PDF file - Deutsches Architektur Museum

INFORMATION May 23, 2012 Frankfurt/Main 

The Architectural Model – Tool, Fetish, Small Utopia 

Elia Zanghelis, Rem Koolhaas / OMA: Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin, 1987–90 

© DAM, Hagen Stier, © 2012 OMA: VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 

May 25 – September 16, 2012 

Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) 

Schaumainkai 43, 60596 Frankfurt am Main 

OPENING: 

Thu, May 24, 2012, 7 p.m. 

PRESS CONFERENCE: 

Wed, May 23, 2012, 11 a.m. 

GUIDED TOURS: 

On Saturdays and Sundays, 2 p.m. 

OPENING HOURS: 

Tues., Thurs.-Sat. 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. / Wed. 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. / 

Sun. 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.; closed on Mondays 

THE ARCHITECTURAL MODEL – TOOL, FETISH, SMALL UTOPIA 2 

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EXHIBITION 3 

PUBLICATION 6 

IMPRINT 6 

COMING SOON / CONTACT 9 

PRESS INFORMATION page 1

The Architectural Model – Tool, Fetish, Small Utopia Frankfurt / Main, 23/05/2012 

THE ARCHITECTURAL MODEL – TOOL, FETISH, SMALL UTOPIA 

Extending over all the levels of the Museum the exhibition demonstrates how architects have worked with 

architectural models since about 1920, and highlights the latest developments. Following intensive 

research work enabled by the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain architectural models will be placed in a 

new light, namely within the context of how architects employ them - as tools, fetishes or to try out 

utopias. 

THE ARCHITECTURAL MODEL 

Architectural models, and not as is generally the case the buildings, which were planned with the help of 

the model, are the focal point of this exhibition. There have been architectural models for many centuries, 

but since the early 20th century they have been produced in greater numbers and for more diverse 

purposes than ever before. There are several reasons for this: The most important is the discovery of 

photography and the development of printing techniques for photo reproduction. If an effective photo of a 

model can be made, in other words it serves as a “photo model”, the effort of making the model is doubly 

worthwhile: Books, magazines, and even films can draw attention to the photo far more easily than to 

the real model. For this reason lots of models in the exhibition are contrasted with photos depicting the 

model as the architect wished to see it published. 

TOOL 

There are models without which a planned architectural project would never have been realized. Without 

Frei Otto’s soap film, structural engineering and surveying models, many of his projects would not have 

been feasible. A model can also be a seductive tool the architect uses to win over the client or the public. A 

model is more graphic than plans. However, models can lie as well. Moreover, most architectural models 

are more reduced, more abstract than the “doubtful cases” in the showcase on the left. Architectural 

models are frequently promises, leave later design and construction-related developments open, and not 

perfectionist miniatures. 

FETISH 

Many models display more than a miniaturized copy. They are made of precious, sometimes remarkable 

materials, show an ideal state of affairs, and not reality. They are a fetish and “substitute activity”: Many 

models are more convincing than the project that was actually realized. 

SMALL UTOPIA 

In the 1960s in particular utopias architecture could not be big enough. Giant urban utopias were to be 

the architectural companions of social utopias. Models often portrayed these visionary designs. 

PRESSEINFORMATION Seite 2


HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EXHIBITION 

102 models from the DAM 

Some 300 exhibits will feature in the show and one third of them stems from the DAM collection. Based 

on acquisitions made by the founding director Heinrich Klotz (between 1979 and 1989) the DAM today 

boasts one of the world’s largest, most renowned collections of architectural models. At the last count the 

DAM has in its possession 1,240 models by 419 architects from 25 countries. Highlights being displayed 

in the exhibition for the first time in years include the suspension models by Frei Otto but also two 

enormous models each measuring twelve square meters by Rem Koolhaas representing urban 

development plannings in Paris La Villette (1983) and Melun-Sénart (1987) respectively. 

200 loans 

Two thirds of the exhibits are loans, for example from the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the FRAC 

Centre Orléans, Deutsches Museum Munich and several Berlin architectural collections. Many architects 

are also lending the Museum models: for example, some 50 working models of the Prada Store in Tokyo 

from Herzog & de Meuron (Basel) will be displayed. Styrodur models by Axel Schultes and Charlotte 

Frank from Berlin will be shown in magical looking dark, back-lit cabinets. 

Some of the items on loan, including three models from the MoMA in New York, are truly extraordinary: 

the oldest preserved model by Mies van der Rohe of Resor House (1937–47) and an architectural model in 

bronze (1955) of the famous Seagram high-rise also by Mies van der Rohe. Likewise in New York opposite 

the Seagram Building stands Lever House (1949–52), the first skyscraper with a curtain wall façade. Its 

model from 1952/53 will also be traveling to the DAM from the MoMA. 

