03.2023

THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF MODERN GARDENS

Julien de Cerval, The Gardens of Marqueyssac, Vézac, France, designed in the 1860s © Photo: Romain Laprade, 2020

Derek Jarman, Prospect Cottage Garden at Dungeness, Kent, UK, designed from 1986. Photo: Howard Sooley, 1993

Gardens reflect identities, dreams, and visions. Deeply rooted in their culture, they can unfold immense symbolic potential. The recent revival of horticulture has focused less on the garden as a romantic refuge and more as a place where concepts of social justice, biodiversity, and sustainability can be explored and expanded. Gardens have become places of the avant-garde. The exhibition “Garden Futures” at the Vitra Design Museum shows where today’s garden ideals derive from and examines how gardens hold the potential to help us achieve a livable, symbiotic future.

03.2023

CLIMATE CITY BERLIN 2030

Experimental field at metropolitan area Berlin-Brandenburg, SMAQ, Kopperroth, Alex Wall, Office MMK, Stefan Tischer

SauerbruchHutton, urbainable, Leipziger Straße Berlin

ROBERTNEUN™ and nord architects, HeinrichHertzGymnasium, 2. Preis © Philipp Obkircher

“Bündnis Klimastadt Berlin 2030” (Alliance Climate City Berlin 2030), a wide-ranging alliance of Berlin initiatives, environmental and tenants’ associations, planners and builders—including BUREAU N—brings together diverse expertise and sees itself as an offer to city politicians to actively and collectively drive change forward. The aim is to develop Berlin into an ecological and social model city. What forms the project’s basis are seven closely intertwined cornerstones: climate resilience, mobility transition, construction transition, cooperation and participation, common good and affordable housing as well as cultural freedom in the polycentric metropolitan region of Berlin-Brandenburg.

03.2023

PETER ZUMTHOR: ARCHITECTURE BORN OF CRAFTSMANSHIP

Allmannajuvet: Model study for Zinkmuseum Allmannajuvet, Sauda, Norwegen © Atelier Peter Zumthor

Model photo of the exhibition in Werkraum Haus Andelsbuch, 2023 © Atelier Peter Zumthor

The room-filling exhibition displays architectural models by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor inside a building that he himself planned: the Werkraum Haus in Bregenzerwald, Austria. Captivating and unusual in nature, the models create atmosphere and illustrate craftsmanship in every detail. They are the tools with which Peter Zumthor designs his buildings and crafts spaces in a singular way that brings together materials, construction methods and form to create a unified whole. Like the Werkraum Haus itself, the models stand for the unparalleled symbiosis between architecture and craftsmanship.

02.2023

WHO’S GOT THE POWER?

Kasia Fudakowski, “The Alchemy of the Hinge”, 2023; “Gallery Power LTD”, ChertLüdde, Berlin. Photo by Andrea Rossetti. Courtesy of
ChertLüdde and Kasia Fudakowski.

Kasia Fudakowski, “Surf and Turf”, 2023; “Gallery Power LTD”, ChertLüdde, Berlin. Photo by Andrea Rossetti. Courtesy of
ChertLüdde and Kasia Fudakowski.

Kasia Fudakowski likes to play—with clichés, standards and expectations. In her 5th ChertLüdde solo show however, she lets the visitors be in charge of the game: For “Gallery Power LTD” she presents a new series of sculptures, including lights and motors, which can be switched on/off by the visitors; only one work is controlled by an external mechanism too. The exhibition is powered by a limited amount of electricity and will turn off once it is consumed, eventually leaving the works in the dark. With this interactive and somewhat immediate gesture, Fudakowski questions individual behaviour, accountability for resources in cultural spaces and indirectly gives a nod to the current energy crisis.

02.2023

STEEL TUBE MEETS LOUNGER

Photo: Michelle Mantel

Created for extensive reading sessions and day-dreaming breaks, the newly launched 22.9 Daybed becomes the most recent addition to Blockbau’s collection. Much like the 22.24 Armchair and 32 Chair from the same line, this too is made of a bent steel tube forming its characteristic shape. The new member of the Blockbau family suggests that the daybed is as important as any other piece of furniture within a living space: “While in Scandinavia the daybed is widely used as a piece of furniture with multiple uses, in Germany it’s still greatly underestimated. The term daybed should be conceptually broadened, because its design works not only as a lounger but also as a seat; not only in private living spaces, but also workplace settings,” says Kevin Rack, the design brand’s founder.

01.2023

I AM NOT AN ARTIST, I AM A PAINTER

Wayne Thiebaud, Girl with Pink Hat, 1973. © Wayne Thiebaud Foundation/ 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich. Photo: Katherine Du Tiel

Wayne Thiebaud, 35 Cent Masterworks, 1970−72 © Wayne Thiebaud Foundation/ 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich

Thiebaud in his studio, 1990. Courtesy of the Wayne Thiebaud Foundation. Photo: Matt Bult

Wayne Thiebaud, Untitled (City View), 1993 © Wayne Thiebaud Foundation/ 2022, ProLitteris, Zurich. Photo: Matthew Kroening

The Fondation Beyeler presents the first posthumous retrospective of Wayne Thiebaud (1920–2021) in the German-speaking world. Virtually unknown in Europe until now, with this exhibition, the museum continues to offer insight into leading proponents of American figurative art, such as Edward Hopper and Georgia O’Keeffe. Most will recognise Thiebaud for his celebrated still lifes, drawn from everyday motifs in post-war America: pastry displays, sweet treats, stuffed toys, or gumball machines. Yet only a few know that within his 70-year career, he consistently worked on figure paintings and large-scale landscapes too. Common to all are his sophisticated use of colour and a distinctive visual idiom straddling the lines between irony, humour, nostalgia and melancholy.

