deconarch

I am glad to present you another impressive photo artist whose work is focusing on architecture, cityscapes, urban sceneries,… Brazilian photographer Tuca Vieira gives us insight into his work and tells us why chose photography, what literature means to him and how it influences his work with the camera, and how he met Oscar Niemeyer.

Tuca, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!

© photos Tuca Vieira

Tuca Vieira: Centro

Why photography? How and why did you become a photographer?

I always wanted to have an instrument of expression. I have tried music and drawing before and now I realize that I was trying to say the same things. It is important to see the camera just as an instrument.
I have made an important travel in Europe when I was 16. I have visited many countries, alone with a backpack. At that time it was more difficult than today, I was the first in my family to visit Europe since the Italian immigrants and I wanted to share this experience with them. I had just a fake Yashica camera and a few rolls of film. I had to think before shooting. I became photographer at this moment.

Tuca Vieira: Vale do Anhangabaú

You studied languages and literature first. Why did you decide to become a photographer?

I have decided to be a photographer before the university. And when I had to choose a course, I thought language and literature would give me a good aesthetic, social and historical background. Many photographers I admire didn’t study photography. I love literature; writers are the best image creators I know. Kafka, Jorge Luis Borges and José Saramago are always on my mind when I think about photography.

What does photography mean to you, what possibilities does it offer?

Photography is like a passport. It puts you in some interesting situations that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. Sometimes I feel that what I have experienced, the people I meet, are more important than the photographs I take. In the future I am not sure if I will leave a good photographic work, but I will have many stories to tell.

How do you choose your motives?

Photography is a passion. I guide myself by the pleasure of being on the streets. And sometimes I feel that the subject chooses the photographer. I live in the centre of São Paulo. The city is not as beautiful as Rio but it is a fascinating city, full of creativity and energy. Unlike Rio, where the beauty is everywhere, São Paulo is a place where you are forced to find the beauty in order to support the urban chaos. It makes a wonderful photographic subject.

Tuca Vieira: Centro

Who / What are your role models? Who / What influenced your work?

I try to bring to the photography what I learned with literature, cinema, and music. It is more influent to me than photography. A good poem is full of beautiful images. I try to say to young photographers (at least younger then me) that there is not much to learn with other photographers. To read a good book is the best photo lesson I know.

Why architecture photos? What are your ambitions with your photographs?

I don’t know if I am exactly an architecture photographer. Sometimes I feel myself closer to the landscape photographers. But instead of nature, I look to the cities. I don’t know if it is the same in English or German, but In Portuguese we call a big city “stone jungle” (selva de pedra).

[[yes, in German there's quite the same expression - Großstadtdschungel / jungle of the city - an idea, that became predominant in the 1910s and 1920s in Berlin and can often be found in Expressionist texts and poems. In English I heard say "urban jungle", though I don't know about the literature historical connotations.]]

Tuca Vieira: VVTs, Moscou

You mostly photographed São Paulo so far – but I take it that you are now exploring new cities, S. Petersburg, Berlin,…

Exactly. I have been photographing São Paulo during the last years I now I feel that it is time to explore different places. I am going to Berlin this year for a six months period. I am curious to see what will happen. São Paulo is my city and I love to see the work of a foreign photographer about São Paulo. Now I will be a foreigner in Berlin.

Did you shoot the major part of your São Paulo portrays from “above”, i.e. from an airplane?

Some are from the top of buildings, others from helicopter. But I also have a black and white work, more intimate and personal, where I try to make some “street photography”. It is important to me to be on the street level, closer to the people, even to understand the city from above.

Most of your photos are without humans. Is that intentional?

ot intentional. I don’t think much about this. But even without people, I try to show the human presence behind the buildings. A city is perhaps the most complex human work ever made. I see a great human drama in the city shape.

What does architecture mean to you?

I lived in Belo Horizonte, in state of Minas Gerais when I was teenager, and I will never forget the impact of visiting the works of Niemeyer in the Pampulha complex or the colonial cities like Ouro Preto and Sabará. The richness of baroque and modernist architecture in Brazil (and its relations) is a wonderful example of what this country can offer to the world.

