REVIEW
81
>>BOOK Das Architektur Modell / The Architectural Model
Right: From Barkow Leibinger Architects, model in metal wire, cardboard and felt tip on coated pressboard from studies for the DAM Pavilion, Frankfurt (unbuilt)
Deutsches arkitektur museum / hagen stier
Below: Model in wood, cord and metal on coated plywood for Clusters in the Air housing units by Arata Isozaki for Shibuya, Tokyo (unbuilt)
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When writer Heinrich Klotz arranged to visit Mies van der Rohe for an interview in August 1969, little did he realise that the cancelled trip would in time lead to the most impressive collection of 20th-century architectural models in the world. Van der Rohe died a few days prior to the appointment, and the model of the Toronto Dominion Centre, which Klotz was interested in, was binned by overzealous assistants. Klotz, who was to become the founding director of the Deutsches Architektur Museum 10 years later, pledged to himself to start a collection not only of drawings and plans but also of models, as those were the most impressive records of the evolution of a building. And so, after decades of passionate collecting, the Deutsches Architektur Museum decided to curate an exhibition on architectural models (no drawings!), for which the book Das Architektur Modell – The Architectural Model is the catalogue. The first impression of the book is one of inspiration and sheer visual delight, testament to the quality and substance of the museum’s collection of 1,240 models by 419 architects. From Archigram to Zumthor, from the oppressive classicism of the Reich to van der Rohe, from Isozaki’s Clusters in the Air, to Koolhaas’ Checkpoint Charlie and Parc de La Villette, from Frei Otto to Foster, the collection and
Deutsches arkitektur museum / hagen stier
Editors: Oliver Elser, Peter Chachola Small / Published by University of Chicago Press / £61.50 Review by Thomas Wensing
models were a very effective means to communicate intangible concepts; to make utopian futures tantalising book offers a stunning cross section of 20th-century architecture. Closer scrutiny and reading of the book reveals a scientific and scholarly approach that allows multiple readings of these objects. There is, of course, the historical narrative; it is explained how the role of model making in the design process has shifted dramatically throughout the 20th century. The invention of photography and improved printing techniques meant
that photos of architectural models gradually replaced the laboured and static perspectives of the Beaux Arts. More significantly, however, the use of models served the dynamism and rebellion of the machine age perfectly. Models are very effective tools for design through form-finding, which is to say a more intuitive approach to problem solving and design. The opposite is form-giving, from the German ‘formgebung’, which means design, but in this case is understood as design driven by a set of predetermined rules and concepts. Examples of form-finding are the upside-down chain models of Gaudí, which represented the ideal static forms for his masonry vaults, but also – and unexpectedly – the way in which van der Rohe investigated the effects of the curtain wall in his glass skyscraper models of the early Twenties. And models also proved to be an extremely effective means to communicate intangible concepts; to make Utopian futures tempting and tantalising. Think for instance of Ivan Leonidov’s thesis project at the Vkhutemas, van Doesburg and van Eesteren’s Maison Particuliere, but also Constant Nieuwenhuys’ New Babylon, Archigram and Isozaki’s Clusters in the Air. The air of speculation and the germination of ideas, the dream of possible better futures, is so much better expressed in models than drawings, it would seem. If Oliver Esler, the curator of the exhibition and an editor of the book, intended there to be an agenda, it would be that architectural models
are currently undervalued in the historiography of modern architecture. Notions of authenticity and art’s historical and monetary value have only recently started to be addressed. A reflection of these themes is found early in the book in two examples of German Expressionism; Erich Mendelsohn’s Einsteinturm and Otto Bartning’s Sternkirche. What both gypsum models have in common is that the originals were lost and that replicas were made in the Fifties. The Sternkirche’s provenance was clear; the architect had made a new model, now in the museum. There was a direct link between the maker, the idea and the physical object. The history of the Mendelsohn model was less clear, however; bought as an original by Klotz in a Belgian gallery, this prized possession of the museum was not recorded in the documents of the Mendelsohn estate. Extensive research was conducted to settle the question of authenticity. The model was subjected to material analysis and CT scans which proved that the model was a post-war replica. Such a level of curatorial professionalism is usually only devoted to artworks, and impresses as an example of how serious the subject matter was researched. It is to the museum team’s great credit though that this thoroughness never gets in the way of the force of the ideas and the qualities of the objects themselves. If there is an aside to be made, it would be that I regret that this book was not published earlier to show me how models really ought to be made. BLUEPRINT NOVEMBER 2012
25/09/2012 10:48