Description
This collection consists of architectural models and drawings for five
projects designed by the architectural firm Coop Himmelblau from 1983 to 1995. The five projects are: Open House, Malibu,
California, 1983-circa
1990; Rooftop Office Remodeling, Vienna, 1983-1989; City Plan for Melun Sénart, France, 1987; Rehak House, Malibu, California,
1990-circa 1995; and
Anselm Kiefer Studios, Buchen, Germany, 1990 and Barjac, France, 1992. The firm name is also presented as Coop Himmelb(l)au.
Background
Coop Himmelblau is a Viennese architectural firm founded in 1968 by Wolf D. Prix, Helmut Swiczinsky, and Michael Holzer.
Holzer left the firm in
1971, and Prix and Swiczinsky continued working as partners until Swiczinsky's retirement in the early 2000s. The name Coop
Himmelblau translates to
Blue Sky Cooperative and reflects the firm's focus on designing structures that reach towards the sky and endeavor to leave
the ground. The firm's
early work was rooted in theory and performance art, and by the 1980s had developed into experimentations with structure and
design processes. Prix
and Swiczinsky explored architectural tectonics and the visual expression of tension through structural materials. They pushed
their design process
by cycling back and forth between sketching and modeling, and by sketching with their eyes closed.