A new exhibition about radical projects to rebuild communities in the aftermath of disasters points to the "changing role of architects in society", says its curator (+ slideshow).
Creation from Catastrophe at London's Royal Institute of British Architects focuses on the way cities and communities have been reimagined by architects in the aftermath of natural and manmade disasters.
Curator Jes Fernie told Dezeen that the exhibition shows an "expanded idea of what architecture is and what architects can do".
"The thing that is particularly relevant is the changing role of architects," said Fernie. "I'm not thinking this is going to radically change the way architects work but it presents people with an alternative to how architects can get involved in community activism and can take political approaches." Photograph by Tristan Fewings, courtesy of Getty Images for the RIBA
The exhibition covers almost four centuries, beginning with London after the 1666 Great Fire and Lisbon after the 1755 earthquake.
It ends with the bottom-up, community-led approach that defines the practice of many 21st-century architects including Pritzker Prize winners Shigeru Ban and Alejandro Aravena.

Related story: Architects "are never taught the right thing" says 2016 Pritzker laureate Alejandro Aravena

"There is a merging of approaches," said Fernie. "We have presented it as relatively black and white...