News

Modular building is still a hot topic. Philip Norman Peterson gives a follow-up to his talk from last year, focusing on the by now nearly finished container student housing project Frankie & Johnny (in German).

The ceremony of the prestigious awards for marketing and architecture is on. Tristan Kobler has been a member of the jury and gives a laudatory speech for on of the selected projects.

Tristan Kobler is invited as a speaker to Creative Zurich Wednesday to talk about parasite architecture, and its respective challenges and opportunities, and how they shape society. Redensification project ELLI will be examined more closely as an example of a special kind of parasite architecture.

Following the speeches, Tristan Kobler and the other invited speakers, Tanja Trampe, Gudrun Ongania, and Ueli Ansorge, discuss in a panel how high quality growth is possible that is also sustainable.

The permanent exhibition at Alpinarium Galtür "At The Very Top —  Stories About Galtür and the World" is expanded by the history of Gentiana Punctata L. in Galtür; occasion of the expansion is the recognition of Galtür's tradition of collecting and processing of spotted gentian as UNESCO cultural heritage. Special topic sections such as "The Plant and the Medicine" and "History and Tradition" shed light on the significance and value of the rare plant. Content and design carry on the current exhibition's style.

As part of the MakeCity festival, the nearly finished container-built student housing project Frankie & Johnny can be visited on a guided tour. Another tour takes place June 19th, 2018, at 1 pm.

Barbara Holzer is a member of the jury who awards this year’s DETAIL prize. The jury meets to select the winners.

The third workshop of RAW site development is on; the event is open to the public.

Museum Friedland has held an architectural competition for a visitor, media and documentation center, in which Barbara Holzer was a member of the jury. The competition entries are presented at the museum until September 23rd, 2018, as well as on their website.

Barbara Holzer will be a speaker at Architecture and Planning Day 2018, hosted by AIT Dialog and ACO Academy.

The third edition of Open House is on in Zurich! The festival presents free access to more than 100 buildings and many guided tours on the weekend of September 29th and 30th, 2018. Some visits require a reservation.

The ceremony of the German Steel Construction Award is embedded in this year’s Day of Steel Construction ("Tag der Stahl.Architektur") in Duisburg. Student housing project Frankie & Johnny has been among the winners.

A new permanent exhibition is opened at the former Bank of Germany building, which is positioned in correspondence with the dome. The exhibition design consciously takes up elements of the dome's architecture and establishes spatial connections to the graves of Otto and Editha in the Dome. The colours of the ottonian frescos and codices has influenced the scenography, a source of inspiration also for the architecture back then, as has come to light as work proceeded.

This year's congress of DAB (Deutsches Architektenblatt) focuses on different kinds of material. As an example for concrete construction, Barbara Holzer presents residential building and studio ELLI, for which prefabricated concrete elements have been used.

The winner at the Wolfsburg Award for urban vision 2018 and other nominated submissions will be presented in a public ceremony. Tristan Kobler, who was this year's guest jury member, will give a speech.

The RAW experts gather for a closing discussion.

Tristan Kobler is invited as a speaker to the Exhibition Design Congress. The theme "Exhibiting the Future" was the challenge he faced, when he created the DASA exhibition unit New Working Worlds, which presents potential scenarios of work in the next decades.

How does art react to economic mechanisms? What answers can art provide for the ensuing social upheavals?

These questions will be addressed by the large special exhibition "Constructing the World: Art and Economy". The historical part with art from the 1920/1930ies can be viewed at the Kunsthalle Mannheim until February 3d,  2019.

Scenography: Holzer Kobler Architekturen.

(The second part of the exhibition with contemporary works of art is extended until March 3, 2019)

The new hospital complex "Universitäre Altersmedizin FELIX PLATTER" offers one of the most modern and innovative geriatric health centers in Switzerland. It unites the departments of acute geriatrics, geriatric psychiatry and rehabilitation under one roof.

Learn about the new building of "Universitäre Altersmedizin FELIX PLATTER": Open house is from 10 to 17 o'clock.

Outside of Zurich, the "LimmatSpot" presents itself as a new urban development area in Spreitenbach. The multifunctional building complex of more than 50'000 sqm encompasses a large array of spaces for service providers, retailers, gastronomy and offices, 195 apartments in numerous different segments and a multiplex movie theater with 9 halls. The moving-in period to begin in mid-February 2019.

