VENICE.- Fondazione Prada presents “Diagrams”, an exhibition project conceived by AMO/OMA, the studio founded by Rem Koolhaas, in its Venetian venue, Ca’ Corner della Regina, from 10 May to 24 November 2025.
“Diagrams” investigates the visual communication of data as a powerful tool for constructing meaning, comprehension or manipulation and a pervasive instrument for analyzing, understanding and transforming the surrounding world. It seeks to foster dialogue and speculative reflection on the relationship between human intelligence, scientific and cultural phenomena, and the creation and dissemination of knowledge.
The exhibition, on view on the ground and first floors of the 18th-century Palazzo Ca’ Corner della Regina, gathers more than 300 items, including rare documents, printed publications, digital images, and videos, spanning from the 12th century to the present day and related to various geographical and cultural contexts. This material is displayed according to a thematic principle that reflects not only contemporary world urgencies but also, de facto, demonstrates the diagram’s transversal and diachronic nature.
The project benefits from the extensive research conducted by Fondazione Prada in close collaboration with Rem Koolhaas and Giulio Margheri, Associate Architect at OMA. The expertise of Sietske Fransen, Max Planck Research Group Leader, Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute for Art History, was instrumental.
As stated by Rem Koolhaas, “In my view, the diagram has been an almost permanent tool. For example, in the early stages of our research, we discovered three dimensional diagrams from South Africa dating back to 40,000 BCE, as well as wood carved maps of the Greenlandic coastline made on the island of Ammassalik. This demonstrates that the diagram is an enduring form of communication that adapts to whatever medium exists at the time. Regardless of the medium, a diagram serves didactic (explanatory) or suggestive (persuasive) purposes. This means that it not only exists by default in any new medium but can also be applied to virtually any area of human life. Fashion, religion, or the history of social inequality can be interpreted as a diagram. I deeply enjoy this interdisciplinary aspect of the diagram, its invariable attribute—its independence from language (words) makes it one of the most effective forms of representation.”
A diagram can be roughly described as an instrument for envisioning information to reason about, communicate, and document, so that it appears as a neutral and objective representation. Drawing on Gilles Deleuze’s assertion that “the diagram is the possibility of a fact, not the fact itself,” the exhibition explores the diagram as an agent of meaning-making that actively shapes and influences human thought and life, and potentially becomes a vehicle for misconceptions or a tool of propaganda and political struggle.
The exhibition system, designed by AMO/OMA according to the “now urgencies” principle, is structured according to nine primary topics: Built Environment, Health, Inequality, Migration, Environment, Resources, War, Truth, and Value. These themes are illustrated in the central room of the first floor in a series of vitrines arranged in parallel to one another. Each of the so-called “now urgencies” is further explored in a lateral room on this floor, with different display formats that help investigate specific subthemes or the work of a prominent author. This complex and diverse investigation is introduced on the ground floor by a set created by AMO/OMA, which can be defined as a diagram of the exhibition, composed of diagrams. This meta-diagram reveals the research and display methods in all their transparency and accuracy.
The starting point of “Diagrams” is the work of W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963), the African- American sociologist renowned for his studies and infographics on African American communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The charts he created for “The Exhibit of American Negroes” at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900 serve as an initial reference for exploring the communicative power of graphic representation, as well as its potential for social inquiry and activism. These works mark a pivotal moment in the foundation for the eventual rise of mass communication. This case study highlights how infographics have addressed, communicated, and often omitted issues related to social justice, racism, the representation of ethnic and religious minorities, and identitarian questions.
The exhibition also delves into the limitations of infographics in terms of their communicative capacity and the audience’s ability to interpret them accurately. In this framework, the case of the English founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), highlights how clear visual communication in the medical field led to significant legislative progress aimed at improving healthcare conditions. This case study functions as a gateway to exploring a substantial body of documents and manuscripts related to this scientific domain, sourced from ancient cultures around the world. It demonstrates that the application of infographics is neither a recent phenomenon nor an exclusively Western one, and that it continues to have a tangible, meaningful impact on people’s lives. This section also initiates a broader discussion about the intersection of scientific progress and body care, particularly at present when the effects of ageing, the temporal limits of human existence, and the cultural emphasis on physical health and wellness are central in the public and media debate.