You portrayed Oscar Niemeyer – any experiences you want to share about meeting him?

Tuca Vieira: escritório, Rio de Janeiro

Oscar Niemeyer is one the artists I most admire. Not only because of his architecture, but also his example as human being. The first time I went to his office to portrait him was not easy. I have introduced myself, saying I am a great admirer of him. After two or three pictures he sad to me: ok enough. I was disappointed until I put the camera back in the bag. Than we started to chat and we had a wonderful conversation about Brazil, about life. He made me think what I was I was doing there. It was not just about the pictures. He always repeats that architecture is not important. That day I realized that also photography is not important. To meet someone like Niemeyer is much more important.

What – in your opinion – is characteristical of your work and your working method?

Composition is important to me. I try to find a balance in the frame. I always have in my mind that every photograph is just an interpretation of the subject. The nature of the photography, its two dimensions, the frame format, request a different way of approaching a subject. It is beautiful to say that the camera is an extension of the eye but I see the camera more as a scratch book.

Where can we see your works? Exhibitions coming up?

I have a website, www.fototucavieira.com.br. Now I am planning this trip to Berlin and it would be wonderful to show my work in Germany.

Tuca Vieira, thank you very much for the interview!!

Tuca Vieira (*1974), a young Brazilian photographer,  captures amazing shots of his native city Sao Paulo (but not only).

© photos Tuca Vieira

Tuca Vieira, Viaduto Santa Ifigênia

After having studied + graduated in languages and literature, he worked at Museu da Imagem e do Som and n-imagens photo agency. Since 1991 he is professional photographer,  among others as photographic reporter for Folha de S. Paulo. Vieira has studied with photographers Cláudio Feijó, Eduardo Castanho, Nair Benedicto and Eder Chiodetto.

Tuca Vieira, Aeroporto de Congonhas

Tuca Vieira, Avenida Paulista

Since 2002, Vieira realizes his own projects about cityscape, architecture and urbanism in São Paulo and has received several awards. He has already participated in numerous exhibitions, in Brazil/South America, North America and Europe (e.g. his works were shown in “Multiple City”, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich last year).

Vieira’s photos show impressive views of the city, and reveal its structure – in often amazingly aesthetic pictures.

I noticed his work first in the context of an exhibition project by the Heidelberg Kunstverein: Islands and Ghettos, where the photo below – Paraisópolis – was shown on a magazine cover as an example of urbanization developments in South America (Ghettoisation, fragmentation into isolated urban communities, etc.).

I will report more about Tuca Vieira and his work soon.

Tuca Vieira, Paraisópolis

A little far away from me, but still an exhibition worth to see:

The Maryland Gallery in St. Louis (Missouri, USA) is showing an architectural photography show:

re:vision, a solo exhibition of Ken Konchel’s architecture photographs (March 14 – April 30, 2009).

Ken Konchel: Diamonds, 2008 (Detail of the Religious Center, a geodesic dome structure by R. Buckminster Fuller, 1971, at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

Ken Konchel: Sprint Surfaces, 2008 (a)

Ken Konchel’s b/w photographs show architecture in an abstracted, graphic way concentrating on form and shape, surfaces and patterns.  Mostly zoomed in on details, his buildings do not reveal themselves at once,  sometimes don’t even appear as part of a building at once. The photographer plays and arranges lines, planes, angles, curves in an an unconventional way, challening the viewer to new and unexpected perspectives. Thus architecture suddenly isn’t the common, being-around-us-every-day functional structures we hardly notice anymore, but an interesting sight worth a second or third glance.

As the photographer states, he is “drawn to the expressive power of buildings.” His intention is “to make  compelling photographs that remove the context and distill architecture to nothing but relationships of shape, line, pattern, detail, tone and/or surface.”

