Exhibition
Raqs Media Collective: 1980 in Parallax
The Cosmic House
19 April–22 December 2023

1980 in Parallax is an exhibition by Raqs Media Collective that centres around a new film commission, The Bicyclist Who Fell into a Time Cone – a poetic reflection on perceptions of a particular moment in history while moving through time, past and present, interrogating varied geographies of perceived centres and peripheries.
Site-specific Installation
Marysia Lewandowska: how to pass through a door
The Cosmic House
10 October 2022–9 September 2023

The Jencks Foundation is thrilled to announce the opening of Marysia Lewandowska’s site-specific sound installation how to pass through a door, at The Cosmic House from 10th October 2022. The new sound installation, with the title borrowed from one of Maggie Keswick Jencks notebooks containing detailed records related to the design programme of The Cosmic House, is the culmination of the artist’s one-year-long sustained engagement with the Jencks’ archives in London and in Portrack, Scotland.
Tour
Curator-led Tour of The Cosmic House
The Cosmic House
2.30 – 4 pm, 19 June 2023

Please join us on the 19th of June for a curator-led tour of The Cosmic House. The Cosmic House, one of the world’s most important examples of Post-Modern architecture, opened to the public in September 2021. Situated in London’s Holland Park, it became the UK’s first Grade I listed Post-Modern interior. Begun in 1978, the conversion of the house was a collaboration between Charles and Maggie Jencks and the architect Terry Farrell with contributions from Piers Gough, Eduardo Paolozzi, Michael Graves, Celia Scott, Allen Jones and others. Its symbolic architecture, complex iconography and cosmic references are all imbued with Charles’ characteristic learning and wit.
Past Events
Tour
Curator-led Tour of The Cosmic House
The Cosmic House
2.30 – 4 pm, 15 May 2023

Please join us on the 15th of May for a curator-led tour of The Cosmic House. The Cosmic House, one of the world’s most important examples of Post-Modern architecture, opened to the public in September 2021. Situated in London’s Holland Park, it became the UK’s first Grade I listed Post-Modern interior. Begun in 1978, the conversion of the house was a collaboration between Charles and Maggie Jencks and the architect Terry Farrell with contributions from Piers Gough, Eduardo Paolozzi, Michael Graves, Celia Scott, Allen Jones and others. Its symbolic architecture, complex iconography and cosmic references are all imbued with Charles’ characteristic learning and wit.
Lecture
Histories Without a Voice: Marysia Lewandowska’s residency at The Cosmic House
The Courtauld Institute of Art
17:30- 19:30, 11 May 2023

As the inaugural artist-in-residence at The Cosmic House, Marysia Lewandowska undertook detailed archival research, resulting in a site-specific sound installation. Lewandowska’s work acknowledges Maggie Keswick Jencks’ contribution as a designer and intellectual, employing spoken voice recordings and written texts. For this seminar, Lewandowska will reflect on the process of making the artwork in relation to research undertaken during her year-long residency, as she connects this project to her ongoing interest in recovering women’s histories.
Tour
Curator-led Tour of The Cosmic House
The Cosmic House
2.30 – 4 pm, 24 April 2023

Please join us on the 24th of April for a curator-led tour of The Cosmic House. The Cosmic House, one of the world’s most important examples of Post-Modern architecture, opened to the public in September 2021. Situated in London’s Holland Park, it became the UK’s first Grade I listed Post-Modern interior. Begun in 1978, the conversion of the house was a collaboration between Charles and Maggie Jencks and the architect Terry Farrell with contributions from Piers Gough, Eduardo Paolozzi, Michael Graves, Celia Scott, Allen Jones and others. Its symbolic architecture, complex iconography and cosmic references are all imbued with Charles’ characteristic learning and wit.
What can you do with a Cosmic House? Part 2
Online
18:00 – 19:30, 27 March 2023

Join Liza Fior, Stephen Kwok, Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad to play new games and talk about games in the context of a museum – not a place where we are often allowed to play. This event marks the end of a residency that CCA Curator Public, Lev Bratishenko started in 2022 at The Cosmic House in London, opened by the Jencks Foundation as a cultural laboratory to promote critical experimentation in historical and artistic research.
Lecture
2022 RIBA Charles Jencks Award Lecture with Forensic Architecture
RIBA (Cancelled)
7pm, 22 February 2023

