Curves and Spikes
The city of Graz in Steiermark, Austria, has been chosen as cultural capital of Europe for 2003. On this occasion, a number of significant architectural projects, art installations and events have been planned in the city. This exhibition at the Aedes West gallery in Berlin focuses on two of the major and most radical architectural projects: the new museum of Modern Art, which was the object of an international design competition won by the London architects Peter Cook and Colin Fournier, and the Stadthalle designed by the Graz architect Klaus Kada. The Kunsthaus is currently under construction and will be opened on the 23rd of September 2003. The Stadthalle was opened on the 6th of October 2002. These two projects make unexpected bed fellows in that they are in complete contrast not only in terms of programme and but mostly in terms of their design philosophy: the Kunsthaus is a biomorphic project conceived as a smooth bulbous volume of continuous double curved surfaces, while the Stadthalle is distinguished by a slender spiky roof cantilevered high above the street. The playful aesthetic tension between these two extreme designs, at this interesting and provocative point in history when the architectural envelope is being pushed in many contradictory directions, provides the dominant conceptual and visual theme of the exhibition, which also offers an overview of some of the other key design projects recently completed in the city.
Speakers at the opening:
Kristin Feireiss, Berlin
Peter Pakesch, Intendent LM Joanneum
Manfred Gaulhofer, Executive Director -Graz 2003 Cultural Capital of Europe
Gerhard Hirschmann, Minister of Education and Arts, Steiermark
Gerhard Rüsch, City Councilor of Construction, Graz
We want to thank both architectural photographers Sabine Richter and D.I. Angelo Kaunat.
