Architecture Journal

Architecture JournalTRAINING The advantages of studying architecture in Germany MUSEUM How the German Architecture Museum impresses visitors ENGINEERS Developing the technological solutions behind the attractive faades BUILDING MATERIALS New materials make it possible to realize architects ingenious ideasMichael Hudler

ARCHITECTURE I JOURNAL

Architecture: One Subject, Many PossibilitiesGerman architects work in many countries. Studying architecture in Germany is considered a sound training for the profession and German courses attract many foreign students. Berlin or Biberach, Aachen or Cottbus if you want to study architecture in Germany, you can choose between 19 universities and art colleges as well as 43 universities of applied sciences. Some 40,000 students are currently registered for the subject. Bachelors and masters degree courses are already offered at

Studying Architecture The subject combines technical and artistic interest and talent

The German Architecture Museum (DAM) in Frankfurt

Architects VoicesLess is more.Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

German Architecture AbroadThe first point of contact for international clients interested in using the services of a German architecture or civil engineering firm is the Architecture Export Network (NAX, www.architektur export.de), an initiative of the Federal Chamber of Architects in Germany (BAK). NAX also supports the Internet platforms www.plannedin-germany.de and www.qualitysolutions-for-china.com, which provide potential clients and investors worldwide with a quick and comprehensive overview of the wide range of services offered by German architects, civil engineers and infrastructure planners in the English, Arabic and Chinese languages. The Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) also offers an upto-date overview of German architecture in an exhibition on New German Architecture A Reflexive Modernism that it produced jointly with the Hamburg Chamber of Architects and is now on display in various countries. A list of the architects presented and exhibition dates is available on the Internet at www.ifa.de/kunst/ nda. The Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations also maintains a database of artists that includes a large number of architects: kuenstlerdatenbank.ifa.de.

Michael Hudler

In your designs look for the most obvious solution. Strive for the best from the simple.Leistner/artur architekturbilder agentur

Meinhard von Gerkan

tural analysis, urban development, materials science and physics to law, economics and the sociology of architecture. In addition to traditional architecture courses, most German universities offer specializations such as interior architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning. Special courses like the preservation of historical monuments at the Berlin University of the Arts, planning and construction in non-European regions at the Technical University in Darmstadt or energy-efficient construction at Karlsruhe University demonstrate the subjects broad range. In the course of professional training, universities and colleges rely not only on theoretical instruction in lectures and seminars, but also on periods of practical experience: they integrate project work into their programmes and enable students to gain practical expertise. In Germany, as a rule, a training in architecture does not only mean that students have learnt how to design, but they should also be in a position to conduct the construction man-

agement of their projects. That opens up additional opportunities on the labour market, which 6,000 graduates enter each year. Many graduates later work on a freelance basis or are employed by architects offices. After a dearth of orders for architects in recent years, the labour market is again showing positive development as the economy takes off. www.bak.deRenowned German Centres for Studying Architecture

many institutions of higher education, some of which select their own students. The art of draughtsmanship and design is one of the architects core skills and is therefore taught from the start of every students course. In addition to artistic talent, technical and mathematical knowledge is also required because architecture involves a strong engineering element, including structural design, for example, which concerns dealing with tonnes of concrete, steel, bricks and glass. Overall, a degree course in architecture covers a wide range of subjects. The curriculum is diverse: ranging from architectural history to struc-

2 4 8 1 5 6 9 7 3 10

Michael Hudler

50 Deutschland 5/2007

picture-alliance/dpa/dpaweb

1 FH Aachen and RWTH Aachen 2 Berlin University of the Arts 3 Technical University Munich 4 Technical University Cottbus 5 Technical University Darmstadt

6 Karlsruhe University 7 Hochschule Biberach 8 Fachhochschule Mnster 9 AdBK Stuttgart and Stuttgart University 10 Bauhaus University Weimar