Works by the Berlin architect Sergius Ruegenberg, who in the 1970s produced wondrous collage-like 

models from newspaper cuttings and bits of cardboard, stand for the counter position, the rough, trashy 

model. 

Many “premiers” 

Numerous models were tracked down in attics, warehouses and model-building workshops, and will be 

on show in the DAM exhibition for the first time. A particularly spectacular discovery is a spiral-shaped 

high-rise model from 1963/64, which architect Conrad Roland had stored at a Berlin removal firm for the 

last 24 years. It was nonetheless in outstanding condition. What at first sight is an unusual and utopian 

looking rotated shape is one of the most original contributions to the principle of suspended buildings and 

at the time represented a totally new approach to high-rise building. The model “functions” in exactly the 

same way as the planned edifice: A tensile structure supports and at the same time stabilizes the 

construction. 



Materials: Wood, board, metal, wax, melted polystyrene, soap sud… 

The exhibition shows models made of a great variety of materials. Models are traditionally made of wood 

or cardboard. In the DAM, however, models made of metal will also be on display: a copper model by 

Aldo Rossi, a silver-plated bronze cast by BeL-Architekten. Amongst the most curious objects are wax 

models, which were formed in a water basin, and polystyrene models that architect Franz Krause melted 

using a burning candle. Visitors can adopt a hands-on approach to model boxes by Frei Otto and 

experiment with sand and soap suds: The soap film models played a major role in Frei Otto’s 

development of lightweight tent constructions. 

3D printer 

A 3D printer was acquired especially for the exhibition. Developed several years ago this technology 

permits architectural models to be produced of plastic in a single operation. The 3D printer is operated in 

cooperation with the Technical University in Kaiserslautern. In public printing workshops staged together 

with the Städel School at weekends in the exhibition rooms, produces small duplicates of one of the most 

famous models in the DAM collection, the Einstein Tower by the architect Erich Mendelsohn (1887– 

1953). 

Architectural models in films 

The auditorium will be transformed into a movie theater during the exhibition. We will be screening the 

artistic film project “Mock-Ups in Close-Up” – a montage of scenes from feature films lasting over three 

hours and including architectural models. In 141 films, beginning with Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927), 

Gabu Heindl and Drehli Robnik tracked down architectural models, which often played a major role in 

the plot, frequently by being destroyed with great to-do. 

In architecture studios 

Specially for the exhibition, photographs were taken in three architecture studios of how the models are 

kept “in their natural environment”, as it were, in other words in the place where they were made: At 

Barkow Leibinger Architekten in Berlin they are hung like reliefs on the wall, at Schultes Frank 

Architekten, likewise in Berlin, they tower up on a shelf and at the Frankfurt architects Meixner Schlüter 

Wendt they stand in and on glass show cases, arranged as a mine of related ideas for designs. 

Mock-up collection of a model builder 

Established 1947 in Zurich, Zaborowsky-Modellbau is one of the most respected model building firms. 

Some 80 model fragments from the latter’s mock-up collection have been made available for the first time 

for the exhibition. They enable a view behind the perfectly crafted facades. One can imagine how the 

models came to be so precise. 



Individual research, corrected origin, catalog 

Individual research was not only conducted on most of the models from the DAM collection but also on 

many of the loaned items, so as to reconstruct the circumstances under which they came about: What 

exactly was the purpose the models were built for? What materials were used, and why? Who built the 

models? Which publications carried images of the models, and to what extent do the photos contribute to 

interpreting the models (and naturally the planned buildings)? 

In some cases the ascription and dating were corrected. The history and therefor the provenience of one 

of the most important and famous models of the DAM collection has to be revised: it can´t be labeled as 

an original model of the twenties anymore. More will be announced at the press conference. 

WITH MODELS BY 

Raimund Abraham; Emilio Ambasz; Paul Andreu; Archigram; Barkow Leibinger; Otto Bartning; BeL; 

Béla Berec; Helge Bofinger; Gottfried Böhm; Roger Boltshauser; Donato Bramante \ Bernd Grimm, Arno 

Brandlhuber und Bernd Kniess; Jean-Louis Chanéac; Lluís Clotet \ Oscar Tusquets Blanca; Theodore 

Conrad; Dieter Cöllen; Richard J. Dietrich; Wolfgang Döring; Peter Eisenman \ Richard Serra; EM2N; 

Klaus Ethner; Fink + Jocher; Norman Foster; Giefer und Mäckler; Hermann Giesler; Gigon \ Guyer, 