Why this interest in architecture? Konchel says:

Ken Konchel: Immacolata, 2008 (b)

“Architecture forms the physical environment of our lives.  It connects us to the past, it helps define our relationships to one another, and it gives us a sense of place and identity.  Architecture also embodies our values and expresses our individual and collective aspirations.  And most importantly, architecture enhances and advances our creative legacy.  Yet something so integral to the sense of who we are – something that contributes immeasurably to our quality of life – is often dismissed as mundane, taken for granted, or at worst ignored.  My ambition is to raise awareness of and appreciation for architecture by presenting it as engaging and dynamic geometric arrangements and interactions.  Through my photography, I hope to convey the value of patience and observation, and the power of making careful choices.”

……………………………………………………………………….

re:vision

An exhibition of photographs by Ken Konchel

Maryland Gallery, St. Louis, MO

March 14 – April 30, 2009

…………………………

(a) Ken Konchel: Sprint Surfaces, 2008 :

Detail of the glass façade of The Sprint Center in Kansas City, by 360 Architecture, Ellerbe Becket, HOK Sport & Rafael Architects, 2007; it also includes the metal-paneled College Basketball Experience, home to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame)

(b) Ken Konchel: Immacolata, 2008:

Detail of the Church of the Immacolata, by Bernard McMahon, 1967

Who’d have thought so – Facebook is not about socializing only: the more you keep an eye out for art, the more interesting positions you can discover. Thus I got to know a young Danish artist who brought some artists to my attention whose work is worth a closer look:

Michael á Grømma: God is in the house, Acryl + Mixed Media, 100 x 100 cm, 2007 © Michael á Grømma

Michael á Grømma, actually a graphic designer,  has found his way to painting only last year when he came back from a trip to California. These experiences there flew into his works. The paintings are collages of prints of skyline photos taken in California, mostly San Francisco.

In Februay, Grømma has his first solo exhibition coming up at Gallerie Rasmus, one of Denmark’s major galleries, in Kopenhagen.

I will report more about his work soon and I’m glad Michael consented to an email interview. (The interview is published now – read on here.)

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Kristian Vodder Svensson: Untitled, Acryl on Canvas, 100 x 200 cm

Kristian Vodder Svensson, another young Danish artist. Also represented by Gallerie Rasmus.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Ivan Andersen: The shadow out of time, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2007

Ivan Andersen (*1968) is a central figure within a new generation of Danish figurative painters. His motifs are often taken from the most common and tedious surroundings of modern Danish daily life. He captures experiences of parking lots, standard houses, living rooms, apartment houses and hot-dog stands and mixes them with surfaces and structures in the paintings which force the viewer to perceive the objects in a new and different way, which can seem very humoristic and frightening at the same time. Ivan Andersen graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2005. The same year he received the prestigious “Lille Søndergaard-Grant” (quoted Galleri Bo Bjerggaard).

I’m pleased to introduce you another artist / architect and am glad that he found the time to answer some questions!

Soavina Ramaroson (*1977) is a young architect and artist from Madagascar, residing in Paris.

Being a graduate architect, Ramaroson works as both architect and artist.His wish to improve the human conditions made him choose the profession of architecture.

During his studies, he had to do a study about urbanism which led him to the underprivileged quarters of Antananarivo, the Malgasy city where he was born. Here, he shot his photo series “vis-à-vie” which, according to Ramaroson, shows the simplicity and pragmatism, the smile and hospitality of Madagascar – a very impressive portrait.

To find out more about “vis-à-vie” and to view some photos, please go to the artist’s website.

Ramaroson has already taken part in several exhibitions, with a special focus on young + contemporary African art, in France, Germany, Africa, and Japan (for an overview please read on here).

I’m free, 80 x 120 cm, 2008

Presently his works can be seen at the “Spot on…Bamako” exhibitions at the IFA Galleries in Berlin (24.10.2008 – 11.01.2009) and Stuttgart (30. Jan. to 21. Mar. 2009).

…………………………………………………………………..

Why does an architect become artist?

