COOP HIMMELB(L)AU: Beyond the Blue

Thu, Apr 2 - Sun, July 26, 2009 Wexner Center Galleries The innovative approach of COOP HIMMELB(L)AU permeates buildings, ideas about urban planning, and even the name of this influential Viennese architectural firm. "Coop" signals the firm's identity as a cooperative. "Himmelb(l)au" offers the double meanings of "sky blue" (with the "l") and "sky building" (without). Launched in May 1968, COOP HIMMELB(L)AU has never yielded the radical fervor of its founding moment and consistently rejected preconceived notions of design across 40 years of exquisite, experimental plans and constructions. Among its recent projects are the double cone structure of the new BMW center (BMW Welt) in Munich, the eye-catching addition to the Akron Art Museum, and the dramatic headquarters for the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. The Wexner Center is proud to host the U.S. debut of this exhibition from MAK in Vienna, one of the world's leading museums of contemporary art and design. In it, you'll have the opportunity to study several projects in depth in large-scale models and to survey small models of many more projects displayed on an oversize model table. Recalling an urban landscape plan, this display strategy evokes the firm's belief in architecture's need to address spatial possibilities, while also reflecting design principal Wolf Prix's passionate critique of contemporary urban planning. Choreographed light and film sequences add to the rich visual experience. Jeffrey Kipnis, professor of architecture at Ohio State, is the exhibition's consulting curator. Organized by MAK—Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art, Vienna.