Posts Tagged ‘Berlin’

Defacing Hejduk

International | March 17th, 2010 | William Menking

Hejduk's Kreuzberg complex in happier days. (Courtesy architectureinberlin)

The late John Hejduk, dean of Cooper Union, a member of the Texas Rangers, and an influential member of the New York Five, built very few buildings, preferring to leave architectural ideas on paper. But he did build several housing projects in Berlin as part of the influential IBA program, and now one of his finest projects, the Kreuzberg Tower from 1988, is being defaced by its new owners in the name of “improvement.” Kazys Varnelis sends word that a petition is being created to protest this destruction. The effort is being led in part by Hejduk’s daughter Renata, an architectural historian who urged the new owners to halt the work, but apparently received a rude response. According to architectureinberlin, Renata explained: “I tried everything I could to get them to stop and at least consult with the Estate and other architects who were interested in helping to preserve them. They were completely uninterested and felt their facade changes would be much better than the original.”  Help save the tower by spreading the word, signing the petition, and putting pressure on the new owners to reconsider their actions. You can see the terrible plans after the jump. (more…)

The Banality of Fashion

International | November 20th, 2009 | Matt Chaban

The controversial photos: These were among the shots from a fashion shoot done at Peter Eisenmans Holocaust memorial in Berlin. (Courtesy New Statesman)

The offending images: These were among the photos from a fashion shoot done at Peter Eisenman's Holocaust memorial in Berlin. (Courtesy New Statesman)

First the cracks, and now this? Sure, Peter Eisenman’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin has seen its fair share of controversies over the years, but it doesn’t get much worse than a fashion shoot for an in-flight magazine. According to the New Statesman’s scoop, easyJet had no idea the Holocaust memorial had been used as the backdrop for a bunch of models because its magazine is produced by an outside company. That company has yet to speak up about the matter, so it remains unclear whether the fine folks at INK publishing are ignorant or just stupid. Looks like Hannah Arendt is right once again. (more…)

Megastructures Reload

Other | October 20th, 2008 | William Menking

La Villa Spatiale by Yona Friedman & Eckhard Schulze-Fielitz

La Villa Spatiale by Yona Friedman & Eckhard Schulze-Fielitz

A derelict old German mint in Berlin has been taken over until November 2 by Megastructure Reloaded an exhibit of  1960’s visionary architecture drawings, models, and films. Descending into the mint’s basement/bunker Archigrammer Dennis Crompton has created an installation that includes Yona Friedman’s la Ville Spatiale, a film of the Archigram guys walking around The Centre Pompidou with Cedric Price, and a toy-like model of a Constant Nieuwenhuijs skyscraper. The dilapidated ground floor has series of interpretations of the themes by young megatsructuralists like New Yorkers Tobias Putrih and Katrin Sigurdardottir. (more…)