The exhibition Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography (13 October 2010 – 20 February 2011) features five international artists who challenge the assumption that a camera is necessary to make a photograph. The V&A commissioned five short films on each of the artists, showing their studios and places that inspire them. This is a revealing and evocative look at their working environments and an insight into their creative ideas.

Head to V&A for more.

1.1 – Architects Build Small Spaces opened yesterday at the Victoria & Albert Museum. 19 architects were solicited for submission of projects that examine ideas of refuge and retreat. Of these, 7 were chosen for construction on site in the museum.

The chosen – Studio Mumbai Architects, Rintala Eggertsson Architects, Sou Fujimoto Architects, Vazio S/A, Terunobu Fujimori, Rural Studio, and Helen & Hard Architects.

Above is a brief video submitted of Helen & Hard Architects’ garden folly based installation. After the jump a few more videos and images from 1:1 – Architects Build Small Spaces. The exhibition runs to August 30, 2010.

A good exhibition isn’t just about the objects and analysis. There is a heavy degree of design savvy required to make things hum. It’s Nice That hips us to London’s Bibliotheque Design, the firm that devised the label system for the V&A’s Cold War Modern. Bibliotheque has recently updated their website, which now includes a section devoted to their portion of the project. From both a museological and design point of view, “it’s nice that” they’ve taken the time to explain their steps and rational.

A few more examples of Bibliotheque’s work for the V&A follows.

Often, the unbuilt is more exciting than the built. For example, Henry Hobson Richardson’s design for the Connecticut State House or the work of Italian futurist Antonio Sant’elia. Paper architecture, as the historians call it, allows us to see visions of the world that never come to fruition.

In Baghdad, dreams of hosting an Olympic Games yield such visions. Le Corbusier was commissioned to design the stadium and related venues. The project became the basis for Baghdad’s bid for the 1960 games, and remained on Le Corbusier’s desk until his death. In 1981, the gymnasium was actually constructed, but all other buildings failed to materialize.

The Olympic Stadium Project: Le Corbusier and Baghdad at the V&A, allows a glimpse into the project and a rare view into Le Corbusier’s vision of an Olympic facility. The exhibition is on view until March 29, 2009.