A late 19th century villa on the Museum Bank in Germanys financial centre Frankfurt am Main has been the home of the German Architecture Museum (DAM) since 1984. Visitors are often surprised by the house inside a house that leading architect Oswald Mathias Ungers placed in the totally gutted old building. Many visitors also come to admire Ungers famous installation, which he refers to himself as his best building. The German Architecture Museum sees itself first and foremost as an exhibition hall, although it constantly presents treasures from its own collection in a permanent exhibition. Five or six new exhibitions a year present unusual insights into contemporary architecture, architectural history or urban planning and not only from Germany. The museum has excellent international contacts, sends its own exhibitions on tour abroad and invites international shows back to Frankfurt in return. Until 18 November 2007, accompanying the main theme of the Frankfurt Book Fair, the museum is presenting Patent Solutions. New Architecture from Catalonia and, until 2 December, Gaud Unseen. Peter Cachola Schmal has been director since April 2006. He places a great deal of emphasis on the programme for children and young people with guided tours and workshops. Additionally, there are meetings, excursions and symposia, courses for teachers in a nutshell, lots of activities to make architecture come to life. www.dam-online.de

I believe that something can be expressed in architecture that we do not yet know is possible a new order of things, another view of the world.Zaha Hadid

Michael Hudler

Translating theories into architecture it cant be done. It only leads to muddle.Gnter Behnisch

No, Im an architect, but Michelangelo also built houses.Frank O. Gehry in answer to the question of whether he sees himself as an artist

Frank O. Gehry American, advocate of deconstructivism

ARCHITECTURE I JOURNALRainer Haubrich, Hans Wolfgang Hoffmann, Philipp Meuser

Berlin. The Architecture GuideThis book is an over 350-page guide and companion that will take you through the thrilling architectural history of the German capital from the Middle Ages to the present. Additionally, the guide offers ten theme-based walks through Berlin. Its is published by Verlagshaus Braun, Berlin, in German and English.

Civil Engineer: Life with a Laptop and Rubber BootsThey build bridges in the United States, tunnels in South Korea, power stations in Nigeria, wind farms in Italy and skyscrapers in Russia German civil engineers enjoy an excellent reputation and are in great demand all over the world. However, the big firms unlike architects are largely unknown outside the industry. For example, while British architect Lord Norman Foster caused an international sensation with Leonhardt & Andr were esponsible for building the Schillersteg in Stuttgart in the early 1950s, a cablestayed bridge that was the forerunner of a whole generation of large bridges of this type. In contrast to a suspension bridge, the cables are attached directly to the pylons (and not to a carrier cable). Leonhardt, Andr & Partner are also responsible for the design of the Fehmarn Belt Crossing, a 20-kilometre two-storey cable-stayed bridge providing a road and rail link. The crossing is planned to replace ferry traffic between Germany and Denmark from 2018. Lahmeyer International, one of Germanys largest civil engineers offices based in Bad Vilbel near Frankfurt, is even more broadly positioned. Lahmeyer specialists design projects in the energy, water and transport sectors in almost all the countries of the world. In the process, engineers, scientists and economic experts from more than 30 different fields work together in a multidisciplinary way. Lahmeyer engineers have achieved pioneering innovations, especially in the area of power plant construction. The power and desalination plant they are planning in Dubai is currently one of the largest electricity and water supply projects. Incidentally, architects are seldom involved in bridge building and plant construction, which is why such ventures are frequently referred to as engineering projects. Civil engineers, like Bollinger and Grohmann from Frankfurt or Schlaich Bergermann from Stuttgart, often have to deal with great challenges in their work and reach the very limits of what is technically feasible. However, this does not always have to involve spectacular projects like the construction of the rail link along the Karakorum Highway between Pakistan and China. The feasibility of the 850-kilometre line through the highest moun-

K BOO TIP

Innovative Building MaterialsTitanium is the material of which dreams are made. The international architecture scene has been enthusing about it ever since its first use Californian star architect Frank O. Gehry used the metal in the construction of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Although dark grey in its natural state, titanium shimmers blue or red depending on the weather conditions. The precious metal, which has been used for jewellery, in space travel and for medical implants, is more heat-resistant than aluminium, harder than steel and yet only half the weight. Titanium does not rust and endures for ever at least, for as long as the concrete beneath it. This building material is meanwhile used worldwide, for example in the extension of the art museum in Denver or the new opera house in Peking. In 2004, in Kronberg near Frankfurt, the first building was completed with a titanium faade. The material was supplied by Deutsche Titan, a ThyssenKrupp subsidiary that operates one of only three titanium plants in Europe and has since been relying on the growth market architecture. The large-scale use of organic photovoltaics in the construction industry, on the other hand, is still very much a thing of the future. However, German companies like BASF, Bosch, Merck and Schott are working together at full steam to achieve mass-producible transparent membranes that can transform light into energy and, unlike existing rigid photovoltaic technologies, can be curved, rolled and bent round corners. Attached to roofs, windows and faades, high-rise buildings in particular could unobtrusively become substantial power stations. The German federal government is supporting the industrial partners with 60 million euros within the framework of its High-Tech Strategy. It is aimed to achieve a breakthrough by 2015.Radisson SAS Hotel in Frankfurt High-quality solar glass optimizes the energy balance