Well… the right question can be « how does an artist become an architect »

But actually, I don’t consider myself as an artist or an architect, even if the diploma says that I’m DPLG (« Diplomé Par Le Gouvernement », graduate by the government).

Let’s says, I’m looking for a way… just trying to be…

How does architecture and your studies of architecture influence your artistical work?

I can say that my studies, or architecture make my work be realistic (opposite of abstract).
But, the main thing is that I use the same method when I want to create: the idea, then the drawing and finally the object…

And the other way round: does your art influence your architectural work?

Yes, I work like an architect, in a big company… Let’s say beginner, I didn’t make my proof yet. So I can not answer this question

You mostly photograph, but do you also work with other mediums or techniques? Drawing, collage, …..?

I didn’t find my way yet, so I work with what I can catch with my hands…

How did you find your medium(s)?

By luck…

What are your ambitions with your works?

I feel a need to create things I see beautiful, with sense, with messages.

How do you choose your motifs?

Let’s say, they find me…

Do you include a political / social critical connotation in your works? What is your aim?

I think I’ve been fed of everything around me, images, politic, thought… that I need to interprete and show it my way… I guess, it’s called critics… Aim? to start a dialogue.

Who / What are your role models? Who / What influenced your work?

…

Since your work also deals with urban situations: What do you think about the recent urban developments?

….

What – in your opinion – is characteristic of your work and your working method?

I’m too young to answer…

Da ich bei der Arbeit an diesem Blog – ist es Arbeit? ;-) – immer wieder interessante Entdeckungen in der Welt des WWW mache, die Link-Liste rechts aber nicht allzu viel Platz einnehmen soll und meine “Favourites” schon aus allen Nähten platzen, werde ich an dieser Stelle Links zum Thema Architektur sammeln. Ergänzungen sind natürlich sehr willkommen!

Die Liste ist ohne Wertung und wird nach und nach in mehr oder weniger regelmäßigen Abständen ergänzt werden.

While working on this blog – well, is it work? ;-) – I happen to discover interesting sites in the WWW again and again, but as the blog roll on the right isn’t to grow too big and my “favourites” is already bursting at the seams, I’m starting to collect interesting links about architecture here. Pointers and additions are very welcome, of course.

The list is sorted without valuation and will be completed step by step more or less regularly.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Architecture Magazines (German)

detail.de Das Architekturportal

Bauwelt.de

zeno.de

der Architekt (Zeitschrift des Bundes Deutscher Architekten BDA)

www.baunetz.de

www.urbanophil.net (Netzwerk für urbane Kultur)

Architecture Magazines (English)

inhabitat.com

e-architect.co.uk

Africa Architect Online

Architektur Clips

Arch +

Architecture-related Blogs (Arts, Design,…)

David Report Blog

LA Curbed

ArchiBlog

Zaha Hadid Blog

Hochparterre International / Barcelona Blog

A Daily Dose of Architecture (NY)

What a waste (what not to build – lost opportunities, wasted time, materials, money, urban & social impact)

mirage.studio.7 (Blog claiming: architecture is poetry)

Architektur- und Bau-Blog (“Zeige mir, wie du baust, und ich sage dir, wer du bist”)

Architecture Networks

MyarchN

ArchNet

For an English summary of this text please read on below

Spätestens seit der Verleihung – oder genauer: der Nicht-Verleihung – des Deutschen Fernsehpreises ist die Diskussion um Sinn oder Nicht-Sinn des Fernsehprogramms salonfähig geworden. Bei allem Respekt für Reich-Ranickis offene Kritik, die ohne Frage einen sehr wunden Punkt getroffen hat, so bin ich doch nicht uneingeschränkt seiner Meinung.

