In the center of the show is a spatial installation developed especially for the MAK, which palpably illustrates the continuity and variety of architectural articulation in the work of COOP HIMMELB(L)AU. An oversized model table with a surface structured by a checkered lighting pattern incorporates about 170 selected international projects which in their totality are reminiscent of a grown urban structure. A pointed lighting choreography, large-screen projected film BMW Welt, Munich, Germany (2001-2007) sequences, and a walkable platform-like element affording viewers’ unusual perspectives and a specific spatial feel all invite an intense confrontation with the exhibits. Around this exceptional setting an exciting selection of projects provides an in-depth insight into the work of COOP HIMMELB(L)AU. Condensed materials document the unequalled worldwide career of the architectural office. The presentation includes completed and current projects, with the focus on most recent projects such as BMW Welt, Munich (2001–2007), Musée des Confluences, Lyon (2001–2010), and the European Central Bank, Frankfurt am Main (2003–2011). Peter Noever "Heaven – Vienna and back", in: catalogue COOP HIMMELB(L)AU. Beyond the Blue, edited by Peter Noever, Prestel Verlag / MAK 2007 Exhibition: Wolf D. Prix, Peter Noever MAK Curator: Martina Kandeler-Fritsch, Deputy Director Art Affairs Exhibition consultant: Jeffrey Kipnis, Professor of Architecture Curatorial assistance: Bärbel Vischer Technical coordination: Michael Wallraff Exhibition management: Sabrina Handler Exhibition term: 12.12.2007–11.05.2008
HEAVEN – VIENNA AND BACK “Coop Himmelblau is not a color but an idea, of creating architecture with fantasy, as buoyant and variable as clouds” was, back in 1968, the guiding programmatic idea behind one of the internationally most significant and innovative architectural offices set on lifting the building world out of its hinges. COOP HIMMELB(L)AU, founded in Vienna in 1968, realizes worldwide projects in the fields of architecture, urban planning, design and art. A second office was opened 1988 in Los Angeles, California. For forty years, COOP HIMMELB(L)AU has played with exorbitant spatial fantasies. In the uncompromising implementation of visionary and Left: Musée des Confluences, Lyon, France (2001–2010). Right: European Central Bank (EZB), Frankfurt/M., Germany (2003–2011) experimental architecture the team formulates essential tendencies of our time. Conceived as a show of works and a spatial experience, the MAK exhibition “COOP HIMMELB(L)AU. Beyond the Blue” provides an insight into the unconventional and pioneering approach of the team who keeps redefining the boundaries of form and material in architecture and urban planning with their architectural vocabulary.
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