Turning point(s) of building
18.03.2010 - 13.06.2010
Pinakothek der Moderne, Barer Strasse 40, Munich, Germany
In 1959, the architect Konrad Wachsmann (1901?1980), who designed Albert Einstein?s house in Caputh, published his book ?Turning Point of Building? that became a manifest of that age for the consistent industrialisation of architecture. 50 years on, the Museum of Architecture at the Technische Universit?t M?nchen, together with the departments of structural planning and architectural engineering, are investigating the effect and significance of this classic work.
Wachsmann saw prefabricated elements and assembly on site replacing conventional construction methods. Models, films and computer animations highlight key turning points in construction in the form of serial architecture, ranging from the Munich Crystal Palace, Alexander Graham Bell?s Tetrahedral Tower, Konrad Wachsmann?s hangar and Jean Prouv??s Maison Tropicale to Renzo Piano?s IBM Pavilion.
Wachsmann, who emigrated to the USA in 1941 where he designed a prefabricated housing system together with Walter Gropius, also developed a construction system to span large spaces for the US air industry in 1944/45. This laid the foundation for the fusing of standardised elements in industrially manufactured support frameworks made for bridging wide spans. After World War II, Wachsmann?s ideas ? seen as being synonymous with progress and technological euphoria ? had a considerable influence on architects, engineers and construction companies. However, due to the low aesthetic quality of prefabricated buildings, industrial architecture was also open to criticism.
It is only since the use of computerised design and manufacturing methods and the economic production of individually designed elements that industrialisation, prefabrication and modular construction have gained a new, future-orientated meaning since the 1990s. This can be seen, for example, in Foster + Partners? glass roof at the British Museum, where all parts and intersections are different. A second section of the exhibition looks at the effects brought about by this turning point. Current system building and digital production methods can be explored in a walk-in model and the problems and possibilities found in the manufacturing of a virtually infinite variety of shapes are being highlighted. |
June 2010
