COOP HIMMELB(L)AU Beyond the Blue

COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
Beyond the Blue

The innovative approach of COOP HIMMELB(L)AU permeates buildings, ideas about urban planning, and even the name of this influential Viennese architectural firm.

"Coop" signals the firm's identity as a cooperative. "Himmelb(l)au" offers the double meanings of "sky blue" (with the "l") and "sky building" (without). Launched in May 1968, COOP HIMMELB(L)AU has never yielded the radical fervor of its founding moment and consistently rejected preconceived notions of design across 40 years of exquisite, experimental plans and constructions. Among its recent projects are the double-cone structure of the new BMW center (BMW Welt) in Munich, the eye-catching addition to the Akron Art Museum, and the dramatic headquarters for the European Central Bank in Frankfurt.

The Wexner Center is proud to host the U.S. debut of this exhibition from MAK (Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art) in Vienna, one of the world's leading museums of contemporary art and design. In it, you'll have the opportunity to study several projects in depth in large-scale models and to survey small models of many more projects displayed on an oversize model table. Recalling an urban landscape plan, this display strategy evokes the firm's belief in architecture's need to address spatial possibilities, while also reflecting design principal Wolf Prix's passionate critique of contemporary urban planning. Choreographed light and film sequences add to the rich visual experience. Jeffrey Kipnis, professor of architecture at Ohio State, is the exhibition's consulting curator.

Organized by MAK, Vienna.

Keep reading for complete image credits.

Image credits

COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
BMW Welt, Munich, Germany, 2001–2007
Photo © 2007 Ari Marcopoulos

COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
Busan Cinema Center / Pusan International Film Festival, Busan, South Korea, 2005–2011
Photo © ISOCHROM.com, Vienna

COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
Central Los Angeles Area High School #9 for the Visual and Performing Arts, Los Angeles, California, 2002–2008
Photo © COOP HIMMELB(L)AU

COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
Musée des Confluences, Lyon, France, 2001–2010
Photo © COOP HIMMELB(L)AU

COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
The Cloud, presentation model, 1968
Photo © COOP HIMMELB(L)AU

Admission

$5 students (tickets required)

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