his dome for the Reichstag building in Berlin, the consulting engineers Leonhardt, Andr & Partner, who actually made possible the construction of the steelglass design, attracted little attention. Yet, as a result of its construction technology innovations and patents, the Stuttgart-based civil engineering firm has an outstanding reputation and is an international trailblazer, for example, in bridge building.

tain ranges Himalayas, Karakorum, Hindu Kush and Pamir is currently being investigated by consulting engineers ILF (Innsbruck/ Munich). This work can equally involve a new process for laying concrete underwater in order to repair dams. Karlsruhe University is working on this project with civil engineering firm SMP. The duties of civil engineers could not be more diverse. The German Association of Consulting Engineers (VBI) in Berlin represents 14 specialist groups ranging from construction engineering, the core of the industry, to highly specialized groups that deal with technical equipment, for example for airports or acoustics in concert halls.

With 3,000 members the VBI is one of the worlds largest consulting associations. The landscape of planning enterprises in Germany is strongly characterized by small and mediumsized private firms, says Tatjana Steidl, foreign trade specialist at the VBI. Compared to foreign competitors, German businesses tend to be small and highly specialized. They are increasingly making up for lack of size by forming consortiums. Several German planning firms, such as Fichtner (Stuttgart), Lahmeyer and Gauff (Nuremberg) are nevertheless very near the top of the ranking published by the New Yorkbased specialist journal ENR (Engineering News-Record).

REA/laif

Leonhardt, Andr und Partner (2)

Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao Architect Frank O. Gehry used titanium for the first time as the skin of this futuristic museum

Baunetz Birkhuser

Architekten Profile 2007/2008The current volume is the Whos Who of German-speaking architects. A total of 150 selected architects from Germany, Austria and Switzerland present their pioneering projects at home and abroad with 800 coloured illustrations on 476 pages. This large format reference work is updated every two years and offers all information in German and English.


K BOO TIP

Fehmarn Belt Bridge Consulting engineers Leonhardt, Andr & Partner designed the cable-stayed bridge for the planned link between Germany and Denmark (above)

Dissing+Weitling

SAS

ARCHITECTURE I CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

BeijingChina Central Television Headquarters Building & Cultural CentreOle Scheeren, Office for Metropolitan Architecture, NetherlandsOMA

The new China Central Television (CCTV) building takes architecture to its very limits and seemingly ignores the laws of gravity. The two L-shaped towers slant up into the sky above Beijings business district an incredible structural feat. The towers appear almost to fall over; eventually they will be more than 200 metres tall. German

architect Ole Scheeren is responsible for this amazing building project, one of the largest in the world. The 36-year-old is a partner in the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) of Dutch star architect Rem Koolhaas. Ole Scheeren manages the Asian business of the architecture firm and has been in charge of a team of 60 architects and 120 engineers in Beijing for five years. Eventually, 10,000 people will work in the new CCTV building of glass and steel; its floor space amounts to an immense 540,000 square metres.

The planned completion date for the new television headquarters is 2009. The neighbouring TV cultural centre (TVCC) will already accommodate television broadcasters from all over the world during the 2008 Olympic Games. There is currently no other comparable construction project for Ole Scheeren: It probably wouldnt have been possible at all to realize the statics system of the CCTV five or ten years ago because computer software was then not yet sufficiently advanced.

