A new exhibition at Sir John Soane's Museum in London, Mind Games, celebrates the work of Dutch artist and architect Madelon Vriesendorp, whose playful, sexually charged drawings of anthropomorphised skyscrapers helped shape a landmark vision of modern architecture. The show marks Vriesendorp winning the 2025 Soane Medal, awarded to figures who have furthered public understanding of architecture, and highlights her role as co-founder of the influential firm OMA alongside her former husband Rem Koolhaas.

The exhibition's first section features Vriesendorp's illustrations of New York landmarks, including her well-known 1975 drawing Flagrant Délit, which depicts the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings in bed together, interrupted by the RCA Building. This image famously appeared on the cover of Koolhaas's 1978 book Delirious New York, which argued that Manhattan's chaotic, capitalist growth produced richer, more human architecture than the rigid utopian ideals of modernists such as Le Corbusier. The exhibition's second part shows a shift in tone, presenting recent sculptures Vriesendorp has made from recycled materials, such as egg cartons and milk bottles, reflecting a more optimistic, environmentally conscious response to the climate crisis.