This is a long due post, since I viewed this exhibition back in May… and it is probably because of the thinking I’ve had to do before deciding what to write about this sacred monster, the brightest figure in my constellation of starchitects.
I finally decided to just let his work talk, the message is pretty obvious, so I will keep my comments to a minimum….(oh that was a bit easy, I know)
First room: Plain space
Photography by Jens Weber
Four projects are here presented, with fabulous very large photographs by Jens Weber, and in the central part of the room, the architectural models and large samples of the materials employed in each projects
To see the fabulous picture, visit Jen Weber’s web site:
The second room was an installation on a scale 1:1, reduced to shape and light and especially devised for the Architekturmuseum
Then, a viewing room presented coupled pictures from one of his latest books « A visual inventory ». A must have, and as far as I am concerned, what I would call Contemporary Art, much more so than a cow floating in formol
The fourth room showed a display of architectural models:
Cistercian Monastery of Novy Dvur in Bohemia
Private projects
as well as a timeline of selected projects,
here his mythical first terraced house in Notting Hill (1994)….
…..mythical for being so perfect in every aspect, and, after being so broadly published, becoming the gold standard of minimalism: any decoration magazine’s special on bedrooms, bathrooms or any king of rooms for that matter will likely have this house’s rooms as a reference for minimalism.
…..mythical for us, as we were lucky enough to own it, and live in it for a few happy years (actually the longest time we have ever lived in the same place…). I will never forget the impression that we would get upon entering the living room after being away for a while, always this awe at how pure the place was, very much like entering inside a work of art.
The little story and my big pride, is inviting « the » master back at the house after refurbishing and linking the lower ground floor (that he had left untouched as an independent flat) to the rest of the house and getting a somewhat surprised approval of the works. In a 4 months we had gutted the lower ground floor and transformed a dark one bedroom flat into a spacious and « as-bright-as-it-gets-in-London » playroom/en-suite guest bedroom, opened into the Pawson designed patio garden.
The difficult exercise of respecting (as much as possible with a limited budget and the non negotiable deadline of moving in before giving birth to our first child) Pawson’s all made to order fittings was an exhausting but very good exercise, it reinforced my taste for individuality in design, which I have developed ever since.
I have been very influenced by our stay in this wonderful place but strangely enough, left it with no regrets, probably because there is no possibility for one to imprint a personality on Pawson’s creations, simply because they are work of art, and that was probably something I was missing. However, our stay there grounded in me the impetuous need for perfecting details, for certain alignments and forms that ultimately achieve fluidity and a feel of space that is the real luxury.
…….so much for the minimalism in my comments!
Great post! We’re getting there on contemporary art, I see… xx
V.