Exciting structure Two incredible sloping towers in the business district of Beijing are being transformed into the new headquarters of China Central Television (CCTV)

54 Deutschland 5/2007OMA

picture-alliance/dpa

Major Projects

Architecture without borders: German architects realize prestigious construction projects abroad; the international stars of the architectural world build in Germany. We take a look at the major projects of today and tomorrow


HamburgElbphilharmoniepicture-alliance/dpa

DubaiDubai Sports CityMeinhard von Gerkan, gmp, Germany

Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Herzog & de Meuron, Switzerlandpicture-alliance/dpa/dpaweb (2)

New landmark The Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg is perhaps the most spectacular of the many new projects for the port of the Hanseatic city

The Tate Modern in London, the Olympic Stadium in Beijing, the Allianz Arena in Munich unconventional architecture with a strong character and a talent for landmarks is the speciality of Herzog & de Meuron. The creative duo from Basel with a second office in Munich are counted among the worlds most sought-after architects. The new Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg will clearly bear Jacques Herzogs and Pierre de Meurons signature: they plan to put a dazzling glass wave on top of an old redbrick warehouse building. Two concert halls, a hotel and apartments will be built behind the transparent walls. The foundation stone was laid in April 2007, and the old warehouse building is now in the process of being gutted. The first concert is planned for 2010. Many people hope that the new Elbphilharmonie in the Port of Hamburg will have a similar allure and recognition value as Sydney Opera House.

A spectacular sporting venue with cricket stadium, multipurpose arena, soccer and athletics stadium and shopping mall is just being built in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Hamburgbased architects office of Gerkan, Marg und Partner (GMP) is realizing this unique multifunctional complex, just one of many international GMP projects. Founded in 1965 by Meinhard von Gerkan and Volkwin Marg, today the office has more than 300 employees and is one of the most renowned in Germany. GMP is especially strong in fair, transport and sport buildings. They are also responsible for Berlins new central station, the modernization of the Olympic Stadium in Berlin and the New Trade Fair Leipzig.

ChangchunMaster plan for the new urban area

gmp

Akhtar/Ostkreuz

Albert Speer, AS & P, Germany

picture-alliance/dpa/dpaweb

A new city district based around the car industry is currently being constructed in Changchun, China. The planning for this megaproject is being carried out by AS & P Albert Speer und Partner from

Frankfurt am Main. Speer is an architect and, above all, a passionate and innovative urban planner. He places special emphasis on sustainable strategies. With decades of experience and more than 100 completed urban planning assignments, he has a great deal to contribute to the development of Changchun. His office has devised a

master plan in which production, administration and residential buildings will be built alongside leisure facilities and parks on 120 square kilometres. In 15 years time, 300,000 people will live and work here. AS & P has won some 100 architectural competitions in the last ten years in China alone and recently opened an office in Shanghai.Deutschland 57

Falk Orth

AS&P


BMW Welt

The NewYorkTimes/Redux/laif

Munich

IstanbulEDIP Shopping MallCem Arat, asp Architekten, Germanyasp Architekten (2)

Cem Arat and the asp team from Stuttgart have conceived a city within the city for a new shopping mall in Istanbul. An experience space is to be created in the inner of the two broad, horizontal strips, the roofs are transformed into parks. They are joined by two residential towers with 50 floors. It is not the Stuttgart architects only prestige project in Turkey: asp, a specialist for modern sport buildings won the contract to build the new stadium for Galatasaray Istanbul. Cem Arat, who was born in 1965 and is a graduate of the Technical University Berlin, is the son of Turkish-born asp founder Mete Arat. He also studied in Germany, at Stuttgart University and stayed.

StuttgartStuttgart 21Stephan Goerlich

picture-alliance/ZB

Centre for automobiles and emotions BMW Welt aims to transform the marque from Munich into an experience

Ingenhoven Architekten/ Olaf Rayermann

Christoph Ingenhoven, Ingenhoven Architekten, Germany

Wolf D. Prix, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Austria

Their buildings are unconventional, unusual, different, often just incredible. Coop Himmelb(l)au, the Vienna-based team of architects led by Wolf D. Prix, stands for ingeniously playful and striking architecture that can often only be realized thanks to advances in computer-aided design. The group planned BMW Welt in Munich as a monumental cloud landscape consisting of 10,000 square metres of glass.

Opening in mid-October 2007 in the immediate neighbourhood of its group headquarters, the car maker would like BMW Welt to be understood as a mixture of delivery centre and event venue an automobile meeting centre for 850,000 people a year that will transform the BMW marque into an experience. That process starts immediately with the architecture of Coop Himmelb(l)au. The Viennese architects may have a liking for all possible varieties of deconstructionism in architecture, but certainly not for complacent mediocrity. And they seek to polarize. Architecture

has to burn, to sting, to hurt, wrote the Himmelb(l)au founders in a kind of manifesto when they started and have subsequently puzzled conventional taste with a whole raft of unprecedented building forms. The Viennese team will shortly be realizing another spectacular project in Frankfurt am Main: Coop Himmelb(l)au is building the future headquarters of the European Central Bank in the financial metropolis. It goes without saying that there has already been a lot of debate about the building, which will incorporate a listed market hall.

