Visionary architecture and urban design of the sixties reflected by contemporary artists
by European Art Projects
Symposium: 18 & 19th of October 2008
Former State Mint
Molkenmarkt 2
Berlin-Mitte
www.megastructure-reloaded.org
Exhibition
20 September – 2 November 2008
“Megastructure is dead. It is thus high time to place it within the history of architecture.” Under this title Reyner Banham gave a series of lectures at the architecture department of Naples University in 1973. Today, megastructural planning is again attracting the interest of a younger generation of designers, architects as well as artists. The reason for which might be the visionary power and the easiness with which they redefined fundamental questions of architecture and the human environment, an aspect which the mostly pragmatic architecture and urban planning of today is lacking.
MEGASTRUCTURE RELOADED intends not a documentary representation of the sixties ideas; instead the megastructuralists are to be tested for their currency and relevance to the problems of contemporary urban design. The focus of the project is the connection, so significant for these designs, between spatial structures and visual art, as well as on actual architectural and urban-design issues, while examining whether megastructures offer a feasible conceptual approach for the problems of fast-growing mega cities.
On 18th and 19th of October the symposium of Megastructure Reloaded with renowned international scholars, urbanists and architects will take place at the exhibition venue.
Excerpt from the program of the symposium:
Dominique Rouillard will provide a comprehensive introduction into the subject, Marie-Theres Stauffer and Piero Frasinelli will discuss the visual strategies of Superstudio and Archizoom, Florian Urban and Wolfgang Fiel look at similarities and differences in the concepts of the Japanese metabolists and the European protagonist of the spatial city, Hadas Steiner will talk about Archigram’s take on megastructure, tephan Schütz from gmp will present the urban design of Lingang New City in China, Dennis Crompton, William Menking, Philipp Oswalt and Eckhard Schulze-Fielitz will discuss the feasibility of Megastructure for Megacities.
If you wish to participate in the symposium please register at symposium@megastructure-reloaded.net Please note that there is a limited availability.
About the exhibition:
The investigations into Megastructure were the starting point for ten projects by contemporary artists: José Dávila (Mexico), Simon Dybbroe Møller (Denmark), Ryan Gander (GB), Erik Göngrich (Germany), Franka Hörnschemeyer (Germany), Victor Nieuwenhuijs & Maartje Seyferth (Netherlands), Tobias Putrih (Slovenia/USA), Tomás Saraceno (Argentina/Germany), Katrin Sigurdardottir (Iceland/USA) and Tilman Wendland (Germany). Aside from these contemporary statements the exhibition shows drawings, collages and models of megastructure projects from the 1960s by Archigram, Archizoom, Alan Boutwell, Yona Friedman, Günther Domenig & Eilfried Huth, Constant Nieuwenhuys, Eckhard Schulze-Fielitz.. In addition, we will show Gordon Matta-Clark’s film on his Parisian installation Conical Intersect, which was set-up in 1975 across from the construction site of the Centre Pompidou, one of the few realized megastructure ‘look-alikes’.
The exhibition architecture is developed by Dennis Crompton, a former member of Archigram, in collaboration with raumlabor_berlin, a Berlin based collective of architects. On the occasion of the exhibition a comprehensive bilingual catalogue has been published by Hatje Cantz (order no. ISBN 978-3-7757-2216-2) with 368 pages and more than 150 color illustrations.
MEGASTRUCTURE RELOADED is funded by the Capital Culture Fund, Berlin and the Berlin Lottery Foundation. Additional support is kindly provided by the British Council, Berlin; Danish Arts Council, Center for Icelandic Art, Reykjavik; Fundación/Collección Jumex, Mexico; Geruestbau Tisch GmbH, Berlin; Ikea Stiftung, Hofheim-Wallau; Koenig GmbH & Co KG, Moringen; Lafarge Gips GmbH, Oberursel; Mondriaan Stichting, Amsterdam; The Henry Moore Foundation, Perry Green; Nawrocki Alpin Group, Berlin/London.
Project Partners: Archigram Archives, London, Greige / Buero fuer Design, Berlin, Hatje Cantz, Berlin; pro-qm, Berlin; raumlabor_berlin and Weiss-Heiten Design, Berlin
For images and further information please view www.megastructure-reloaded.org or contact Anne Maier at European Art Projects, am@european-art-projects.eu, Tel. +49.30.30 38 18 37.
