Exhibiting Architecture: Appropriating the Toronto Harbourfront Centre

How is architecture communicated? The increasing interest in architecture exhibitions by both the public and exhibiting institutions presents an opportune moment to critique contemporary exhibition practices and propose alternate types and institutions. Building on the arguments of Peter Smithson and Florian Kossak this thesis argues for the evolution of architecture exhibitions towards a spatial based practice of laboratory installations.;Contemporary architecture exhibitions and institutions in Canada are studied and selected case studies from the National Gallery of Canada, Canadian Centre for Architecture and Harbourfront Centre are used to define two general categories of exhibition types: reflective and laboratory. Reflective exhibitions rely on existing artifacts and prior research as content. Laboratory exhibitions explore future architectures that engage the visitor in habitable installations.;Drawing on recent discourse on art installations, the thesis argues that laboratory installations allow gallery visitors to become active agents rather than passive observers, revealing themselves to themselves and each other. Due to this activation, the definition and scope of laboratory installations is expanded beyond tectonic space to include social and political space. The thesis then goes on to propose that this expanded mandate of laboratory installations is best suited to improve public engagement, act as a platform for research and contribute toward future democratic and architectural processes.;Toward this end, an expansion of the Harbourfront Centre program in Toronto is proposed, including a dedicated architecture gallery designed to facilitate laboratory type installations.