Stuttgarts new central station will change the city: a new square with cafs and restaurants will be located where the trains stop today. The old terminus will be transformed into a through station located at a lower level and turned through 90 degrees. It will involve an incredible technical and logistical effort. Dsseldorf-based architect Christoph Ingenhoven will be responsible for the Stuttgart 21 project as the general planner. He has worked with Frei Otto on the design of the seemingly weightless station roof with its light eyes. The 82-year-old grand master of German civil engineering once developed the famous tent-roof of Munichs 1972 Olympic Stadium.Deutschland 59


DB ProjektBau GmbH

ARCHITECTURE I HISTORY

Architecture in Brief

Caro Fotoagentur/Riedmiller

picture-alliance/akg-images/ Hilbich

Bildarchiv Monheim GmbH

Abbey Church Maria Laach, c. 1100

Town Hall Stralsund, c. 1250

Witchhunter House Lemgo, c. 1570

Residence Wrzburg (B. Neumann), 1780

Glyptothek Munich (L. von Klenze), 1830

Neuschwanstein Castle, 1884

Hchst Administration Building (P. Behrens),1924

Feininger House Dessau (W. Gropius), 1925

Kunsthalle Hamburg (O. M. Ungers), 1997

Romanesque

Gothic

Renaissance

Baroque

Classicism

Historicism

Expressionism

Bauhaus

Postmodernism

Architectural opposites Ulm Cathedral, Stadthaus by Richard Meier

The Master of Bauhaus The Architect of ClassicismBerlin-Mitte would simply not be what it is, were it not for Karl Friedrich Schinkel: the Alte Museum with its monumental portico and the unexpected beautiful rotunda inside; the Schlossbrcke, the concert hall on Gendarmenmarkt, Friedrichwerdersche Church all of them carry his signature. It was Schinkel who, under King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, transformed Berlin, which had regained its self-confidence after the wars of liberation against France, turning it into a representative capital known as Athens on the Spree. Almost all his major works, built between 1816 and 1830, are adeptly oriented around Greek forms and are strict and clear in their structure, making them models of Classicism. The impact they make is striking but not pretentious. Fine nuances and a particular harmony make Schinkels architecture elegant and light. This is best seen perhaps in the small Schloss Charlottenhof in Potsdam. Schinkel designed this summer residence, including the rather bourgeois interior, in the style of a Greek villa. Schinkel was not only an architect, but also a painter, and a furniture and stage-set designer. Scarcely anyone influenced the architecture of the 19th century as much as Prussias Master Builder. The designation may sound simple, but the impact was dazzling: Bauhaus was the name Walter Gropius gave the Art School in 1919. It was first based in Weimar and then in Dessau from 1925 until it was shut down by the National Socialists in 1932 (and after that, for a brief year, in Berlin). Through the Bauhaus, architects, sculptors, artists and craftspeople wanted to jointly develop the building of the future. What they achieved was nothing less than a revolution of the whole formal idiom that changed our very understanding of architecture and design. While around them the flourishes of historicism reigned supreme, Bauhaus masters and scholars were radically reconsidering form. Their point of orientation was the function and potential of industrial production. The result was Classical Modernism, which is relevant to this very day. Bauhaus architecture stands for objectivity, clarity, brightness and functionality. But just as important as their aesthetic criteria were their sociopolitical demands above all of urban residential architecture. The Bauhaus style was influenced not just by Gropius, but also by his successor Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Today, their ideas are nurtured and further developed by the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation.

picture-alliance/akg-images/Florian Profitlich

Severe but elegant: the concert hall on the Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin

picture-alliance/dpa


picture-alliance/ZB

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (18861969) Less is more was the architect's motto; he favoured glass, steel and concrete. Above: Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin

picture-alliance/akg-images

Karl Friedrich Schinkel (17811841)

picture-alliance/akg-images/Hilbich

A recourse to history or a radical break with tradition? In the history of German architecture both paths have led to success and both have influenced styles and periods: like Schinkels Classicism or the totally new formal idiom of Bauhaus

Classical Dome Nikolaikirche in Potsdam was completed after Schinkel's death by his disciples Persius and Stler

