With the exhibition Journey through the City, The San Diego Museum of Art realizes two major achievements. The first is to open a new space devoted to welcoming visitors and interpreting art—an ever changing environment dedicated to exploring the full spectrum of approaches to the arts and, of course, our Permanent Collection. Secondly, we begin a very important and fruitful collaboration with the Centre Pompidou in Paris, France, through which we will develop many major long-term projects.

Journey through the City offers children and families a whole world to discover as they invent their own cities and explore this imaginary environment. With more than a thousand pieces of different materials such as aluminum, zinc, and wood, and the guidance of our Educators, groups of all ages and origins will be able to understand, explore, and transform the urban landscape.

Miquel Navarro (Valencia, b. 1945) has always been interested in how cities can suggest completely different meanings, depending on “the eye” of each individual. The Centre Pompidou in Paris commissioned the Spanish sculptor in 1994, and, interested in the ways urban spaces are continually remodeled time and again, Navarro created Journey through the City. It was presented in their gallery devoted to young audiences and as part of the exhibition La Ville: Art and Architecture in Europe, 1870–1993. Since then, this project has been presented in 25 sites in France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, South Korea, China, and Mexico.

Upon entering Journey through the City, visitors will find an open plan that can be read in a wide range of ways: it can be industrial, as there are factory chimneys; it can be traditional, as there are public squares ; elsewhere are skyscrapers or ordinary houses. But this is only the start of the game. The question for visitors becomes: how to interact with “a vocabulary for a city” yet to be invented. Out of this, new urban landscapes will emerge every day.

The exhibition includes examples and representations of current, innovative architecture and urban planning practices, including the creation of the High Line park in New York City by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and James Corner Field Operations; the redesign of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. by Gustafson Guthrie Nichol; the San Diego Urbanist’s contribution to the international Parking Day; the redesign of the Liffey Boardwalk; and Petco Park stadium, designed by HOK Sport and Antoine Predock.

Workshops for Families

Free, educator-led, drop-in workshops occur every Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Group workshops are available by appointment Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

Workshop Schedule

Workshop Themes