The Sigmund Freud University Vienna launched its new faculty building in January 2019, housing the faculties for medicine and law. It provides space for 1,400 students. The official inauguration will take place on March 8, 2019. (Participation on application)

In connection with her activity as juror of the "Design that Educates Awards", Barbara Holzer will speak about the impact that architecture and design have on social education.

In Dessau, Saxony-Anhalt, where the different activities of the Bauhaus reached their pinnacle, the members of this avant-gardistic school constructed a number of visionary buildings that were restored or partially reconstructed for the anniversary year of the Bauhaus. They are now accessible to visitors. 

In their creative interpretation of the residential properties and studios Holzer Kobler Architekturen centers on the spatial and atmospheric perception of the buildings as such. The scenography presents a modular, extensible orientation and communications system, based on filmic mediation. The reopening will take place on 18 April 2019. 

On the outskirts of St. Gallen, the new "Schlösslipark" is being built. Its architecture is characterized by a hybrid element construction, in which the wooden lamellar structure of the façades elegantly fits into the landscape. In addition to 60 spacious 2.5-4.5-room apartments, one of the 5 buildings encompasses a small commercial area. A topping out ceremony will be held for having placed the last beam of the buildings.

Henri Laurens (1885–1954) is regarded as one of the most influential French sculptors of the first half of the 20th century. The monographic exhibition at the Kunsthalle Mannheim will show his works from March 1 until June 16. Selected sculptures from Laurens’ early and mature artistic periods as well as drawings, collages and prints will be presented. A participative workbench and studio representations will draw attention to Laurens’ creative process.

Scenography: Holzer Kobler Architekturen

Grafic Design: 2xGoldstein

Curator: Dr. Ulrike Lorenz in cooperation with the Gerhard-Marcks-Haus, Bremen.

Exhibition funded by the H.W. & J. Hector Foundation.

As part of the Hegel 2020 project, Holzer Kobler Architekturen is responsible for the scenographic redesign of the Museum Hegel-Haus in Stuttgart on the occasion of the 250th birthday of the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.

The show "Update Hegel 2020" in the foyer of the museum provides a first insight into the redesign concept. There will be an introduction with a panel discussion on September 12th at 7:00 pm on which Simone Haar will participate.

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the celebrated French painter, graphic artist and sculptor Henri Matisse, the Kunsthalle Mannheim presents "Inspiration Matisse", a special exhibition that opens on the 27th of September 2019.

The scenography reflects on Matisse’ innovative mastery of color, form, surface, figure and space through a design that is oriented on his ideas of balance, pureness and tranquility.

On October 24, 2019, Tristan Kobler will be giving a lecture about the design and realisation processes of the scenography projects of Holzer Kobler Architekturen.

At the concluding panel on Thursday, Nov. 7, invited experts Barbara Holzer (Zurich, Berlin), Charles Landry (London), Paul Spies (Berlin) and Volker Staab (Berlin) discuss findings and outlook, led by moderator Joos van den Dool (Tubingen, Potsdam). The panel discussion will start at 6:30pm.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the art of tattooing began to flourish in the Western world. One of the most prominent protagonists was Christian Warlich (1891-1964), a tattoo artist in Hamburg, who gained international recognition as the "King of Tattoo Artists". The Museum for Hamburg History, that owns the world's largest collection of Warlich’s objects, is now dedicating an exhibition to this icon, designed by Holzer Kobler Architekturen.The exhibition honors Warlich's oeuvre as "everyday"-art. They are pictures for life: present always and everywhere.

The opening ceremony is on Tuesday 26 November 2019 at 7 p.m. The exhibition will run from 27 November 2019 to 25 May 2020.

On 7 December 2019 at 10:30pm 3sat will broadcast the documentary "Kunst hoch 2" about Barbara Holzer and Tristan Kobler. The six-part documentary series portrays well-known "artist couples". The current series tells of the first encounters between the two architects Barbara Holzer and Tristan Kobler and how their shared passion for the design of space and emptiness developed.

As part of the "walking dialogues", a program conceived by AIT-Dialogue, Simone Haar leads a tour through the Domotex 2020 trade fair to present and discuss special exhibitor highlights with a focus on questions of sustainability.

Barbara Holzer participates as jury member at the "Design that Educates Awards 2020“. The projects of the winners will be exhibited during the "Architecture in Foyer 2020" conference at the Solarlux Campus in Melle (Germany) on April 23–24, 2020. 