Walter Gropius (18831969) The Bauhaus founder emigrated to the United States in the 1930s. Above: one of the refurbished Master Houses in Dessau

AP

Caro Fotoagentur/Klemmer

Blickle/Bilderberg

Menges/artur architekturbilder agentur

Siepmann/alimdi.net

Bildarchiv Monheim

Boensch/alimdi.net

Okapia KG

Petra Wallner

ARCHITECTURE I AVANT-GARDE

New Generation

Todays avant-garde has the potential to become tomorrows classics: four young German architectural firms are in the news. Their designs are distinctively above average, sometimes even bordering on art

By Janet Schayan

W

ho becomes well-known, who stays in the background? What gives the decisive boost to a career? Why does somebody suddenly become a trendsetter constantly in demand? The right feeling for the zeitgeist in architecture, a highly individual architectural style, a winning contribution to an international competition, a coincidence that brings you in touch with a prominent client? Theres no patent recipe. But in architecture, one thing seems clear: once youve made the breakthrough, made it into the media, then youll soon start attracting the attention of other clients. And then things can start expanding so quickly, that the office space has trouble keeping pace.

GraftTheir works are talented, destined for the big stage. They model walls, ceilings, floors into dynamically fused, curvaceous environments. And it was in fact a real, live Hollywood star who acted as a career catalyst for Lars Krckeberg, Wolfram Putz and Thomas Willemeit at the Graft architectural office. The three architects, who all graduated from Braunschweig Technical University, hit the big time when actor Brad Pitt became their client. He even works together with them on designs. Theyre simply hip, and as Junge Wilde theyre the darlings of the architectural magazines. Today, their business card includes Berlin, Los Angeles and Beijing. The three have just designed a floating white cloud for their Berlin studio on the Schlossplatz which is intended to serve as a temporary art gallery. It still has to be decided whether the project will be realized. The daring architectural schemeKirsten Schemel Architekten BDA (2)

Kirsten SchemelConstruction in contextInside and outside The relationship between landscape and architecture always plays a role for Kirsten Schemel as in this house in Schwerin

GraftDynamic formspicture-alliance/dpa

Boening/Zenit/Laif

White cloud Graft has created a design for a temporary art gallery on Berlins Schlossplatz

Deutschland 63

ARCHITECTURE I AVANT-GARDE

Innovative technology

m2r-architecture

m2r

Award-winner m2r have already won five international architecture awards with their ski jump at the Vogtland Arena

J. Mayer H.Architectural sculpturescape like a lake, inside with floors that reflect the flowing irregularities of the earth beneath, with a huge almost support-free hall whose faades make the transition between inside and outside virtually imperceptible. The marrying of landscape and architecture is one of the architects favourite themes. The exciting design for Yong-In has since been reworked several times budget limitations. When the museum opens in 2008, it wont quite mirror the initial vision. Nevertheless, it is still a brilliant achievement.

m2r architectureNo, its not a mathematical formula. It simply stands for one May and two Rostocks. Moritz May and the twins, Axel and Jrg Rostock, were all born in 1970 in Saxony. And theyve been a team since their student days in Dresden. Together they bravely seized the opportunity and went to London, where theyve made a name for themselves throughout Europe. They now also have studios in Berlin and Kiev. m2rs sports architecture is especially spectacular, for instance the futuristic Vogtland Arena, one of the technologically most innovative ski jumps in existence. m2r have received numerous awards for this design, including the Best Architects 2007 award and the British UK Architect of the Year Award. They are highly recommended for large-scale projects: their spectacular Thameswalk which redesigns the bank of the Thames, could become the architectural highlight of the 2012 London Olympics.

Organic structures In Karlsruhe the new university refectory by Jrgen Mayer H. looks almost like a sculpture

Dominik Gigler

J. Mayer H. ArchitektenHe loves experiments, surprise effects and sometimes confusion. Jrgen Mayer H., 42, is regarded as a representative of a new avant-garde. His buildings with innovative wood architecture revel in organic form. They are both playful and functional and call for highly specialized construction techniques. 2007 is Jrgen Mayer H.s year: previously only one of his extravagant buildings had been realized. But in 2007 hes suddenly notched up six: a university refectory in Karlsruhe, a science centre in Denmark, an office complex in Hamburg, a villa near Stuttgart, a penthouse and the modernization of a gallery in Berlin. In 2007 his redesign of the Plaza de la Encarnacin in Seville is also due for completion. The list for 2008 continues with an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco.

already has one prominent supporter: Berlin fan Brad Pitt is campaigning for the proposal.

