Interview

1. Seit Ihrem Studium verbinden Sie Architektur und Szenografie in vielen Projekten miteinander. Inwiefern bedingen sich diese Bereiche und nehmen Einfluss aufeinander?

Architektur ist immer eine Art der Inszenierung und damit auch der Szenografie. Architektur bedeutet, einer Idee eine Form zu geben. Nicht jede Spielart der Inszenierung ist jedoch architektonisch. Nicht jede beliebige Gestaltung eines Raums ist Architektur. Szenografie kann beispielsweise auch interaktiv, theatral oder ausschliesslich dekorativ sein, ohne architektonisch zu sein.

Philip Norman Peterson addresses these questions here.

This interview is part of a series published on whatisarchitecture.cc

MODULØR: What projects are you working on at the moment?

Tristan Kobler: Barbara Holzer and I are working with our two offices in Zurich and Berlin on exhibition and architectural projects of different sizes in a whole variety of different stages, from competitions to the completion of exhibitions and buildings, and adding finishing touches.

MODULØR: Which architectural work has inspired you recently?

TK: The Waterhouse Boutique Hotel at South Bund in Shanghai by architects Neri & Hu Design and Research Office.

Katharina Marchal: Until 1996 you were a scenographer and curator at Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich, and you realized some 60 exhibitions. How did that influence your work as an architect, particularly in terms of designing museums and exhibitions?

tachles: You’re an architect, but you have also specialized in the design of exhibitions and cultural spaces. Notions such as “dramatic staging” and the “idea of the room” are central for you. What do they mean?

Barbara Holzer: “Dramatic staging” is in principle a kind of spatial narrative form. With an exhibition it’s always important to consider what it’s about and how that content is conveyed, how it is brought into the room. A collective experience is created, unlike the individual one of, say, reading a book.

Captions:
The room of the scribe (Sofer) in the Jewish Museum Berlin.
paläon Research and Experience Center Schöningen Spears – The newly built structure is a landmark in the undulating landscape, which is itself mirrored in the reflective exterior.
Cattaneo – A conversion of former industrial property into a residential area.