Das Fernsehen ist zu einem der bestimmenden Medien geworden, ob man dies gut finden mag oder nicht. Trotz allem kann man unter all den Nannys, Restauranttestern, Auswanderern, getauschten Frauen, Superstars… auch „gute“ Sendungen finden – ganz abgesehen von der Frage, was denn letztendlich „gute“ Fernsehsendungen sind -:

„Es gibt gute Fernsehsendungen, auf einigen (öffentlich-rechtlichen) Kanälen mehr, auf anderen (privaten) Kanälen weniger, aber es reicht, um sich jeden Tag einen schönen Fernsehabend zu machen – bis der Sandmann kommt.“

Kritisch wird es wie so oft durch das Übermaß. Wenn nur noch gekocht, gesungen, frauengetauscht, getalkt, reality-ge-soapt wird.Vielleicht ist auch dem ein oder anderen Leser der Film „Free Rainer“ ein Begriff…

Weiter will ich auf diese Diskussion nicht eingehen, da es nicht das Thema meines Blogs ist. Recht gut auf den Punkt gebracht wird die Problematik in dieser Kolumne, aus der auch das genannte Zitat stammt.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Zurück zur Architektur: Aus gegebenem Anlass möchte ich folgende Fragen in den Webspace stellen:

Wo im TV hat sich die Architektur versteckt? Gibt es empfehlenswerte Sendungen und Filme zum Thema?

Programmtipps, Meinungen, Kommentare ausdrücklich erwünscht!

Where to look for good TV series, films, … about architecture?

Opinions, comments, programme advice very welcome!

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Ein paar erste Überlegungen zum Thema:

Arte ist einer der wenigen TV-Sender, die ausdrücklich auch Architektur in ihrem Programm haben. Zum einen gibt es die Reihe „Baukunst“, auch auf DVD erhältlich, allerdings ohne Untertitel, was sehr schade ist. Bisher wurden 29 Bauwerke aus allen Epochen beleuchtet worden.

Gesehen habe ich die „Baukunst“ bisher noch nicht so oft, da sich Sendezeiten und Arbeitszeiten oft überschneiden,… Ich werde mich aber um die DVDs bemühen und Feedback geben.

Zum anderen bin ich schon häufiger bei Chic, dem Lifestylemagazin von Arte, und Metropolis hängen geblieben, die immer mal wieder verschiedene Bauten und Architekten vorstellen, meist unter Design-Aspekten. Auch hier gibt es hin und wieder Interessantes zu entdecken.

Von diesen Doku-Beiträgen in Kultursendungen abgesehen sieht es in architektonischer Hinsicht allerdings eher mau aus im TV.

Andererseits: In vielen Filmen spielt die Architektur, obwohl oft nicht wirklich bemerkt, keine unwesentliche Nebenrolle – ganz aktuell etwa James Bond beim stilechten “City-Hopping”. Ohne eindrucksvolle Bauten wären viele Szenen nur halb so effektvoll, und meistens gar nicht zu erkennen, dass es sich um London / Moskau / Siena / … handelt.

Darüber hinaus spielen ausgerechnet in Fantasy- und Horrorfilmen oft Gebäude eine wichtige Rolle. Verwunschene, verhexte, verfluchte Häuser mit zugigen Fluren, dunklen Ecken, unheimlichen Kellern, klapprigen Fensterläden gehören zum Standardrepertoire.

Fängt man erst einmal an nachzudenken, findet man plötzlich einige Beispiele – was wäre Harry Potter ohne Hogwarts, eine Rosamunde-Pilcher-Schmonzette (ja, auch ich zappe!) ohne Cornwall Manson, Sex and the City ohne stylische Apartments mit Blick auf den Central Park, ….

Ich freue mich auf eure Meinung!

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Few weeks ago a little „scandal“ happened in the German media-scape when a famous ex-TV host and „literature pope“ – that’s what he’s called as he hosted a literature show – refused to accept an award for his lifetime achievements (he’s 82 yrs) while accusing the actual TV scene being rubbish. All this happening during the taping of the festivities of the German TV Award. Consequently the discussions about sense and nonsense in TV are getting hot and I guess in their general consensus the controversies and critics can be applied to the TV scene elsewhere, too.

