I had the chance to visit the Kolumba museum – the art museum of the archbishopric of Cologne - a few weeks ago. Initially I just wanted to check out Peter Zumthor’s architecture, which proved impossible! This museum is an amazing Gesamtkunstwerk in its own right, throwing archeology, architecture, design and art from the late antiquity to the present in the mix.
The lower, partially perforated shell of the building holds an excavation site and the former sacristy of St. Kolumba Church. A permanent sound installation (Bill Fontana/Pigeon Soundings) mixed with city sounds that can be heard through the perforated walls create an intriguing acoustic soundscape that blurs the physical boundaries of the site. The upper floors house the actual museum, with a great variety of spaces including a beautifully paneled reading room and huge windows tying it back to its central Cologne surroundings. This exhibition just demands attention and succeeds brilliantly in mixing historic religious artefacts with contemporary art, very refreshing to see this happening within a ‘religious’ museum. I did not expect to find a Crucifix and work by Joseph Beuys in one room!
The current ‘Bequest’ show will run until the 30th of August 2010 and is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.
Photos: Kolumba’s perforated facade (2007) / Madonna and Child Cologne (ca 1650) + Stefan Wewerka Chair Sculpture (1969) / Stefan Wewerka Table 75º (2003)
‘Installations by architects, experiments in building and design’ seems a book worth adding to the shelf – and worth reading for that matter!
I picked it up from a book review on the great we-make-money-not-art blog, which has in-depth info and great illustrations from the book.
We-make-money-not-art is the brainchild of Belgian Régine Debatty. She writes about the intersection between art, design and technology on the blog as well as in several European design and art magazines. She also curates art shows and speaks at conferences and festivals about the way artists, hackers and interaction designers (mis)use technology. Worth bookmarking!
Book Cover: ‘Installations by Architects: Experiments in Building and Design’, by Sarah Bonnemaison and Ronit Eisenbach. Available via Amazon USA and UK.
‘Walking in the Park’ Project: Asher DeGroot, David Gallaugher, Kevin James, and Jacob Jebailey. Photo credit: Andre Forget.
Good for RogersStrickHarbour that they won the Stirling prize after a turbulent year of fighting the Prince of Wales, but their Maggie’s Cancer Centre doesn’t make my hart beat faster, even though the building serves a great cause.
The sterling work by the nominees for the 2009 YAYA’s (Young Architect of the Year Award) certainly does. Check them out on Building Design’s website.
Winners to be announced on the 5th of November.
I favour the all girls team Glowacka Rennie Architects with exciting work ranging from quirky small scale projects to large scale bridges and Office for Subversive Architecture (OSA), who venture outside the architectural boundaries into art installations.
Glowacka Rennie’s V&A Women’s toilets.
Office for Subversive Architecture’s ‘Accumulator’.
The Accumulator’s fabric funnel directed leaking rainwater into the disused Leeds International Swimming Pool last year.
