The Architect‘s Temptation - Fritz Balthaus

The medium of architecture largely consists of a distinction between the interior and exterior, the range of rooms, functional and technical questions, and it also takes the structural environment of the location in account. "An architect who regards himself of an architect cannot avoid considering all aspects of society, art and structural design which could play a role in the building that he is currently planning. This means that all of these conditions also constitute a temptation for the architect, a temptation to act as a sociologist, an artist or an engineer, or even a combination of these three roles."(1)

Inhabitants of Interpretation

The medium of art, as I understand it as an artist, explores questions similar to those pursued in architecture, but it focuses its answers on making the hidden boundary lines between the two individual disciplines and their self-assertions visible. Art is not so much interested in the practical usefulness of its results, it is more interested in the "inhabitants of interpretation", the beholders who have made themselvs comfortable in the interpretation architecture of art.

House Rules

In art competitions, the medium of architecture usually does not make room for art until all distinctions have already been made within the architecture. The medium of art can then only communicate with the substance that is already there, i.e. it must provide a goog and visible reason for the existence of the medium of art within the medium of architecture. Experience shows that the criteria used by juries as arguments for or against a proposed work of art are frequently based on the criteria defined in house rules: art must compensate for deficits described in the tender, it must be understandable und washable, and it must not get in the way.

Art for buildings

Usually, the art and the architecture are simply placed alongside each other, the art is in or next to the building. This concept defines "art" and "building" as two separate and distinguishable forms, they are either "art" or the "building", and the contrast is clear as an anthropomorphic sculpture by Georg Kolbe which is placed next to a cubic building by Mies van der Rohe - the flowing lines drawn by the artist stand out clearly against the straight lines created by the architect. In addition to this classical climax of the contrasting forms, there is also an increasing trend towards an integration of art and architecture, although this trend does not make them completely identical. Art can look like architecture, and architecture can look like art, but the aim is still to bring out their hidden motifs and secret boundaries. "Art can therefor be regarded as a way of making visible what is invisible, but this is subject to the condition that the invisible must be preserved."(2)

Art with architecture

One example of this combination of art and architecture arose in cooperation with Volker Staab. His kindergarten design envisaged projecting architectural display windows for children in the facade, so the architecture embodied a distinction of insede and outside, and this was perhaps  even catalyst for the proposed work of art "6 holes". My proposal of making 6 holes of different sizes in the walls and ceilings of the building and treating them in different ways was intended to cater for the natural curiosity of children and give the architecture "improbable" views and interpretations linking the inside and the outside. As my design was implemented into the construction work at an early stage, it was possible to implement the proposal "6 holes" with relatively small art budget. 1. Bottle hole: the children can look out of the building through a green wine bottle. 2. Plain hole: from the entrance foyer, the children can look through an untreated hole and see the mirror in the toilet, so they can also see their own eyes. 3, Hole in the floor: the hole in the floor is also a hole in the ceiling when seen from below, so the children can look in both directions. 4. Mirror hole: the curved sites of this hole have been lined with mirrors, which has the effect of bringing the green colour of the outdoor surroundings into the hole.Incidentally the kindergarten teachers have developed their own interpretation of the mirror hole: They use it as a sun-powered stove to heat up their bottles of milk, which reflects the congruence and limitations of a new medium. 5. Filled hole: This hole in a wall between two group rooms has been filled with building foam in different colors. 6. Pretend holes: they consist of a loose grouping of partly drilled holes in the exposed concrete of the portal. There cannot be a hole without a wall, so in this case the medium of architecture is an integral element of art. The work of art is therefor not an extraneous object that has been fixed to the wall or added to the room.

Architecture with art

On the other hand works of art can also be a constitutive element of architecture. In the planning phase for his architectural projects, for example, Volker Staab always considers the structural principle of existing location, and often he analyses and interprets these locations with aid of works of art which he admires. In his Neues Museum in Nuremberg, he used works created by Gordon Matta-Clark and Richard Serra as his models. In view of the old town character of buildings around the future museum site, Volker Staab used the analytical sectional views of Matta-Clark and gave them a structural form as a built museum. The exhibition room in this museum match the existing cubic forms of the old town and leave the rooms open on the facade side.  In line with the concept proposed by Matta-Clark, Volker Staab opened up the stage-like character of the white exhibition boxes to the square outside the museum. The beholder standing in front of the museum now sees the bare walls and ceilings, which reveal their structure as a design element of museum art itself. But Volker Staab operates in the medium of architecture, not in the medium of art, like Gordon Matta-Clark, so a glass facade has to be placed in front of the exposed museum boxes. That is where Richard Serra's sculpture "Tilted Arc" comes into play as an imaginary reference point for the design. Serra's sculpture has noe been removed from its site on the Federal Plaza in New York because it paralysed the pedestrian routes and lines of sight across the plaza - as a work of art it disturbed everyday pedestrian traffic, so it was an enemy of functional urban design. For that reason, the sculpture was not able to survive in this context. The grand gesture of the "Tilted Arc" was the abstracted from Serra's artistic work by Volker Staab and transformed into the curved glass facade of the art museum in Nuremberg. The barrier function of Serra's steel wall sculpture is changed into a glass membran placed between the Neues Museum and the open square in front of the museum, allowing light and visitor's to pass through. " The great difference between art and architecture is that art can call all differentiations into question, but the architecture remains inextricably bound by the difference between the inside and the outside.(3)

Architecture remains architecture, art remains art

Examples like this underline the limitations of convergence: architecture and art remain essentially true to themselves and remain their original characters. Although their forms may become similar, they only seem to blend into each other at a superficial level. With their strongly conflicting conventions, art and architecture must remain faithful to the laws of their own genre.

(1) Dirk Baecker: Die Dekonstruktion der Schachtel. Innen und Außen in der Architektur, (The deconstruction of the box. Interior and exterior in architecture), in: Unbeobachtbare Welt. Über Kunst und Architektur, (Unobservable world. About art and architecture), Hannover 1990, P.98
(2) Niklas Luhmann: "Weltkunst" (World art), in: "Unbeoachtbare welt. Über Kunst und Architektur" (Unobservable world. About art and architecture). Hannover 1990, P.14
(3) Dirk Baecker: Die Dekonstruktion der Schachtel. Innen und Außen in der Architektur, (The deconstruction of the box. Interior and exterior in architecture), in: Unbeobachtbare Welt. Über Kunst und Architektur, (Unobservable world. About art and architecture), Hannover 1990, P.100