Herbert Goertz; Bruce Goff; Julian Harrap; Haus-Rucker-Co; Henn Architekten; Herzog & de Meuron; 

Nikolaus Hirsch, Wolfgang Lorch, Andrea Wandel; Hans Hollein; HPP; Hufnagel Pütz Rafaelian; 

Friedensreich Hundertwasser; Christoph Ingenhoven; Arata Isozaki; Walter Jonas; Louis I. Kahn; 

Kandor Model Makers; Christian Kerez; Josef Paul Kleihues; Hans Köhler; Rüdiger Kramm; Kraus 

Schönberg; Franz Krause; Andreas Kretzer \ Dennis Röver; Rob Krier; Uwe Laske; Lederer Ragnarsdóttir 

Oei; Heinrich Lindenbeck; Christoph Mäckler; Peter Märkli; Mass Studies; Merete Mattern; Marcel 

Meili; Markus Peter, Meixner Schlüter Wendt; Erich Mendelsohn; Mies van der Rohe; Charles Moore \ 

August Perez & Associates; Rem Koolhaas \ OMA; Frei Otto; Oda Pälmke; Pei, Cob, Freed & Partner; 

Dumeng Raffainer; Heinz Rasch; Wolfgang Rathke; Bruno Reichlin \ Fabio Reinhart; Eckhart Reissinger; 

Conrad Roland; Aldo Rossi; Sergius Ruegenberg; Giovanni Sacchi; Alfred Schmid; Axel Schultes und 

Charlotte Frank; Wolfgang Schulze, Hans Uwe Schultze; Otto Ernst Schweizer \ Anton Schäffer; SITE; 

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Robert A. M. Stern; James Stirling; Heinz Tesar; Oswald Mathias Ungers; 

Makoto Sei Watanabe; Karl Wimmenauer; Christof Wurzer; Peter Zumthor; Zaborowsky Modellbau. 



PUBLICATION 

IMPRINT 

Peter Cachola Schmal / Oliver Elser (Ed.): 

THE ARCHITECTURAL MODEL – TOOL, FETISH, 

SMALL UTOPIA 

Published by Verlag Scheidegger & Spiess, 2012 

English / German; 360 pages, with approx. 500 coloured 

images; format 23,5 x 30 cm, hard cover 

With contributions by Oliver Elser, Rolf Sachsse, Peter Cachola 

Schmal, Michael Stöneberg, Philip Ursprung, Sandra Wagner- 

Conzelmann and Christiane Weber. 

With photos by Hagen Stier, Uwe Dettmar a.o. 

ISBN: 978-3858813466 

Bookstore prize: 65,- EUR 

Museum shop prize: 49,- EUR 

The Architectural Model – Tool, Fetish, Small Utopia 

May 25 – September 16, 2012 at Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) 

An exhibition of Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) 

Director DAM Peter Cachola Schmal 

Curator Oliver Elser 

Assistant of the curator Teresa Fankhänel 

Curatorial assistance Michael Stöneberg, Philipp Sturm 

Exhibition organization Michael Stöneberg, Teresa Fankhänel, Philipp Sturm 

Student assistants Annette Abel, Christian Guckelsberger, Paulina Kasprzyk, Markus Michel, Denise 

Penninger, Myriam Pflugmann, Franziska Stein, Michael Weyck 

Model conservation Christian Walter 

Head of archives Inge Wolf 

Public Relations Brita Köhler, Stefanie Lampe 

Education curator Christina Budde 

Exhibition design Deserve Raum und Medien Design Wiesbaden / Berlin Mario Lorenz, Lars Schneider 

DAM Corporate Design Gardeners Frankfurt am Main 

Registrar Wolfgang Welker 

Director’s office Inka Plechaty 

Administrationg Yvonne Künstler, Jacqueline Brauer 



Installation Marina Barry, Paolo Brunino, Ulrich Diekmann, Enrico Hirsekorn, Caroline Krause, Eike 

Laeuen, Joachim Müller-Rahn, Michael Reiter, Angela Tonner, Beate Voigt, Herbert Warmuth, Gerhard 

Winkler, Valerian Wolenik unter der Leitung von Christian Walter 

Collaboration 

Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main Kunstgeschichtliches Institut 

Seminar „History of the Architectural Model (15 th – 21 st Century)“ Summer Semester 2010 

Prof. Dr. Christian Freigang, Oliver Elser 

with the students Annette Abel, Petra Bausch Sandra Becker, Marilena Demarez-Bandeh, Sarah Göbel, 

Eva-Maria Kiefer-Bärz, Christian Körner, Adela Kutschke, Despina Stella Perrou-Asghari, Heinz Peschl, 