I think that among all those topmodels, pop idols, super talents,… you can still find “good” TV – you just have to look out for it (the question aside what actually “good” means in this context). As everywhere else it gets critical when there’s “too much” of something.

This is why I want to put the questions out there:

Where to look for good TV series, films, … about architecture?

Opinions, comments, programme advice very welcome!

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Some thoughts about the topic:

The German-French cooperation TV channel „Arte“ is one of the few channels in German TV which is thematising architecture, too. They have a series “Baukunst” / “Art of Building” having focused 29 edifices of all periods from all around the world (so far).

Furthermore, there are some lifestyle magazines presenting architecture and architects every now and then.

But apart from these short docu reports in culture programmes there’s not much architecture in TV.

On the other hand: even though not really noticed, architecture often plays an not so unimportant role in many films. Topnotch example: James Bond doing “city hopping”. Without the impressive buildings most scences wouldn’t be as striking. And often not even recognizable as London / Moscow / Siena / …

Moreover, buildings have an important part in fantasy and horror films – of all things. Enchanted, jinxed, cursed houses with draughty corridors, dark corners, mysterious cellars, rattly shutters are classical equipment of this sort of films.

And once you start thinking you happen to find numerous examples – what would be Harry Potter without Hogwarts, Sex and the City without stylish apartments with Central Park view, the average lovestory without the romantic manson, …

I’m looking forward to read your thoughts!

Was passiert, wenn ein studierter Architekt Kunst macht?

Einen habe ich auf der Art Karlsruhe 2008 entdeckt und er hat mich durch seine ausgefallene Arbeitsweise beeindruckt.

Der Schweizer Tobias Weber (*1974) ist studierter Architekt. Seine Themen sind vor allem – natürlich?! – urbane Räume. Häuser, Straßen, Brücken, Tiefgaragen, Strommasten, Autos – kurz: vom Menschen eingenommene Gebiete und die Spuren, die dies hinterlässt.

Weber hat eine ungewöhnliche Darstellungsweise gefunden:

Seine Bilder sind oft poppig-bunt in knalligen Farben, immer Ton in Ton gehalten: Leuchtgrün, Bonbonrosa, Barbie-Lila, aber auch dunkle gedeckte Töne. Darüber liegen glänzend schwarze Konturen, die wie Lakritze oder Gummi auf das Bild gelegt scheinen.

Weber “zeichnet” seine Motive mit schwarzer Acrylfarbe aus der Tube direkt auf die Baumwoll-Leinwind. Die Farbe verläuft, trocknet an und bekommt eine gummi-artige Konsistenz – zumindest wirken die Bilder so, dass man am liebsten vorsichtig mit dem Finge überprüfen möchte, ob die Farbe auch wirklich schon festgetrocknet ist (was ich natürlich auf der Art KA nicht überprüfen konnte ;).

Der Arbeitsprozess Webers erhält durch diese Methode eine handwerkliche Komponente. Denn eigentlich geht der Künstler sehr „industriell“ vor: Seine Motive stellt er am Rechner aus zuvor fotografierten Aufnahmen zusammen. Dabei werden oft Elemente aus verschiedenen Fotos zusammenkomponiert und Themen in Serien bearbeitet.
Das fertige Motiv wird in die Breite gezogen – Webers Bilder sind immer im Querformat – und auf die Leinwand übertragen. Nur die Konturen werden schließlich manuell mit der Tube „gezeichnet“. Die Signatur wird mit einer Schablone aufgebracht.

Es entstehen Bilder, die durch die kräftigen Farben und vor allem die plastisch glänzenden Konturen auffallen und anziehen. Gleichzeitig machen die Motive stutzig – Brücken, Strommasten, Auto-Straßen, ja und? Das kennen wir doch, was soll daran so schön sein, dass man es malen müsste?

Webers Motive sind die ganz normalen, alltäglichen Bilder, denen man in der westlichen Welt überall begegnen kann und die man deswegen schon gar nicht mehr „sieht“.
Seltsam eigentlich – gerade die Anblicke, denen man im dichtbesiedelten Gebiet jeden Tag begegnet, nimmt man nicht wirklich wahr, geschweige denn, dass man sie in irgendeiner Weise als „künstlerisch“ wertvoll empfindet.

