INFORMATION May 23, 2012

Frankfurt/Main

The Architectural Model – Tool, Fetish, Small Utopia 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

Elia Zanghelis, Rem Koolhaas / OMA: Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin, 1987–90 © DAM, Hagen Stier, © 2012 OMA: VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

THE ARCHITECTURAL MODEL – TOOL, FETISH, SMALL UTOPIA

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EXHIBITION

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PUBLICATION

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IMPRINT

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COMING SOON / CONTACT

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PRESS INFORMATION

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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PUBLICATION 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 WagnerConzelmann and Christiane Weber. With photos by Hagen Stier, Uwe Dettmar a.o.

ISBN: 978-3858813466 Bookstore prize: 65,- EUR Museum shop prize: 49,- EUR

IMPRINT 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

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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 (15th – 21st 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 PRESSEINFORMATION

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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:

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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 [email protected] Stefanie Lampe, B.A. / Assistence T +49 (0)69 212 31326 \ F +49 (0)69 212 36386

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[email protected]

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