Utopian & Unique Homes: Architecture Exhibition in Renens, Switzerland

An exhibition showcasing unconventional architecture, Maisons-mères – Architectures utopiques et concrètes, opened on February 12th at La Ferme des Tilleuls in Renens, Switzerland. The show, curated by French filmmaker and exhibition commissioner Philippe Lespinasse, features nearly sixty unique homes from across Europe, the United States, Africa and Russia.

The exhibition highlights structures built outside conventional architectural norms, described as existing “between the authorized and the forbidden.” These include “whale houses, shell houses or mystery castles,” built through obsession, dreams, or acts of resistance, according to exhibition materials. The structures often repurpose materials and challenge traditional building practices.

Lespinasse, known for his documentary work and forty films on Art Brut artists, discovered creators like Nek Chand, Paul Amar, and Gregory, enriching major collections with their work. His curatorial approach focuses on these self-built environments, often overlooked by the mainstream architectural world.

The exhibition includes the work of Swiss photographer Mario Del Curto, who has spent forty years documenting these “houses of art brut” since his initial exposure to the Collection d’art brut in Lausanne in the early 1980s. Del Curto’s photographs capture the intimacy and unique character of these often-isolated creations.

Maisons-mères – Architectures utopiques et concrètes presents the dwellings through photographs, models, and films, showcasing both extant and lost structures, some located nearby in Sorens, Switzerland, and others from around the globe. The exhibition runs until June 21st.

An atelier de mosaïque, led by Atelier PâKOMUZé, is scheduled for April 16th at 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM at La Ferme des Tilleuls.