"Obdurate Space: Architecture of Donald Judd” revisits the prominent artist's built and unbuilt visions

"Obdurate Space: Architecture of Donald Judd" is a new exhibition at the AIANY Center for Architecture that explores the built and unbuilt architectural projects of prominent 20th-century artist — and American master minimalist — Donald Judd. The exhibition was curated and designed by Armstrong + Cohen Architecture co-founders Claude Armstrong and Donna Cohen, who were Judd's architectural assistants in the 1980s.

The exhibition has models, photos, drawings, and interpretive digital renderings of five of Judd's most mature architectural works, which illustrate his formal consistency across various scales and complexity. The projects are: the Concrete Buildings in Marfa, Texas; the urban proposal for downtown Cleveland, Ohio; the Eichholteren Haus, Küssnacht-am-Rigi, Switzerland; the Kunsthaus Bregenz Office and Archive Building, Austria; and Bahnhof Ost Basel, Switzerland. 

Judd designed several architectural works during the last decade of his life, from 1984-94, while also creating furniture and art. In his architecture, he integrated his art practice and looked to European design movements. By 1990, he had some 19 architectural projects in the works, which includes some self-initiated projects and others in response to design competitions or by invitation.

“In Marfa, Claude and I were known as ‘the kids’. If we were kids then, now we are grown, and with 30 years of perspective from continued work in architecture, we are ready to share and learn more about Judd’s architecture,” says Donna Cohen. “Our motivation for the exhibition, for the observations here, together with new models, drawings, and project descriptions, is to share Judd’s work in architecture with a wider public and to connect that moment to the present.”

The exhibition is open now through March 5, 2018.