The main attraction of the 4th State of Saxony Exhibition focuses on the history of industrialisation and its influence on the work- and everyday life of the inhabitants of the region. In the Audi-Bau Zwickau, a former assembly hall specially remodelled into a temporary museum, the task of finishing the exhibition is in full swing. Exhibition scenography and design: Holzer Kobler Architekturen. The exhibition will be opened on 11 July and will run until 31 December 2020.

Based on a exhibition tour in 6 chapters, the visitors in the 2,500 m² exhibition hall are taken on a journey through five centuries of Saxon industry-culture history. By way of over 500 unique exhibits, a broad cultural and historical panorama unfolds: From the legendary beginnings of mining in the Renaissance period and the already early on internationally connected textile industries of the 18th and 19th centuries, through the phase of high industrialisation, the catastrophes of the First and Second World War, right up to the time of the GDR, the exhibition – curated by the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden under the direction of Thomas Spring –, gives us a look at the present time and also opens up perspectives of the future of the Free State of Saxony.

On August 11, 2020, "FUNNY MONEY. Money in Caricatures" opens at the Oesterreichische Nationalbank in Vienna. The new temporary topical exhibition presents itself in a "fragmented" showcase structure offering a wide variety of caricatures with insights into the subject areas: money – currency – economy. Exhibition: In cooperation with WGA ZT GmbH. Graphic Design: 2xGoldstein.

From Charlemagne to Frederick Barbarossa: in five sections the exhibition explores the different conceptions and strategies of their rule of a selection of imperial personalities in their domains in the Rhine region over five centuries. The exhibition levels are structured by way of floor-to-ceiling walls, thereby creating their own spatial composition of the rooms and a new rhythm for this tour through the Landesmuseum Mainz (DE).

The strong colors of the scenography create a unique atmosphere for each section, in order to symbolize the character and creativity of the individual potentate, at the same time providing attractive surfaces for the presentation of the precious objects. As an additional means of communication, informative graphic elements and illustrated short films lead the visitors through life and world events in the Middle Ages. A background soundtrack produces a mystical atmosphere, thereby shaping the exhibition experience of the visitors in a very subtle way.

The exhibition in the Landesmuseum Mainz (D) is open from September 9, 2020 to April 18, 2021.

Partners: team stratenwerth, tweaklab, 2xGoldstein

"In Jail. On deprivation of freedom" deals with life behind bars – with confinement, detention conditions, exclusion, but also reintegration and the role of the judiciary. A manifold scenography explores the inside and outside of prisons in a colorful and positivistic manner. Historical, philosophical, anthropological and sociological aspects of incarceration reveal the ambiguous reality of detention, they break down stereotypes and raise the possibility of alternatives to authoritarian and antiquated punitive systems.

The exhibition was realised in a trinational cooperation of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum in Geneva (MICR), the Musée des Confluences in Lyon (MDC) and the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden (DHMD). The curators of the three museums, Isabel Dzierson, Marianne Rigaud-Roy and Sandra Sunier, have jointly developed the concept, the design was created by Holzer Kobler Architekturen. After its presentation in Geneva (February 5 – August 18, 2019), the exhibition was shown at the Musée des Confluences in Lyon from October 18, 2019 to July 26, 2020. It will open at the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden on September 26, 2020 and can be seen until May 31, 2021.

With the exhibition "Difficult Heritage. The Linden-Museum and Württemberg in Colonialism" the Linden-Museum takes a look at its own history with regard to colonialism and post-colonial issues. Conceived as a summary exhibition of works, it focuses on the process of coming to terms with history through a conscious shifting of perspectives. This basic concept is taken up by the exhibition design. Numerous modules with different creative approaches to the topic are distributed around stands and open fragmentary exhibitions in the rooms of the museum. Empty spaces and breaks in the scenography demonstrate the complexity of dealing with this cultural heritage. At each station, participation is encouraged as well as opportunities for in-depth research and discussion.

Exhibition design: Holzer Kobler Architekturen Zurich/Berlin | Graphic design: 2xGoldstein

Note: The exhibition cannot be opened as planned at the end of November 2020. The new date will be announced in due time.

With the exhibition "Difficult Heritage. The Linden-Museum and Württemberg in Colonialism. A Workshop Exhibition" the Linden-Museum takes a look at its own history with regard to colonialism and post-colonial issues. Conceived as a summary exhibition of works, it focuses on the process of coming to terms with history through a conscious shifting of perspectives. This basic concept is taken up by the exhibition design. Numerous modules with different creative approaches to the topic are distributed around stands and open fragmentary exhibitions in the rooms of the museum. Empty spaces and breaks in the scenography demonstrate the complexity of dealing with this cultural heritage. At each station, participation is encouraged as well as opportunities for in-depth research and discussion. The exhibition runs from 16 March 2021 to 8 May 2022.