Kirsten Schemel ArchitektenHer name wasnt famous, and she had previously concentrated mainly on residential projects, but she still got the plum job: Kirsten Schemel, 42, head of a comparatively small firm in Berlin carried off first prize in the competition for the Nam June Paik Museum in Yong-In, South Korea. Her idea of sensitively surrounding the works of the video art pioneer with a complementary membrane convinced the judges. The museum design is unconventional: a building snuggled into the land-

m2r-architecture

New landmark Metropol Parasol is the name of these shady mushroom structures for Sevilles Plaza de la Encarnacin


No right-angles All of the rooms have flowing forms in a schoolhouse for autistic children

Deutschland 65

Lorenz Cugini

READERS LETTERSGreat Deal of ExperienceDeutschland No. 3/2007 Energy and Climate Protection

DEUTSCHLAND MASTHEADPublisher Deutschland is published by SociettsVerlag, Frankfurt am Main, in cooperation with the Federal Foreign Office, Berlin Publishing House Frankfurter Societts-Druckerei GmbH Frankenallee 71-81, D-60327 Frankfurt am Main Postal address: D-60268 Frankfurt am Main Tel: ++(0)69/7501-0 www.fsd.de Editorial Department Editor-in-Chief: Peter Hintereder Art Directon: Hans-Georg Pospischil, Bruno Boll Editors: Martin Orth (desk editor), Janet Schayan (text), Rainer Stumpf, Oliver Sefrin Assistant: Isabel Opitz Production: Stefan Reichart, Jrn Roberg Translations: Bob Culverhouse, Pauline Cumbers, Don Reneau, Ann Robertson, Derek Whitfield Editorial Service www.magazine-deutschland.de E-mail: [email protected] Tel: ++(0)69/7501-4352 Fax: ++(0)69/7501-4361 Distribution Sales Manager: Karlheinz Hohmann Deputy: Klaus Hofmann Distribution Service E-mail: [email protected] Tel: ++(0)69/7501-4274 Fax: ++(0)69/7501-4502 Advertising Karlheinz Hohmann E-mail: [email protected] Tel: ++(0)69/7501-4274 Fax: ++(0)69/7501-4502 Prices Annual subscription, including postage Germany: 13.00 Euros, Abroad: 16.00 Euros, Students: 11.50 Euros, Individual issue: 2.70 Euros Notes Deutschland is published six times a year in 11 languages and is distributed in 180 countries. Articles by named authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior permission of the publishers. Inquiries: [email protected]. Cover: picture-alliance/dpa/dpaweb Copy deadline for this issue: September 24, 2007 Printed in Germany Copyright by Frankfurter Societts-Druckerei GmbH 2007 Postvertriebskennzeichen 7999 This magazine is printed on environmentally friendly paper that was manufactured using cellulose bleached without chlorine.

I always enjoy reading the new issue of Deutschland. But I was particularly pleased about issue number 3 with the feature on energy and climate protection, because I have specialized on that subject myself. That issue explained every aspect of climate change and renewable energies and it became clear just how much experience Germany has in that area. Almaz Asipjanov, Kyrgyzstan

Wonderful Source of MotivationDeutschland No. 4/2007 The Creative Economy

I learned many new things about your country when I read your article on 10 Reasons to Invest in Germany. Because I am studying German, the text is a wonderful source of motivation to occupy myself more intensely with this language. I hope it will attract many investors. Balou Jean-Niques Koui, Cte d'Ivoire

PREVIEW 6/2007 BerlinBerlin is well-worth a visit this classic advertising slogan is truer than ever. As a result of German reunification and the eastern enlargement of the European Union, Berlin is increasingly becoming a centre of interest the city is a bridge between east and west. The centre of political power, a rich culture, historical sights, modern architecture, a lively young scene and events around-the-clock are attracting increasing numbers of tourists and business people to the German capital. We present a portrait of an exciting city at the heart of Europe.

Facts about Germany in handbook form and on the Web.Up-to-date and reliable information about Germany. In Facts about Germany, well-known authors provide information on all realms of modern life in Germany. Plus facts, figures and interesting time-lines.

More knowledge about Germany66 Deutschland 5/2007

www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de

hemis/laif

Architecture Journal

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