ARCHITECTURE:Peter Zumthor-Dear to Me
Kunsthaus Bregenz is an internationally active institute for the presentation of Contemporary art. It was designed by the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor and was constructed between 1990 and 1997. Peter Zumthor won the Mies van der Rohe Award for European Architecture in 1998 for the Kunsthaus. In 2009, he was honored with the Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious award for architects.
By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Kunsthaus Bregenz Archive
For its anniversary year Kunsthaus Bregenz’s (KUB) renowned architect Peter Zumthor has been invited to stage an exhibition. The architect has decided to dispense with any kind of traditional exhibition, instead creating spaces, receptacles for thinking, displaying, and listening, for the artistic ventures he cherishes and that have inspired him “Dear to Me”. In the exhibition, music is being be performed, authors are reading, drinks are being served, pictures exhibited, and a library assembled, films are being screened, a music box installed, and plants made to flourish. Over 160 live events are due to take place during the period of the exhibition. KUB’s spaces are reflecting their own use. On the ground floor a Bösendorfer grand piano is being installed in the middle of the space. A black canopy has been suspended above the flat platform of the stage, serving as both a space divider and soundproofing. The geometric paneling on the walls fulfills a similar function whilst simultaneously acting as abstract color field paintings. When no event is in progress the stage space will serve as a lounge and lobby, for which Peter Zumthor has designed chairs and stools. A bar area has also been constructed. A film is being screened on monitors, showing interviews and archival material relating to Zumthor’s architectural work. The first floor foregoes any redesign of the interior. The building is particularly prominent here: its famous daylight ceiling, the reflective terrazzo, and the velvety stone shell of the walls. The Austrian composer Olga Neuwirth has been asked to compose a new work for a music box, its punch card tape winding up to the ceiling. The walls display works by the photographer Hélène Binet. Binet is from Ticino who has been linked to Kunsthaus Bregenz from the very beginning, already photographing it at its opening in 1997. Peter Zumthor has invited her to show a series of pictures recording subjects from the Acropolis in Athens. One of Peter Zumthor’s favorite architects is Dimitris Pikionis. The Greek landscape architect designed the paving on the ancient Temple Mount which Binet has captured photographically. The second floor is a thicket of walls. Shelves obstruct views and walkways, book shelving creating a helical labyrinth around an open central space, a literary atrium. is a library offering space for both public reading and private study. About 40,000 books have been brought to Bregenz especially for the occasion. The uppermost floor houses a garden. The artist couple Gerda Steiner & Jörg Lenzlinger are presenting a fantastical space. Delicate plants from various materials dangle as mobiles from the light-filled ceiling, branches grow upwards, stones from Bregenzerwald offer space for relaxation.
Info: Kunsthaus Bregenz, Postfach 45, Bregenz, Duration 16/9/17-7/1/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Wed & Fri-Sun 10:00-18:00, Thu 10:00-20:00, www.kunsthaus-bregenz.at
