Brighton-based artist Claudia Fontes has been selected as the winner of the 2026 Brookfield Properties x AWITA open call, with a new exhibition on view at 100 Bishopsgate. Titled Glasshouse Stories, the installation opened on 16 March and runs until 15 January 2027, turning the building’s reception into a space inspired by plant life and botanical histories.
Drawing on the recent relocation of plants from Kew Gardens’ Victorian Palm House, Fontes uses 3D scans of entangled root systems to create resin sculptural forms. These are presented as pictogram-like structures, reflecting both the movement of plant species and the layered histories tied to their circulation, particularly those introduced to Britain during the colonial period.
The exhibition centres on two large-scale works, Choir and Hip, installed within the glass-fronted lobby. Reimagining the space as a kind of contemporary glasshouse, Fontes invites visitors to consider themes of displacement and resilience, as well as the relationship between human and nonhuman forms of life.
Selected from more than 60 submissions responding to the theme In between: holding space for pause, play and possibility, the commission continues Brookfield Properties and AWITA’s initiative to support women working in sculpture and curatorial practice. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
