The magic of weird angles

         
Since the Schaulager building is closed for the rest of the year due to enhancement work, the institution decided to put up a “Schaulager Satellite” right in the middle of Messeplatz to keep its presence during Art Basel.

The overall form of the HdM-design “Satellite” makes obvious geometric references to the main Schaulager building. The distorted triangle is composed of two indentations similar to the one on the Schaulager facade, acting as two welcoming sides facing the two main access directions of Messeplatz. These two sides are combined in a very smart way to form a distinct gesture that looks as if it comes out from the Messe Hall 2, and diminishes at one sharp corner pointing into Messeplatz. Underneath the big triangle are several little houses with gable roofs – obvious instances of the Schaulager gatehouse. But compared to the ingenious recreation of the indentation, these scattered volumes seem a bit like just kitschy mimicry.

The datum between the two parts introduces a clear dichotomy. Structurally, it’s supporting vs. supported; and programmatically, it’s public functions (reception, bookstore, food stand) vs. core exhibition. The material choice follows the division: soft perforated PVC foil above and rough OSB below. But the white paint on the outside of the OSB houses seems to take a step back and undermine the otherwise sharper contrast. There is also one exceptional small house: the video room. One may argue that it’s a black box so it’s different from the display above. But I still think it goes against the conceptual clarity.

After several visits, I decided that this pavilion is one of the most difficult-to-photograph buildings I’ve seen in recent years. In the camera viewfinder, you see lines flying around in different angles. You can’t judge what’s perpendicular and what’s vertical any more. The strange form is completely anti-compositional. It’s not meant to create beautiful pictures. But all the funny angles work together magically and make the space very interesting.

Following the stair/auditorium that flips down like a spaceship, one arrives at the upper galleries around a triangular opening. There are several videos playing at the same time. In order to balance the acoustic environment, the walls are made of molton fabric – a material often used for theatre curtains. This smart material choice also results in a soft and monolithic interior surface. Very cozy.

In terms of exhibition, I found the “sourcebook” curation concept very interesting. Instead of featuring “real art,” the galleries show the making of art in a series of “shop windows.” The objects on display include the four red balls John Baldessari tossed in his pictures, the shoes Matthew Barney used to stamp the petroleum-jelly footsteps onto the floor, a rare leftover from the paper model Thomas Demand built for his photographs, plaster models and negative moulds from Katharina Fritsch, props and costumes from Cindy Sherman, a model of Monika Sosnowska’s monumental sculpture 1:1, and of course, a wooden model of the Schaulager building by HdM.

Thomas Ruff’s 3D photographs

Clockwise from top left: Herzog & de Meuron, Peter Fischli & David Weiss; Katharina Fritsch; Matthew Barney, Paul Chan; Cindy Sherman, Thomas Demand, John Baldessari

         

Space station on the roof

     
Soap bubble packing is yesterday’s news, and modular structure is even the day before yesterday’s. But when Tomás Saraceno puts his “Cloud City” on the roof of the Met, it still looks futuristic, at least for most general visitors. When stepping out of the staircase, the guy in front of me roared “Wow holy smoke! This is awesome!” I was slightly caught off guard because I almost forgot how Americans react to things.

But my first impression was: this is tiny! Instead of taking the advantage of the modular system and spread it all across the roof (like the Starn twins’ “Big Bambú” or the metallic tree by Roxy Paine), “Cloud City” is more like a freestanding object. But it’s not really “free” standing. This cluster of 16 interconnected polyhedrons has to be anchored by a network of steel cables. Weighing about 20 tons, the structure is nowhere near being light, not mentioning “floating.” Actually there is not even the illusion of floating, since the cantilevers are not so great after all.

However, the 100+ surfaces of the installation do create amazing effects. Either transparent (clear plexiglass) or reflective (polished steel), they juxtapose reality with reflections of the surrounding buildings, greenery in the park, sky, and people – upside down or sideways, like in a kaleidoscope.

I always love Tomás Saraceno’s work. Maybe it’s the fused sensibilities between art, architecture and science from his original training as an architect.
This installation on the Met’s roof is the latest and largest iteration of his almost 10-year-long project “Cloud Cities/Air Port City” that investigates and expands the ways in which we inhabit and experience our environment. This Bucky Fuller-inspired geodesic structure is “an international space station,” as Saraceno himself described. A prototype of a future airborne habitation, a utopian environment coming to life. Unfortunately, this edition on the roof doesn’t fly as those in the illustration.