Another significant thematic strand focuses on war. The diagram of Napoleon’s campaign in Russia, created by the French civil engineer Charles Joseph Minard (1781-1871), is widely considered to be a milestone in the graphical representation of data. The exhibition develops a dialogue that connects Minard’s visual innovations with those of the Scottish political economist William Playfair (1759-1823), propaganda graphics from 20th-century regimes, and the investigative work of contemporary studios.
The 19th century, referred to as the Golden Age of Infographics, is a point of departure for reflecting on the use and misuse of data in communicating sociopolitical knowledge. In the early part of the century, the advent of new printing techniques coincided with the rapid expansion of education. In this historical context, pioneering American feminist educator Emma Willard (1787–1870) published history and geography textbooks featuring innovative and creative maps of time, which helped translate data and information into manageable visual forms. The exhibition also demonstrates how diagrams can simultaneously serve as ambiguous instruments for distorting narratives, enhanced by the overwhelming power of big data and a fragmented communication landscape driven by social media and online platforms.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, a growing interest in the natural sciences and ecology emerged in infographic production. The German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was a significant figure. Von Humboldt’s graphics and diagrams represent the foundation for a discourse on data visualization and the communication of ecological knowledge. This discussion assumes even greater significance in light of today’s critical climate challenges.
The earliest examples of infographics are linked to astronomical, geographical, or religious knowledge and were designed for limited circulation among cultural and intellectual elites. This is true not only in Europe but also in Arab, Asian, and Mesoamerican cultures, a fact that encourages reflection on the shared cultural horizons of certain ancient civilizations. For this reason, diagrams emerge as explicit agents of meaning-making and, at times, consensus- building, often rooted in religious, political, or philosophical traditions.
The continuous interplay between the ancient and the modern, which defines the exhibition’s narrative, fosters a reflection that intertwines the form and content of diagrams. Infographic communication formally evolved in the 20th century, influenced by historical avant-gardes.
Modernism's significant contributions to visual communication enable a retrospective reassessment of the formal, aesthetic, and artistic qualities of ancient and pre modern infographics.
Central to the exhibition is also AMO/OMA’s design practice, which has integrated diagrammatic forms as architectural tools since the 1970s. As Koolhaas explains, “Complex ideas are almost an intellectual or sometimes artistic pleasure, and they became a driving element in what we were trying to do. In this context, diagrams were incredibly helpful. By researching and designing them, we were trying to form a space or to define another architecture, the form of which required an enormous amount of argument and articulation. We would not have come close to that if I had not discovered a number of diagrams. The role of diagrams was crucial at that time because we needed the physical burden of proof to show that what we wanted to achieve was possible. Today, I may find myself in a different position, where I no longer have to prove that things are possible, and that certainly changes the nature or the role of diagrams. But I would still say that diagrams are an important part of my repertoire.”
The exhibition also includes the contributions of other significant and recent environmental design and urbanism practices developed by international platforms like Atmos Lab and Transsolar, as well as by investigative practices and scholars such as Theo Deutinger and SITU Research.
An illustrated book, published by Fondazione Prada and designed by Irma Boom, accompanies “Diagrams”. It includes an introduction by Miuccia Prada, President and Director of Fondazione Prada, a conversation between Rem Koolhaas and Katya Inozemtseva and nine essays by renowned international scholars and designers Alberto Cairo, Kate Crawford, Theo Deutinger, Sietske Fransen, Scott Reinhard, Philippe Rekacewicz, Sandra Rendgen, Malkit Shoshan, and Kohei Sugiura.