12.2022

A NEWLY RETHOUGHT URBAN DISTRICT FOR CULTURE AND ENCOUNTERS

Holzer Kobler Architekturen, Atelier LOIDL, April 2022 © Philipp Obkircher

For around 8 years, the open industrial wasteland “RAW-Gelände” in Berlin Friedrichshain has been at the center of a participative planning process. The R.A.W.-Gelände is home to a multitude of social and cultural initiatives and shall continue to be a place of gathering and diverse coexistence, of music and sport, of work, leisure and gastronomy, and above all of encounters. The master plan by Holzer Kobler and Atelier Loidl proposes selective building upwards to create urban open spaces for public use while the socio-cultural initiatives remain on site while their continuance will be secured long term. Now it is a question of letting this jointly planned place come into being.

12.2022

YOU SEXY MF!!!!

Château Royal’s hotel bar is the place to go for both locals and visitors alike. Bar manager Matteo Vacca serves classic drinks with subtle twists, like the signature Oyster Martini or Negroni Sous Vide. The drinks are accompanied by a bar food menu from the dóttir kitchen, highlighted by staples such as the crispy oyster mushroom house sandwich served in warm brioche with lovage mayonnaise and crunchy smashed potatoes.

12.2022

RETURNING WITH A NEW CULINARY CONCEPT

dóttir returns to its 2015 location, now newly renovated and integrated into the ground floor of the new Château Royal, as a female-led, vegetable-focused establishment. Here culinary director Victoria Eliasdóttir and chef de cuisine Elena Müller serve creative contemporary cuisine set in deep rounded flavours from mindfully sourced produce. The dishes, as individual as the hotel’s interior, combine classic flavours with forward thinking in à la carte and prix fixe menus, complete with a wine list of over 250 positions.

12.2022

BERLIN’S NOUVEAU ARCHITECTURE

Photo: Esther Grünewald, © Bureau N

Detail Berlin, Floating University, Raumlaborberlin, © Pierre Adenis

Detail Berlin, Verlagsgebäude taz, E2A Architekten, © Rory Gardiner

The publication “Berlin. Urban Architecture and Daily Life Since 2009” by Edition Detail documents the continual urban upheaval that has defined the City of Berlin since the opening of the Neues Museum in 2009. In examining 30 separate projects featuring complementary essays and interviews, the book illustrates how architectural icons, unknown discoveries, urban spaces and locales shape everyday life in the city.

12.2022

SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES ON HISTORY

“Roads not Taken. Oder: Es hätte auch anders kommen können”, scenography by chezweitz, photo: Alexander Butz

The exhibition “Roads Not Taken” at Deutsches Historisches Museum presents an unusual look at the past. Conceived by historian Dan Diner, it explores 14 tipping points in German history that could easily have taken a different turn. To spatially implement the abstract mind game of “Roads not Taken”, scenographers chezweitz created a congenial exhibition design: Using the architectural tools of perspective and trompe l’oeuil, they designed powerful “possibility spaces” that distort or dissolve—depending on the viewpoint: the mind game turns into a visual game.

12.2022

MINI-SUN POWERED

Front view Rudi-Dutschke-Strasse 26. Courtesy of max goelitz. Photo: Dirk Tacke

Installation view energy/power, 2022. Courtesy of max goelitz and Lisson Gallery, London, New York, Shanghai. Copyright of the artist. Photo: Dirk Tacke

Installation view energy/power, 2022. Courtesy of max goelitz and Lisson Gallery, London, New York, Shanghai . Copyright of the artist . Photo: Dirk Tacke

In “energy/power”, the inaugural exhibition of Max Goelitz’ new gallery space in Berlin, artist Haroon Mirza focuses on the harvesting and distribution of electricity to address socio-political issues deriving from technology, nature and humans. Central to the multisensory presentation is the large-scale octagonal sculpture Dyson Sphere (2021/2022), which combines radiating halogen lamps with solar panels. Simultaneously powering an ecosystem of sound-generating objects and psychoactive plants.

11.2022

MODERN-DAY HOLISTIC HEALTH

By combining traditional wisdom with current scientific insights, My Inner Health Club gives guidance on various aspects of health and well-being: from coping with stress, restlessness, and anxiety, to sleeping problems or poor nutrition. The streaming service founded by Ann-Kathrin Grebner and Yasmin Poloczek hosts online classes by leading experts and practitioners from across the globe, reviving ancient knowledge overlooked by the modern health system.

11.2022

HOW TO BEST TEACH DESIGN TODAY?

The Iceland Whale Bone Project – Hrefna, 2013 Design: Miloš Ristin; Tutor: Brynjar Sigur Arson © ECAL, photo: Nicolas Genta

The ECAL/University of Art and Design in Lausanne has put this question to a number of renowned designers and critics. Their answers, displayed in form of projects and objects at the Vitra Design Museum Gallery, reveal the unique approach to teaching pursued at one of Switzerland’s leading design schools, where individual style is not only encouraged, but pushed to develop into its most coherent form. The corresponding publication “The ECAL manual of style” surveys a selection of special projects by students and their tutors.

11.2022

FROM PRALINES TO PLATES

Since opening her first studio in Prenzlauer Berg, Kristiane Kegelmann has been fusing confectionery with sculpture in praline editions that boldly challenge the boundaries of flavour and the ephemeral. With the opening of her restaurant pars, a further culinary context is achieved in which the pralines are featured as an individual course, rather than in the traditional position of a Petit Four. The menu features straightforward, season-focussed plates, served at slightly angular tables, designed to recall the asymmetrical forms of the pralines themselves.