Abstract
How artists learn to love architects
Prof. Walter Unterrainer Aarhus School of Architecture
Over the last two decades, innumerable new museums and other exhibition spaces have been built and opened all over the globe. The most extreme growth happened in China, where the number of museums went up from 300 by 1980 to estimated 3000 museums by 2015. In urban discourses, new museums and buildings for art have been considered as drivers for ´cultural sustainability´ of cities.
The notion is diffuse and the reality is more an economic centred ´city branding´ for the promotion of tourism. What surprises: in many cities, the buildings for art are much better known and more published than the art they accommodate. A lot of them are considered as artistic objects.
This raises two questions: How much is architecture itself a form of arts? - but more relevant: what are appropriate architectural spaces for presenting, exhibiting, creating, contemplating, reflecting, meditating, discussing, enjoying, dissenting, debating creations of art.
Simplified, this is a question about the relation between package and content, and content more often includes activities. The urban and spatial question goes beyond museums and other buildings for art: how should public spaces in democratic societies be supported by art and how can public art support ´cityness´ versus spaces of consumerism.
Famous but egocentric buildings with their main purpose of ´uniqueness´ often fail to be a ´home´ or a productive space for communicating art and even do not fulfil basic technical aspects in terms of a consistent indoor climate, optimized lighting or safety.
The lecture focuses on inspiring examples of spaces for art, where famous (Renzo Piano, Peter Zumthor) or not so famous (Heinz Tesar, Gigon and Guyer) architects have designed buildings, which ´serve the arts and not the other way round´ (Renzo Piano on Fondation Beyeler).
Prof. Walter Unterrainer Aarhus School of Architecture
Over the last two decades, innumerable new museums and other exhibition spaces have been built and opened all over the globe. The most extreme growth happened in China, where the number of museums went up from 300 by 1980 to estimated 3000 museums by 2015. In urban discourses, new museums and buildings for art have been considered as drivers for ´cultural sustainability´ of cities.
The notion is diffuse and the reality is more an economic centred ´city branding´ for the promotion of tourism. What surprises: in many cities, the buildings for art are much better known and more published than the art they accommodate. A lot of them are considered as artistic objects.
This raises two questions: How much is architecture itself a form of arts? - but more relevant: what are appropriate architectural spaces for presenting, exhibiting, creating, contemplating, reflecting, meditating, discussing, enjoying, dissenting, debating creations of art.
Simplified, this is a question about the relation between package and content, and content more often includes activities. The urban and spatial question goes beyond museums and other buildings for art: how should public spaces in democratic societies be supported by art and how can public art support ´cityness´ versus spaces of consumerism.
Famous but egocentric buildings with their main purpose of ´uniqueness´ often fail to be a ´home´ or a productive space for communicating art and even do not fulfil basic technical aspects in terms of a consistent indoor climate, optimized lighting or safety.
The lecture focuses on inspiring examples of spaces for art, where famous (Renzo Piano, Peter Zumthor) or not so famous (Heinz Tesar, Gigon and Guyer) architects have designed buildings, which ´serve the arts and not the other way round´ (Renzo Piano on Fondation Beyeler).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication date | Mar 2015 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 2015 |
| Event | What Can Museum Architecture do? - AAA, Aarhus , Denmark Duration: 13 May 2015 → 13 May 2015 |
Conference
| Conference | What Can Museum Architecture do? |
|---|---|
| Location | AAA |
| Country/Territory | Denmark |
| City | Aarhus |
| Period | 13/05/2015 → 13/05/2015 |
Keywords
- cultural sustainability
- spaces for art
Artistic research
- No