Let’s be fair. The little portion of “Cloud City” took a year longer to secure all the necessary building permits in New York (it was originally scheduled to be on view last summer). There is always a gap between an artist’s visions and reality, and there are always compromises to make (maybe including the prudent structure). Especially in this case, Saraceno is operating in what Le Corbusier called “the land of the timid.”
   

Milano’12: Architects action

       
As a tradition, Milan Salone was not only a hotspot for celebrated product designers, but also a playground for starchitects. Many architects had “crossed the line” and developed new products with different name brands, both for the buildings they designed and as mass marketed objects.

At the Fairgrounds, Jean Nouvel presented the Mia collection for Emu. These simple and elegant stacking metal chairs and tables were originally for the restaurant of the RBC Design Centre that Nouvel designed in Montpellier. The Molteni&C stand featured the Arc dining table by Foster + Partners. The double-curved base made of a composite material of cement and organic fiber attracted quite a few eyeballs.

Emu’s MIA collection by Jean Nouvel

Arc table by Foster + Partners for Molteni&C

In Brera, Shigeru Ban showcased Module H, a modular system of aluminum panels he developed for Hermès, of course with a perforated pattern composed of the letter H. It could be used to surface existing walls or as free-standing partition screen. The idea is that the repetitive pattern allows you to hang anything on the wall in all kinds of combinations. Aren’t most of the shelves in stores doing that just as well?

Shigeru Ban’s work was also featured at the showroom of When Objects Work (WOW), alongside that of John Pawson and Belgian architect Vincent van Duysen.

Maru by Shigeru Ban

Tableware by John Pawson

Pottery by Vincent van Duysen

Paola C. Gallery presented a series of wooden objects made by the craftsmen of Studio Mumbai. These curious looking bowls and pots were the result of an almost impossible collaboration: Studio Mumbai founder Bijoy Jain and Aldo Cibic, Italian design guru who was part of the postmodern Memphis group.

Wooden objects by Bijoy Jain and Aldo Cibic

The most high profile in Brera this year was probably Zaha Hadid’s “Secret Garden” pavilion with marble producer Citco. The overall fluid gesture of the pavilion looked clever, framing large milled marble murals with cuts and folds. Yet the simple but most important detail – how to fix these pieces onto the structure – was not thought through at all. The inlaid marble surfaces were obvious parametric geometry exercises; but what’s more than that? What are they for? The description claimed that they established a dialogue between nature and architecture: “These fascinating scenarios are established when energy is applied to geology – developing a geometric set of repeated cycles of growth or erosion that have been superimposed onto the immaculate marble.” Hmm, sounds like Patrik talking.

When I first heard that David Adjaye would design some products with Swarovski, I was a bit worried. Bling bling! But to my relief, the Star vessels were very subtle, elegant, and delightful to see. Handmade in Turkey, these objects were lined with black crystals only on the inside, while the copper exteriors were perfectly smooth. “This inversion creates an elemental quality that comes alive as the crystals subtly catch the light from within,” Adjaye said.

Star vessels by David Adjaye

Adjaye’s mentor David Chipperfield was featured in the Marsotto Edizioni showroom in the MonteNapoleone area. His Colonnade was one of the new tables presented. Curious enough, this long table and all the other tables (designed by Konstantin Grcic, Naoto Fukasawa, Jasper Morrison, and James Irvine) looked extremely similar. I guess it was the white Carrara marble and the identical matt polished finish.

Colonnade table by David Chipperfield

Konstantin Grcic (left) and Naoto Fukasawa (right) also for Marsotto Edizioni

On via MonteNapoleone, the Chipperfield-designed Valentino flagship store had an “open house” to show the new store concept. A succession of areas with distinct atmospheres stretched in smooth harmony, thanks to a carefully developed material palette: grey terrazzo, marble in black and white checkerboard pattern, wood, glass, sandblasted mirrors, leather, etc. It was very refined and elegant, yet very plain and hollow. Typical Chipperfield “Tofu Architecture” (as Jin described it): tasteful because of all the add-ons but dull in essence.

A few blocks away, the recently completed Duvetica store hosted an exhibition on Tadao Ando, the architect behind their own retail space. 10 museum projects, including the Punta della Dogana Contemporary Art Center and Palazzo Grassi in Venice as well as Lee Ufan Museum and Chichu Art Museum in Naoshima were presented. I had not been following Ando’s work for so long that I actually saw most of the projects for the first time! His Château la Coste projects in Provence looked quite nice. I felt I should pay a visit to the French region. To my surprise, I saw a twisting form in the Abu Dhabi Maritime Museum. I guess Abu Dhabi makes everybody crazy – even Tadao Ando couldn’t resist the temptation.

Tadao Ando exhibition in the basement

Abu Dhabi Maritime Museum