Myriam Pflugmann, Gerhild Riemann, Chantal Rischard, Helmut Schlephorst 

Technische Universität Kaiserslautern 

MakerBot Thing-O-Matic, 3D prints of the Einstein Tower Edtion, test prints of the Newton cenotaph 

Jun.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Andreas Kretzer (Digital Tools), Dipl.-Ing. Dennis Röver (Structural Design and 

Construction) 

Test prints of the Newton cenotaph at the digital laboratory of the TU Kaiserslautern 

Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dirk Bayer (Design and Design Methods), Andreas Stengele (Laboratory Head), Sergej 

Ruppel (Technical Model Making), Dipl. Ing. Maximilian Wienecke (Design and Design Methods) 

Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste Städelschule Frankfurt am Main 

Operation of the MakerBot Thing-O-Matic during the exhibition 

Architekturklasse der Städelschule under the direction of Prof. Johan Bettum 

Lenders 

Akademie der Künste Berlin 

Architekturmuseum der Technischen Universität München 

Emilio Ambasz New York / Bologna 

Barkow Leibinger Architekten Berlin 

Berlinische Galerie – Landesmuseum für Moderne Kunst Fotografie und Architektur Berlin 

Boltshauser Architekten AG Zürich 

Brandlhuber+ Berlin 

Deutsches Museum München 

EM2N Zürich 

FRAC Centre Orléans 

Atelier Hans Hollein Wien 

Herzog & de Meuron Basel 

Christian Kerez Zürich 

Meixner Schlüter Wendt Architekten Frankfurt am Main 

Münchner Stadtmuseum 

Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main 

Oda Pälmke Berlin 

Wolfgang Rathke und Rathke Architekten Wuppertal 

Conrad Roland Holualoa Hawaii 

Südwestdeutsches Archiv für Architektur und Ingenieurbau (saai) Karlsruhe 

Schultes Frank Architekten Berlin 

Technische Universität Braunschweig Institut für Tragwerksentwurf 

Technische Universität Darmstadt Fachbereich Architektur / Kunstgeschichte 

The Museum of Modern Art New York 

Ungers Archiv für Architekturwissenschaft Köln 

Zaborowsky Modellbau Zürich 

Fabian Zimmermann Berlin / Garnpoint 



Imprint Catalog 

This catalog is published in conjunction with the exhibition “The Architectural Model – Tool, Fetish, 

Small Utopia” (May 25 – September 16, 2012) 

Deutsches Architekturmuseum, Department of Culture and Science, City of Frankfurt am Main 

© 2012 Deutsches Architekturmuseum / Frankfurt am Main and Verlag Scheidegger & Spiess AG, Zürich 

Editors: Oliver Elser, Peter Cachola Schmal 

Editing: Philipp Sturm, Teresa Fankhänel 

Model Photography: Uwe Dettmar / Frankfurt am Main), Michael Heinrich / München), Werner 

Huthmacher / Berlin, Norbert Miguletz / Frankfurt am Main, Bernd Seeland / Karlsruhe, Thomas Spier / 

Berlin, Hagen Stier / Hamburg 

Copyediting German: Karoline Mueller-Stahl 

Translations: Lisa Rosenblatt, Nick Grindell, Judith Rosenthal, Bronwen Saunders, Jeremy Gaines 

Proofreading German: Karoline Mueller-Stahl 

Proofreading English: Charlotte Eckler 

Graphic Design and Typesetting: VERY, Frankfurt am Main 

Lithography, Printing and Binding: DZA Druckerei zu Altenburg GmbH, Thüringen 

Made possible by: 

The background research, exhibition, and catalog were made possible by a generous grant from the 

Kulturfonds Frankfurt Rhein-Main. 

With kind support of: 



Press images for announcements and reports during the exhibition period at www.dam-online.de 

October 6, 2012 – January 13, 2013 

Druot, Lacaton & Vassal - Transformation of a 60s residential highrise 

October 13, 2012 – January 13, 2013 

Johannes Peter Hölzinger 

November 17, 2012 – January 20, 2013 

International Highrise Award 2012 

DEUTSCHES ARCHITEKTURMUSEUM 

Press and Public Relations 

Schaumainkai 43, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany, www.dam-online.de 

Brita Köhler, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) 

T +49 (0)69 212 36318 \ F +49 (0)69 212 36386 

brita.koehler@stadt-frankfurt.de 

Stefanie Lampe, B.A. / Assistence 

T +49 (0)69 212 31326 \ F +49 (0)69 212 36386 



stefanie.lampe@stadt-frankfurt.de

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