New Exhibition Explores the Life of Midcentury Modernist Architect Gregory Ain

Model of Gregory Ain’s Exhibition House, created by Katherine Lambert and Christiane Robbins

A multimedia installation on view at the Center for Architecture (CFA) in New York reflects on the life of the late architect Gregory Ain, FAIA, and the political drama that defined the mysterious fate of his 1950 Exhibition House for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) garden.

Courtesy Center for Architecture

Originally organized by Katherine Lambert and Christiane Robbins and presented at Palazzo Bembo during the 15th International Venice Biennale of Architecture, This Future Has a Past probes the inscrutable fortune of the house and while shedding light on Ain’s personal history.

Courtesy Erik Bardin

Philip Johnson selected the Los Angeles–based midcentury modernist designer for the 1950 MoMA project, which inexplicably disappeared. This Future Has a Past includes models, photographs, and documentary materials that reveal Ain was under surveillance by the F.B.I., unveiling the investigations that shrouded Ain’s personal and professional life.

Courtesy Anyspace

Presented in cooperation with New York–based Anyspace, the exhibition is on view at the CFA through September 12, 2017, and a special talk, entitled “Who was Gregory Ain?” is planned for September 7.