Eine Kritik hat die Arbeiten als beruhigend und klar bezeichnet, eine andere hebt die spannnungsgeladene Stimmung hervor.

Auf mich wirken sie weder besonders beruhigend noch besonders beunruhigend oder spannungsvoll. Mich hat – neben den krakeligen Gummi-Konturen – vor allem Webers Ironie beeindruckt, die zumindest bei den auf der Art KA gezeigten Arbeiten zum Ausdruck kommt:
Die Reihentitel “Schönes neues Zürich” und “Homegate” sind sehr anspielungsreich.

…aber vielleicht zeigt schon diese Widersprüchlichkeit, dass viel mehr in Webers Arbeiten steckt, als es die simplen, alltäglichen Motive erwarten lassen.

http://www.tobiasweber.ch/ (Bilder alle von hier)

Ich bin auf ein französisches Architektenteam aufmerksam gemacht worden, das sehr interessant ist – Merci nach Montpellier! :-)

I heard about a French team of architects that seems to be very interesting (Thanx to Montpellier!).

Microclimax sind die Architekten Benjamin Jacquemet-Boute und Carolyn Wittendal, die seit fünf Jahren zusammenarbeiten. Sie kreieren Desgin, Architektur, Installationen und urbane Eingriffe und erarbeiten innovative Umweltkonzepte.

Microclimax are the architects Benjamin Jacquemet-Boute und Carolyn Wittendal, working together for 5 years. They create design, architecture, installations, urban interventions, and develop innovative ecological concepts..

Ihre Zielsetzungen beschreiben sie folgendermaßen / They describe their objective as follows:

Nous questionnons les rapports de l’usager à l’espace public et privé, et ceux de l’architecture et de l’urbain à leurs environnements et à leurs habitants.

(We are questioning the relations of between user and public + private space, and between architecture + urban spaces and their environments and inhabitants.)

Microclimax arbeiten mit Collage, Materialien-Mix, Hybridisierung, Umformung, Paradox…

Mircoclimax are working with collage,material remix, hybridation, transformation, paradox,…

www.microclimax.org

Weitere Informationen habe ich bisher noch nicht gefunden, aber ich bleibe dran!

Haven’t found further information so far, but I’ll keep an eye to it!

Bernard Tschumi (*1944), ein frankoschweizer Architekt, der Büros in New York und Paris unterhält, betreut heute Projekte auf der ganzen Welt, darunter etwa das neue Akropolis-Museum in Athen, das 2008 eröffnet werden soll.

Bernard Tschumi (*1944), a Franco-Swiss architect running offices in New York and Paris, is responsible for projects all over the world, among others the new Acropolis Museum in Athens which is supposed to open in 2008.

(Fotos von dieser Site mit ausführl. Beschreibungstext, engl./extensive description, engl.)

Bekannt geworden ist Tschumi durch seinen Parc de La Villette in Paris, der sein erstes realisiertes Projekt überhaupt ist. Es wurde in der Dekonstruktivismus-Schau 1988 – die Architekten waren mit je einem Projekt vertreten – gezeigt und gilt zusammen mit Zaha Hadids theoretisch gebliebenem Hongkong Peak als Durchbruch einer neuen Architekturströmung.

Tschumi is known for his Parc de La Villette in Paris, his first built project ever. It has also been part of the Deconstructivism show 1988 – each architect was presented with one project only – and is considered, together with Zaha Hadids theoretical Hongkong Peak, as the breakthrough of a new architecture.

