DATA VISUALIZATION THROUGH TIME: AMO/OMA'S "DIAGRAMS"

In a new exhibition at Ca' Corner della Regina in Venice, Fondazione Prada presents "Diagrams" a project examining the visual communication of data from the 12th century to today. Conceived by AMO/OMA, the architectural studio founded by Rem Koolhaas, the exhibition runs from May 10 to November 24, 2025.

Spanning the ground and first floors of the 18th-century palazzo, "Diagrams" features over 300 items—rare documents, publications, digital images, and videos—from varied geographical and cultural contexts. The materials are arranged thematically around nine primary topics: Built Environment, Health, Inequality, Migration, Environment, Resources, War, Truth, and Value.

Koolhaas notes that diagrams have been "an almost permanent tool" in human communication, citing examples from South Africa dating back 40,000 BCE. "Regardless of the medium, a diagram serves didactic (explanatory) or suggestive (persuasive) purposes", he explains, highlighting their interdisciplinary nature and independence from language.

The exhibition begins with the work of African-American sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963), whose charts for "The Exhibit of American Negroes" at the 1900 Paris Exposition demonstrate how infographics can function as tools for social inquiry and activism. This provides context for exploring how visual representations have addressed—or omitted—issues of social justice, racism, and identity.

Another section focuses on Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), whose visual communication in the medical field led to legislative healthcare improvements. This case introduces a collection of documents related to medical science from ancient cultures worldwide, illustrating that infographics are neither recent nor exclusively Western innovations.

The exhibition also examines war-related visualizations, including Charles Joseph Minard's (1781-1871) diagram of Napoleon's Russian campaign—considered a milestone in data representation. This connects to propaganda graphics from 20th-century regimes and contemporary investigative work.

The 19th century, often called the Golden Age of Infographics, serves as a starting point for analyzing how data communication has evolved. American feminist educator Emma Willard (1787-1870), who created innovative maps of time in her textbooks, represents early efforts to translate information into accessible visual forms.

Early infographics related to astronomy, geography, and religion—designed for intellectual elites in European, Arab, Asian, and Mesoamerican cultures—reveal shared cultural horizons across ancient civilizations. The exhibition also covers Alexander von Humboldt's (1769-1859) ecological graphics, which provide historical context for contemporary environmental discourse.

The exhibition includes contributions from environmental design and urban planning platforms like Atmos Lab and Transsolar, plus work from investigative practices and scholars Theo Deutinger and SITU Research. AMO/OMA's own architectural practice features prominently, demonstrating how the studio has integrated diagrammatic forms since the 1970s.

An illustrated book, published by Fondazione Prada and designed by Irma Boom, accompanies the exhibition. It includes an introduction by Miuccia Prada, a conversation between Rem Koolhaas and Katya Inozemtseva, and essays by international scholars.

The project resulted from extensive research by Fondazione Prada in collaboration with Koolhaas and Giulio Margheri, Associate Architect at OMA, with additional expertise from Sietske Fransen of the Max Planck Institute for Art History.

Drawing on philosopher Gilles Deleuze's assertion that "the diagram is the possibility of a fact, not the fact itself", the exhibition ultimately invites visitors to consider diagrams as active agents that shape human thought—and potentially function as instruments of misconception or propaganda.