Exhibition design: Holzer Kobler Architekturen Zurich/Berlin; Graphic design: 2xGoldstein

In the context of social (cultural) spaces, where are the essential challenges of an increasingly diverse society? Additionally where is the design and clear allocation of spaces and architecture as well as their simultaneous mechanisms of exclusion of different social groups or a rapid development of digital innovation?

As part of Women in Architecture Berlin, Barbara Holzer invites three personalities from the fields of architecture, science, media and art who with their different wealth of experience will explore new connections to architecture and (open) space in a lively debate.

Participants: Astrid Bornheim (Astrid Bornheim Architektur BDA, DWB), Prof. Dr. Susanne Hauser (UdK Berlin), Prof. Barbara Holzer (Holzer Kobler Architekturen; PBSA), Prof. Gabi Schillig (Studio for Dialogical Spaces / UdK Berlin)

Organiser: WIA | n-ails e.V., Elke Duda

From Charlemagne to Frederick Barbarossa: in five sections the exhibition explores the different conceptions and strategies of their rule of a selection of imperial personalities in their domains in the Rhine region over five centuries.

The strong colors of the scenography create a unique atmosphere for each section, in order to symbolize the character and creativity of the individual potentate, at the same time providing attractive surfaces for the presentation of the precious objects. As an additional means of communication, informative graphic elements and illustrated short films lead the visitors through life and world events in the Middle Ages.

The exhibition at the Landesmuseum Mainz (D) will have its last day on June 13, 2021.

Partners: team stratenwerth, tweaklab, 2xGoldstein

An der Fachtagung Innenarchitekt*innentag 2021 der Architektenkammer NRW stellen Prof. Tanja Kullack und Prof. Barbara Holzer ihre aktuellen Projekte an der Hochschule Düsseldorf Peter Behrens School of Arts vor: Kuratiertes Studium.

On 20 July 2021, the Humboldt Forum will open its portals. Holzer Kobler Architekturen is responsible for the entire structural corporate design of the Humboldt Forum, for the exhibition scenography of the ivory exhibition "Terrible Beauty: Elephant – Human – Ivory" and for the design of the Humboldt Academy. 

In the foyer of the Humboldt Forum, the Kosmograf welcomes visitors with an eye catching display of art and information. Standing over 20m high, it is an aesthetic sculpture which embodies the aspiration and mission of the Humboldt Forum. The Kosmograf is a collaboration between Holzer Kobler Architekturen as designers of the sculpture and cutting-edge artist Ali Hossaini, who developed the brand and artistic concept.

Ivory – precious substance for cult, art and everyday objects, sign of luxury, status, greed and power, testimony of colonialism, exploitation and human cruelty. The multi-layered ways of looking at ivory characterise the design of the exhibition in a motivically intervowen course. The ivory exhibition runs from 20 Juli 2021 to 28 November 2021.

Client: Stiftung Humboldt Forum | Cooperations with zweikant architekturen / Gourdin & Müller / StudioGourdin | Graphic design 2xGoldstein, Light design LichtvisionDesign / Ali Hossaini

The Humboldt Academy in Berlin's Humboldt Forum is head office and starting point for organised guided tours for visitors and for group events as well as venue for all kinds of educational, social and cultural outreach, from workshops to talks, panel discussions, drop-ins or further projects. It thus spans 1000 square metres of space on two levels, designed to meet varying needs and requirements. In addition to service and office units for education and public programs, the available area encompasses eight generously equipped work and seminar rooms of superior quality, an activity space as well as work and play areas for up to 200 users.

For a functional and diversified room concept, a furnishing system based on modules was developed that can be adapted with great flexibility. The diversified equipment, furnishing and colour coordination give the different functional areas a very individual character. Colours, materials and lighting create specific, identity-forming accents. Sliding panels made of glass and acoustically effective curtains contribute to a communicative yet concentrated atmosphere.

The Humboldt Academy celebrates with a family festival on 21 August 2021.

As part of this year’s first online scenography colloquium at DASA Dortmund (1-2 September 2021) under the motto "Same, same but different", Tristan Kobler reflects on the planning and creation of the exhibition on health care "Heilen und Pflegen" (Healing and Caring), which was realised during the Corona pandemic, and spans an arc from the diverse imponderabilia to the creative approaches to solutions of contemporary exhibition scenography.

