February 7: Le Laboratoire (The Laboratory) (it’s an architecture gallery)

I love how pretentiously ridiculous contemporary architecture can be: whip together every popular science idea of the past five years, add some questionable new building material or technique, and voila! you have a model of a building that no one (including you) believes will/can ever be built. In this architecture gallery’s current exhibition, “An Architecture of the Humours” (until April 26, 2010), it’s neuroreceptors, the anthropology of space, and set theory which magically produce an algorithm which is to be translated into a building by a spider-like robot excreting bio-concrete. At least, I think that’s what is supposed to happen – the whole thing was so confusing that they assign you a personal guide when you come in the door, who explains the architectural idea at play. Afterwards there’s a library/media space where you can go and read all the books which inspired the project, including lots of science fiction (of course).