSAM-UPM; Xavier Ferré, Co-Director of the Sino-Spanish Campus at Tongji University; and the featured photographer. Their presence emphasized the cultural and academic importance of this event.

The collection invited viewers to explore three guiding principles of the artistic and design process:

Context:

The exhibition invited attendees to step back and reconsider architecture as more than isolated objects. By examining how buildings interact with their environment, it highlighted the constant dialogue between constructed forms and their natural, urban, or cultural surroundings. This interplay underscores how architecture challenges pre-established norms - breaking barriers of convention - and integrates into broader ecological, social, and spatial systems. These relationships are not only functional but symbolic, revealing how a structure transcends its immediate purpose to become part of something larger, an evolving narrative of place and identity.

Form:

Delving into the disciplined artistry of architectural design, the exhibition celebrated the precise and deliberate geometry inherent in built forms. It unveiled the meticulous considerations behind perspectives, lines, and proportions that architects obsess over - elements often unseen or unacknowledged by building users. These forms, designed to balance utility with beauty, speak to the enduring vision and intent of the architect, serving as a testament to their creative rigor. By bringing this often-overlooked aspect to the forefront, the exhibition bridged the gap between the professional’s vision and the layperson’s experience.

Light:

A cornerstone of architectural experience, light was framed as the poetic and timeless essence that animates spaces. The exhibition explored how light, as an ever-changing and intangible material, shapes architecture in profound ways. Through its daily journey across surfaces, light transforms built environments, creating dynamic plays of shadow and brilliance that evoke emotion and deepen sensory engagement. This celebration of light emphasized its dual role as both a functional necessity and a spiritual, almost ephemeral, presence that imbues architecture with a sense of timelessness.

Together, context, form, and light intertwine to create architecture that is dynamic, responsive, and alive. Certain forms adapt gracefully to the reticular patterns of urban contexts, acting as a cushion that softens rigid frameworks, while other forms use their sculptural boldness to celebrate the interplay of light. The exhibition’s images resist categorization - they blur boundaries, existing at the intersection of these themes. Ultimately, it is up to each visitor to define how an image resonates with their understanding of context, form, or light. In this way, the exhibition becomes a shared act of interpretation, inviting each viewer to complete the narrative and explore architecture’s rich, multidimensional nature.

This initiative was a testament to the Sino-Spanish Campus’s dedication to fostering cultural exchange and inspiring the next generation of architects and designers.