Synopses & Reviews
Blue Universe presents the collaboration between architectural photographer Gerald Zugmann and the architectural group COOP HIMMELB(L)AU. Gerald Zugmann is an internationally recognized architectural photographer who has worked for over 30 years with architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Carlo Scarpa, Louis I. Kahn, and Rudolph M. Schindler. With his precise and individual style, he helped establish a new generation of architectural photographers. Eschewing the functional aspects of the buildings and models he photographs, Zugmann focuses on the play of light and shadow. His photographs are dramatic, yet faithful representations, able to highlight essential details while maintaining the integrity of the structural unit. COOP HIMMELB(L)AU emerged in 1968 as one of the most innovative of new architectural groups in Europe. Founded in Vienna by Wolf Dieter Prix and Helmut Swiczinsky, COOP HIMMELB(L)AU is known for its increasingly experimental structures. Each project starts as a series of discussions, ultimately yielding a fully formed model. For Blue Universe, Zugmann photographed a selection of these resulting models. Bringing together the expertise and innovation of a leading architectural firm and a well-known architectural photographer, Blue Universe provides a unique glimpse into the future of experimental architecture.
Synopsis
This book documents a decade-long cooperation of the internationally renowned photographer Gerald Zugmann with the architectural team COOP HIMMELB(L)AU. The architects, who call themselves "post-industrial expressionists," frequently base their work on spontaneous and psychographic images and models. The volume illustrates the thinking and working process by means of photographs of numerous projects. The development of COOP HIMMELB(L)AU forms may be traced by means of pictures of models in various stages of experimentation. With his precise and individual vocabulary, Gerald Zugmann (who has photographed architecture by Carlo Scarpa, Frank Lloyd Wright, Rudolph M, Schindler, Louis I. Kahn and Gunther Domenig, among others) established an entirely new generation of architectural photography in the course of some thirty years. His photographs are not about the functional aspects of architecture, rather, Zugmann is looking for the perspective that reveals the essence of a project. His emphasis on light and shadow, and a tight focus on outstanding details lets the idea of a building take shape in dramatic pictures comparable to still lifes.
Synopsis
Artwork by COOP HIMMELB(L)AU. Photographs by Gerald Zugmann. Edited by Peter Noever. Text by Christian Reder.