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MARK 47. Dec 2013 / Jan 2014. What's Wrong with Germany? | MARK magazine

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MARK 47. Dec 2013 / Jan 2014

What's Wrong with Germany?

Publisher:MARK

  • Paperback
  • English
  • Dec 2, 2013

German architecture is known for its quality and sustained reliability. In as far as a strong construction industry or structural efficiency goes, attractive designs have yet failed to arise.

However, Germany recently seems to have taken on more than what it can handle in regards to projects plagued by unmanageable budgets, endlessly postponed completion dates and unfavourable social, economic and political realities.

In Mark #47, we turn our attention to the three biggest planning headaches of the moment: Berlin Brandenburg Airport, the Elbe Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg and Stuttgart’s central train station. High-profile architects are involved in all three projects, and all three are steeped in scandal. How did it get to this point? And what’s going to happen now?

We then visit four new game changing projects designed by Wiel Arets, stop in with yet another iconic landmark from Preston Scott Cohen, peek at Japanese Kouichi Kimura’s Scarpa-influenced work, talk architectural criticism with Christopher Hawthorne, before finishing with unconventional contributions from 51-1 Arquitectos, XTH Architects, TAO and Saunders Architecture.

German architecture is known for its quality and sustained reliability. In as far as a strong construction industry or structural efficiency goes, attractive designs have yet failed to arise.

However, Germany recently seems to have taken on more than what it can handle in regards to projects plagued by unmanageable budgets, endlessly postponed completion dates and unfavourable social, economic and political realities.

In Mark #47, we turn our attention to the three biggest planning headaches of the moment: Berlin Brandenburg Airport, the Elbe Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg and Stuttgart’s central train station. High-profile architects are involved in all three projects, and all three are steeped in scandal. How did it get to this point? And what’s going to happen now?

We then visit four new game changing projects designed by Wiel Arets, stop in with yet another iconic landmark from Preston Scott Cohen, peek at Japanese Kouichi Kimura’s Scarpa-influenced work, talk architectural criticism with Christopher Hawthorne, before finishing with unconventional contributions from 51-1 Arquitectos, XTH Architects, TAO and Saunders Architecture.

CONTENT:

Cross Sections:

RA, Studio Dasar, Aleksi Briclot | Michel Koch, Jeffrey Inaba, McDowell + Benedetti, Tato Architects, Phil Ivey | Syd Mead, Double Negatives Architecture, Zaha Hadid, Urban Agency | JDS, Valerie Van der Put, Shigeru Ban, Theo Deutinger, Johan Selbing | Anouk Vogel, Atelier Tekuto, Fuhrimann Hächler, F451, Tense Architecture Network, Knight Architects, Katsutoshi Sasaki + Associates

Perspectives:

Introduction: Germany
Von Gerkan, Marg und Partner: Berlin Brandenburg Airport is completed but a long way from opening.
Herzog & de Meuron: The Elbe Philarmonic Hall turns out to be over ten times more expensive than originally calculated.
Ingenhoven: Stuttgart 21 reveals errors and issues found in German planning processes.

Long Sections:

Wiel Arets in Amsterdam: Four new projects show the architect at the top of his cinema-inspired game.
Preston Scott Cohen in Taiyuan: The commission for a massive museum in the Chinese city of Taiyuan permitted Preston Scott Cohen to go wild.
Asher Hartman in Los Angeles: Director Asher Hartman talks about casting architecture for his unusual play.
Form in Otsu: Kouichi Kimura is an outspoken Japanese architect inspired by the work of Carlo Scarpa.
51-1 Arquitectos in Lima: In Lima, 51-1 Arquitectos realized a private residence that snakes among the foliage.
XTH Architects in Berlin: Helle Schröder and Martin Janekovic designed a house for themselves that flies in the face of every architecture convention imaginable.
TAO in Beijing: Hua Li of TAO uses local construction techniques to build in remote places.
Saunders Architecture in Fogo Island: A luxurious inn is Todd Saunders’ latest contribution to Fogo Island.
Christopher Hawthorne: According to Christopher Hawthorne, a fresh breeze is fluttering the pages of architecture criticism, bringing a renewed focus to the political dimension of architecture.

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