In the first single exhibition focussing exclusively on the Premonstratensians, outstanding works of art dating from the Middle Ages to our era show the cultural, spiritual and economic work of the order from its origins until today. The exhibition scenography is based on the concept of: reuse – reduce – redefine. As far as possible, display cases were taken from existing stocks and integrated into an overriding design corresponding with the architecture while remaining delicate and minimalistic. An atmosphere of differing identities is achieved in the individual exhibition rooms by means of a colour concept based on the colours of the pictures and objects of the exhibition.

The timeline in the choreography of the exhibition is conceived like a loop. On the stairs leading to the exhibition areas, visitors are welcomed by media projections showing the Premonstratensian Order as it is today. With knowledge of the present time, one can go back to the beginnings, and from there move chronologically on through the centuries.

The exhibition will be open from 8 September 2021 to 9 January 2022.

As part of the interdisciplinary MA1 Architecture and Interior Design, the PBSA's "Curated Studies" team is organising – as a prelude to the winter term – a lecture event on issues of participatory, contemporary neighbourhood development and on the "Köln-Kreuzfeld - Stadt-Land+Feld" project.

A new district is to be built in Cologne. As part of an urban development competition with intensive involvement of the local population, the city of Cologne is planning a new district on a "greenfield" site. This district will extend the districts of Chorweiler and Blumenberg, which are „socially challenging“ in parts, in a north-westerly direction. The BRAIN FOOD event will take place online via Zoom on 29.09.2021 from 9:30 to 18:00.

The exhibition "Cranach – The Beginnings in Vienna" in the Oskar Reinhart Collection "Am Römerholz" is realised as a collaborative show together with the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna. For the first time the focus is set on the artistic beginnings of Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553). Cranach was born in Franconia, he created his earliest known works around 1500 in Vienna. The key works presented by the two museums are supplemented for the exhibition by prestigious loans.

The nearly twenty works selected from a small number of works of this early period are shown in four rooms. In the first room, numerous portraits are arranged around the two central portraits of Dr. Johannes Cuspinian and Anna Cuspinian-Putsch. On display once again for a long time, the reverse side of the diptych is also shown. The background colour of these two pictures is taken up for the colour tone of all rooms. The detailed landscape in the background of the portraits can be experienced as an artistic video work by Georg Lendorff in the passage room. In the last two cabinets, ecclesiastical depictions of saints and crucifixion scenes follow; missals and wood engravings conclude the exhibition.

We have designed the exhibition as a harmonious installation in a collector's house, where house and work interact with each other and where the 500-year-old paintings are given a new form of reception with modern media and film. Cranach's early works will breathe and live for this extraordinary exhibition for a few exclusive weeks in Winterthur in spring 2022.

Oskar Reinhart Collection "Am Römerholz" – 12 March to 12 June 2022

Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna – 21 June to 16 October 2022

The new Raumforum Aargau aims to stimulate the discourse on architecture, planning of settlement and landscape and transport  to bring it into line with today’s social challenges. Presented to a wider public beyond the professional and administrative circles, Barbara Holzer will take part in a first event “In Search of Community-Building Spaces” on March 16, 2022 at the Tivoli Shoppi in Spreitenbach, which explores the questions of new usage concepts and contemporary transformations of shopping worlds in the 21st century.

Fr, 06. Mai 2022, 12:30-13:30h Podiumsdiskussion

Bauen Frauen anders als Männer? Wählen sie andere Materialien aus? Wie wählen Sie Materialien aus? Wie funktioniert die Kommunikation mit der Bauherrschaft? Wie jene mit den Handwerkern?

Gibt es eine spezifisch weibliche Architektur?

Solche und ähnliche Fragen werden an der Podiumsdiskussion im Swissbau Fokus in einer hochkarätigen Frauenrunde diskutiert. Dabei geht es nicht darum, auf Konfrontation mit der noch immer von Männern dominierten Bau- und Architekturbranche zu gehen, sondern aufzuzeigen, welche neuen Perspektiven Frauen im Beruf als Architektin und Innenarchitektin mitbringen. Herangehensweisen, die neue Impulse geben können. Es soll keine frauenrechts-politsche Veranstaltung werden, sondern aus dem Leben und Schaffen von Innenarchitektinnen und Architektinnen erzählen, die bereits Gutes erschaffen haben und noch Grossartiges erschaffen werden.

Im Anschluss an die Veranstaltung findet ein Networking-Apéro statt.