Peter Cook exhibition on show at MOCA

Peter Cook exhibition on show at MOCA

2025-07-17

Famed British architect and Archigram co-founder Peter Cook is currently exhibiting his works in Taipei. The exhibit explores the duality of Taiwan’s city and natural landscapes through a series of installations and digital prints. FTV reporter Stephany Yang takes us in for a look!

When you first enter the exhibition space, you will see the work "Street of Secrets." This work is Cook’s vision for a future city that coexists with nature. He imagines a city that grows like a forest. The hand-sketched structures along the street aren’t traditional buildings. Instead, they have flora sprouting and resemble different geological formations.

Yian Chen
MoCA Taipei public relations specialist
For this exhibition at MoCA Taipei, he composed a section that closely reflects the urban street scenes he observed in western Taiwan. From the viewer’s point of view, it evokes the feeling of being on a street. As one moves forward, it feels like entering the work.

At the far end of the exhibition hall is “Inclusive Landscape,” where Cook showcases Taiwan’s eastern mountains and coastlines. The work is a hybrid terrain where buildings are portrayed like geological formations. He depicts a welcoming and accessible area.

Yian Chen
MoCA Taipei public relations specialist
“Inclusive Landscape” includes elements of natural scenery such as mountains, rivers, and small architectural forms. For this exhibition, two large-scale installations have been created as extensions of Peter Cook’s original drawings—one titled "Street of Secrets" and the other "Inclusive Landscape." Within the space, visitors will see large panels applied across surfaces—these installations are direct reproductions that have been fragmented and reassembled from the original artworks. The goal is to invite viewers to quite literally step into the drawings and immerse themselves in Cook’s architectural universe.

The exhibition presents installations and 13 digital prints inspired by Cook’s travels in Taiwan, where he explores the island’s different identities—the bustling, high-density cities of the west and the tranquil, mountainous landscapes of the east. His work invites new ways of imagining how urban and natural environments can co-exist. Throughout his career, Cook has been creating works that envision the future of architecture.

Yian Chen
MoCA Taipei public relations specialist
Peter Cook has visited Taiwan multiple times, and through these visits, he observed a striking contrast between the landscapes of eastern and western Taiwan. The west is largely shaped by cities and streets, while the east features mountains and coastlines—two dramatically different landscapes. His drawings are deeply intertwined with his architectural ideas. He uses color and collage-like layering techniques. Throughout his career, Cook has pursued a highly experimental approach to architecture. Whether through drawings or installations, he aims to spark the viewer’s imagination about the future of cities and architecture. One of his past ideas is “Plug-In City,” which envisions architecture as modular components—interchangeable units that can be transported, selected, and assembled into a city.

The exhibit will be held at the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei until Aug. 10.

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