The Jencks Foundation and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) are pleased to announce the 2022 recipient of the RIBA Charles Jencks Award is Forensic Architecture. This annual award is given to an individual or practice who has simultaneously made a major contribution to both the theory and practice of architecture. Forensic Architecture will be presented with the award at the RIBA on 22nd February at 7pm, after which they will give a lecture and be interviewed by Thomas Aquilina from the New Architecture Writers programme.
Tour
Curator-led Tour of The Cosmic House
The Cosmic House
2 – 3.30 pm, 19 September 2022

Please join us on the 19th of September for a curator-led tour of The Cosmic House. The Cosmic House, one of the world’s most important examples of Post-Modern architecture, opened to the public in September 2021. Situated in London’s Holland Park, it became the UK’s first Grade I listed Post-Modern interior. Begun in 1978, the conversion of the house was a collaboration between Charles and Maggie Jencks and the architect Terry Farrell with contributions from Piers Gough, Eduardo Paolozzi, Michael Graves, Celia Scott, Allen Jones and others. Its symbolic architecture, complex iconography and cosmic references are all imbued with Charles’ characteristic learning and wit.
Tour
Curator-led Tour of The Cosmic House
The Cosmic House
2 – 4 pm, 22 August 2022

Please join us on the 22nd of August for a curator-led tour of The Cosmic House. The Cosmic House, one of the world’s most important examples of Post-Modern architecture, opened to the public in September 2021. Situated in London’s Holland Park, it became the UK’s first Grade I listed Post-Modern interior. Begun in 1978, the conversion of the house was a collaboration between Charles and Maggie Jencks and the architect Terry Farrell with contributions from Piers Gough, Eduardo Paolozzi, Michael Graves, Celia Scott, Allen Jones and others. Its symbolic architecture, complex iconography and cosmic references are all imbued with Charles’ characteristic learning and wit.
Award
Architecture Writing Prize 2022
12 August–3 October 2022

A new architectural writing prize announced by Architecture Foundation, and supported by Drawing Matter, the Jencks Foundation and the Marchus Trust
Tour
Dimensions of a House (Museum)
The Mosaic Rooms, Walmer Yard, The Cosmic House
2pm - 5.30pm, 5 August 2022

Spend an afternoon exploring architecturally significant, eclectic and fictive house museums in West London, starting with a tour by the curator of Mahmoud Khaled’s exhibition ‘Fantasies on a Found Phone, Dedicated to the Man Who Lost it’, we will walk through Holland Park, followed by a walk through House 1 at Walmer Yard, led by its keeper Laura Mark and culminating in a visit to The Cosmic House.
Tour
Curator-led Tour of The Cosmic House
The Cosmic House
2.30 – 4.30 pm, 11 July 2022

Please join us on the 11th of July for a curator-led tour of The Cosmic House. The Cosmic House, one of the world’s most important examples of Post-Modern architecture, opened to the public in September 2021. Situated in London’s Holland Park, it became the UK’s first Grade I listed Post-Modern interior. Begun in 1978, the conversion of the house was a collaboration between Charles and Maggie Jencks and the architect Terry Farrell with contributions from Piers Gough, Eduardo Paolozzi, Michael Graves, Celia Scott, Allen Jones and others. Its symbolic architecture, complex iconography and cosmic references are all imbued with Charles’ characteristic learning and wit.
Conversation
Curating the Cosmic House
The Warburg Institute - Online
17:30 - 19:00, 25 January 2022

Curatorial Conversations bring to the Warburg curators of world-leading museums and galleries to discuss their work.
Launch
When ’wasms became ‘isms - Launch of Jencks Foundation Website
Architectural Association - Online
18:00 - 19:30, 19 January 2022

A conversation to launch the Jencks Foundation's new website, hosted by the Architectural Association
Lecture
The RIBA Charles Jencks Award 2021
RIBA | Online
6.30pm to 8pm, 2 November 2021

The recipient of the RIBA Charles Jencks Award 2021 is Indian architect Anupama Kundoo. Anupama will be presented with the award on Tuesday 2 November at 6.30pm after which she will deliver a lecture and be interviewed by a critic in collaboration with the New Architecture Writers program, with questions from an online audience.
Exhibition
Cosmic, Comic, Cosmetic: Themes and Designs for a House
The Cosmic House
24 September 2021–23 December 2022

To mark the public opening of The Cosmic House, this inaugural display brings together a selection of materials from Charles Jencks’ archive that outline the history of the building and some of the key influences and collaborations that helped to develop and shape the ideas behind its design.