Nach seinem Architekturstudium in Paris und an der ETH Zürich übernimmt Tschumi 1970 eine Dozentenstelle an der Architectural Association London, ein innovatives und kreatives Umfeld in den 1970ern, wo zeitgleich u. a. auch Rem Koolhaas und Zaha Hadid wirken. Ab 1975 hat Tschumi auch immer wieder Lehrstellen in den Vereinigten Staaten. In dieser Zeit arbeitet er nicht als praktischer Architekt, sondern entwickelt in Texten und konzeptuellen Zeichnungen seinen komplexen architekturtheoretischen Standpunkt. Einen vorläufigen Abschluss findet Tschumis theoretische Standortsuche 1981 mit den „Manhattan Transcripts“, einer Reihe von Architekturzeichnungen, die zum theoretischen Ausgangspunkt für den Parc de la Villette werden – dem ersten realisierten Projekt überhaupt.

After having studied architecture in Paris and ETH Zurich, Tschumi starts teaching at the Architectural Association London, an innovative and creative environment in the 1970s – at the same time, Rem Koolhaas and Zaha Hadid are teaching there, too. Since 1975, Tschumi lectures in the USA every now and then. In those days, he is not working as a practical architect, but develops his complex architectural theoretic position. Tschumi’s academic positioning comes to a provisional end in 1981, with his “Manhattan Transcripts”, a series of architectural drawings that became the theoretic starting point for the Parc de la Villette – Tschumi’s first built project ever.

Bezeichnend ist, dass Tschumi erst gute 10 Jahre theoretisch arbeitet, ehe er 1982/83 mit dem Parc de la Villette zum ersten Mal ein praktisches Projekt realisiert: Tschumis Verständnis von Architektur und sein Anspruch an seine Architektur sind stark theoretisch geprägt.

It is significant that Tschumi has been working as a theorist only for about 10 years before realising his first project Parc de la Villette in 1982/83: Tschumi’s perception of architecture and his claims to his architecture are highly theoretical.

Um seine Projekte zu verstehen, muss man auch seinen theoretischen Standpunkt nachvollziehen.

To understand his projects, you have to comprehend his theoretic position, too.

Geprägt von den Veränderungen im Zuge der 1968er Unruhen kreisen Tschumis Leitfragen um eine Neubestimmung der Architektur. Er entwickelt ebenso komplexe wie – hat man sich erst einmal eingearbeitet – simple (Neu)Bestimmung von Architektur: Architektur setzt sich nach Tschumi aus zwei wesentlichen Elementen zusammen – Space/Raum UND Event/das, was darin geschieht. (Auf die Bedeutung dieser Definition komme ich zurück.)

Affected by the changes happening in the course of the events of 1968, Tschumi’s main questions circle around a new definition of arhcitecture. He develops a complex and – once you have understood – simple (new) definition of architecture: Architecture consists of two fundamental elements – space AND event(what is happening in the spacial structure). (I will get back to the meanings of this definition.)

Vor La Villette entsteht ein umfangreiches schriftliches Werk. Tschumi setzt sich mit zahlreichen anderen Disziplinen auseinander, von Kino über Literatur, strukturalistischen Sprachwissenschaften und Philosophie bis zur Psychoanalyse.

Prior to La Villette, Tschumi creates a vast writtten work. He is dealing with several disciplines, from cinema, literature, to structuralist linguistics philosophy and psycho analysis.

Um sich einem so stark theoretisch wirkenden Architekten wie Tschumi anzunähern, sind vor allem seine eigenen Schriften aufschlussreich, etwa:

To understand an architect working so much with theoretical approaches, his own texts are particularly revealing, e.g.:

Bernard Tschumi: Architecture and Disjunction, Cambridge/USA, 1994

Hinzu kommen Interviews mit dem Architekten; insbesondere die Gespräche, die Enrique Walker zwischen 2000 und 2006 mit dem Architekten geführt hat, in denen das ganze bisherige Schaffen von Tschumi selbst reflektiert wird.

Furthermore, interviews with the architect are informative; especially the conversations Enrique Walker held with the architects between 2000 and 2006, wherein Tschumi reflects his entire work to date.

Bernard Tschumi, Enrique Walker: Tschumi on Architecture: Conversations with Enrique Walker, New York, 2006