25 February 2015 // Stefanie Barz //Berlin

//HEAR & SEE

HAUS-RUCKER-CO & CHALAYAN

Last weekend I went to the remote enchanting place for international art in Berlin-Dahlem called 'Haus am Waldsee' to discover some great utopian work of the Viennese architect group Haus-Rucker-Co. It comes from a decade that was absorbed by the idea of time and mind travelling – the psychedelic era of early 60s to mid 70s.

With a wide imagination of the future they created huge inflatable plastic bubbles and other constructions – actually carried out, as model-types or collages – which seem to be pretty modern havens. Namely in the way they open new spaces in space, for one, two or groups of people to detach from an endangered or rather endangering environment, interfering urbanism here and there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lunN_Hl6EKE

„The yellow heart gives possibility to leave the real environment for certain periods of time to find a space that stands in opposition to the natural surroundings. The time you spend inside the yellow heart has its own rhythm you have to adapt to. The optical and acoustic impressions help the users to a new way of relaxation. The soft pulsating movement of the gadget causes a general loosening of the human condition. You then return to everyday life relieved.“

Straight after graduation in 1967 Laurids Ortner, Günter Zamp Kelp and Klaus Pinter developed a radical new concept of architecture to expand our perception and communication abilities. They soon raised international attention and inspired not only fashion designer Hussein Chalayan ad infinitum.

„If something like this existed for real, you would need it for the whole family“ a child of maybe 8 years commented the scenery in Chalayans 'Place to Passage' – the journey of a young woman inside a futuristic flight capsule that shows the extremes of technology & mobility, „but also deals with the unconscious desire for the protection of our mothers womb (…) The capsule signifies the varying stages of life we rush through while it is also a site for contemplation“.

On this last day of the exhibition I happily took the chance to drift back... to reminisce about my life-in-a-bubble days whenever I was sort of cut off from my usual centre of vital interests, from trivialities, from obligations.