THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT

"I think play is a stage of creativity; to play is an expansion of attention and observation. I like to think that in the work I've done, it is possible to make stages for both action and reflection, a stage that is all-encompassing; not a space of distancing, but a space of activation." -- Rirkrit Tiravanija

 

“The House That Jack Built" is the most comprehensive retrospective to date devoted to spatial practice and engagement with architecture in Tiravanija's oeuvre. It brings together a significant selection of works spanning his entire career, highlighting his dialogue with iconic buildings by masters of Modernist architecture, which was widespread between the 1920s and 1960s. Starting with replicas of projects by names such as Sigurd Lewerentz, Le Corbusier, Rudolf Schindler, Frederick Kiesler, Jean Prouvé, Carlo Scarpa, and Philip Johnson, Tiravanija develops works in which architecture functions as a relational space, capable of speaking of those who inhabit it and shaping the experience of those who encounter it. Personal and mobile architectures also figure prominently in the exhibition, with tents functioning as structural elements that introduce a mobile dimension and forms of communal living.

 

The exhibition unfolds like a cinematic sequence: a succession of scenes to walk through and explore, where visitors encounter opportunities for leisure, rest, care, conviviality, and participation. The title, "The House That Jack Built," refers to the famous 18th-century English nursery rhyme, whose cumulative structure adds passages and action chains that progressively define the subject: a house that takes shape piece by piece, until it becomes a complex and potentially unstable construction.

 

At the entrance, the installation untitled 2026 (demo station no. 9) (2026) recalls the Raumbühne theater platform, created in 1924 by Austrian architect Friedrich Kiesler, and is understood as a space dedicated to actions. Moving forward, the path leads to an extensive "maze" of orange fabric--a recurring color in Tiravanija's work that echoes the robes of Buddhist monks. Within this labyrinth, additional works emerge, generating an immersive journey in which perceptions of space and time seem to expand. At the maze's end, just before entering the Cubo, a circular doorway inspired by an element from the Brion Memorial (1970-78) by the Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa marks a threshold.

 

Entering the Cubo visitors encounter the final work on display, untitled 2009 (the house the at built) (2026), a replica of Tiravanija's Thai home, which house not only his video untitled 2008 (gatos negros) (2008), but also works by artist and friends he invited to "furnish" and "inhabit" the house. The title directly references that of the exhibition: the replacement of Jack with a cat suggests a change of perspective, inviting viewers to look at the space and the exhibition experience from another angle, thereby challenging established habits and certainties. As Tiravanija says, "For me, the title can always be written in many ways. It speaks of architecture, but also of authorship. It's not simply a house built by inmates—it suggests a character. It plays with different layers of understanding or misunderstanding, and perhaps the idea of translation."

 

 

 

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT

A retrospective by Rirkrit Tiravanija 

Curated by Lucia Aspesi and Vicente Todolí

 

Pirelli HangarBicocca, Milan

26 March - 26 July 2026