PROJECT MANAGEMENT Florian Kobler, Cologne - IDATBCN

Recommendations

Info

P 20.21 16 SUNFLOWERS AND STARS It is not an accident that this brief tour around the premises of Architecture Now! 6 ends with Kirinda, Make It Right, and the smallest building in the book, the Teahouse Tetsu. The attention of the press is often focused on the most expensive and visible works of contemporary architecture, such as 2008’s star attractions in Beijing. Those buildings, the Main Olympic Stadium and the nearby Watercube, are featured here, as is the spectacular BMW Welt by Coop Himmelb(l)au, but it seems clear that a consciousness of other reasons for architecture to exist has emerged and been expressed with humor by unexpected figures such as Terunobu Fujimori. Fujimori is interested in what he calls an “architecture of humanity” not related so much to Japanese tradition as to the earth itself. It might seem logical that stars of contemporary architecture should align themselves with the firmament of Hollywood, as appears to have happened with Make It Right in New Orleans, but designing homes for people who have none is a far different exercise from creating playgrounds for millionaires. Contemporary architecture, despite its rather durable nature (at least as compared to the latest issue of Vanity Fair), often ignores the fundamentals of existence, searching for a glamorous effect, an eye-catching surprise. The fact that an artist of the significance of Anselm Kiefer feels that his ideas can best be expressed through the forms of architecture is an interesting comment on the state of things—his vision is one of ruins, of post-Apocalyptic sunflowers, growing out of shattered concrete and fallen stars. Contemporary art has long seemed to be searching for itself, reaching out for a soul lost in the transition from the figure to splash of paint, or more recently the video installation. Might it be that contemporary architecture in its full variety comes closest to expressing hope, fears, excesses, and triumphs, of crystallizing the moment? The “liquid modernity” in all its splendid commercial superficiality evoked by Zygmunt Bauman is surely present in this book, but so too is the weighty concrete of Bergen-Belsen or the ethereal monument to March 11 in front of Atocha Station. And if shipping containers gathered together for a two-day music festival in Rio, or 150 kilometers of wooden planks burning in the Nevada desert, are part of the equation, then let them burn. And what of an architect who exists only in “Second Life,” designing virtual buildings for a real university? At the other extreme, restoring a 14th-century building in Zuoz, Switzerland, must also be seen as an integral part of the process and evolution of contemporary architecture. If there is an affirmation here, it is that understanding architecture means not excluding the past or even the most ephemeral expressions of the present. The contemporary architecture seen in this book spans across history and hopes, from places of religion to places of sport and commerce, from the largest building in the world to one of the smallest. Architecture is alive. Philip Jodidio, Grimentz, 2008
16 + 17 PTW Architects, The Watercube, National Swimming Center, Beijing, China, 2003–08 INTRODUCTION 1 Zygmunt Bauman, “Value Dilemmas as a Challenge in the Practice and Concepts of Supervision and Coaching,” ANSE-conference, May 7, 2004, Leiden, The Netherlands. Born in 1925, Dr. Zygmunt Bauman, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Leeds, is one of the best-known sociologists and philosophers in the world through publications such as Liquid Modernity (2000). He was awarded the European Amalfi Prize for Sociology and Social Sciences in 1989 and 1990, and the Theodor W. Adorno Award by the City of Frankfurt in 1998. 2 Edwin Heathcote, “Modernism Minus Utopia,” The Financial Times, December 29, 2007. 3 Alan Riding, “An Artist Sets Up House(s) at the Grand Palais,” The New York Times, May 31, 2007. 4 Mark Wigley, in Deconstructivist Architecture, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1988. 5 Nicolai Ouroussoff, “Next to MoMA, Reaching for the Stars,” The New York Times, November 15, 2007. 6 Terunobu Fujimori, Fujimori Terunobu Architecture, Toto Shuppan, Tokyo, 2007. 7 Ibid. 17
Page 1 and 2: IMPRINT PROJECT MANAGEMENT Florian
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS 8 INTRODUCTION Einleitung/
Page 5 and 6: 1 Olafur Eliasson, The New York Cit
Page 7 and 8: years, in charge of both the Akron
Page 9 and 10: 6 Peter Zumthor, St. Niklaus von Fl
Page 11 and 12: 10 + 11 Jean Nouvel, Tour de Verre,
Page 13 and 14: 13 UNStudio, Hotel Castell, Zuoz, S
Page 15: 15 Valerio Olgiati, Atelier Bardill
Page 20 and 21: P 518.519 A large square in front o
Page 22 and 23: P 520.521
Page 24 and 25: The interiors of the building are f
Page 26: P 524.525 PEKKA VAPAAVUORI Arkkiteh
Page 29 and 30: Green-patinated copper cladding and
Page 31: PEKKA VAPAAVUORI

PROJECT MANAGEMENT Florian Kobler, Cologne - IDATBCN

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?