Location. The Kvalitář Gallery is a private medium size white cube space, located close to the city center, but away from the touristy crowds (all the addresses of the galleries are mentioned in the geoposition at the bottom of the entry).
The role of the gallery as it is constituted on their website is “to provide both expert and inexpert viewers with a selection of (in our opinion) the best work of the studios of well-renowned artists and art university students. It is our aim to offer art not only as an elite spectacle ripped off the contact with reality but as a very specific component of everyday life, a natural element of any residential, working or representational space.”
Curators. Helena Doudová, Marek Kopeć – both young Czech curators interested in contemporary art and architecture.
Artists. Berlin architects: BARarchitekten, fatkoehl Architekten, HEIDE & VON BECKERATH, ifau and Jesko Fezer, Kaden + Partner and zanderrotharchitekten
With more than 3000 apartments and 200 houses constructed over the past ten years, Berlin is the European leader in terms of Baugruppe projects. The exhibition examines experimental projects that have developed new solutions and strategies under the condition of rising living costs and have been implemented on often difficult and sometimes seemingly unattractive sites for housing development companies. This model is also widely-spread in Freiburg (1900 apartments) or in Hamburg (more than 1600 apartments). The Project “R 50 – cohousing” was nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award 2015.
What differentiates Baugruppe projects from ordinary homes is primarily the dialogue between the architect and the client (a group of mini-builders) during the design process – every project is unique and reflects the dynamics and the requirements of the group. A project can be initiated by an architect or the members of the group, the future inhabitants of the house, who buy a plot of land. After that the architect and the Baugruppe start organising common meetings to openly discuss the design of the building. When an agreement is reached, a residential structure is built. The Baugruppe members become owners of their individually adapted apartments. What is special about Baugruppe projects is the new kinds of neighbourhood relationships, shared spaces such as meeting rooms and shared terraces, and a number of sustainable design solutions. The project does not necessarily include constructing new housing; many projects are based on the renovation or conversion of existing buildings.
Personal Opinion. A great exhibition that fully meets the goal and shows how education, architecture and art can be combined to produce a meaningful and original show. I am not surprised that the exhibition got prolonged, for it has all it needs to be a success: location, texts, works of art, interactive element and is socially relevant on top of that. No doubt this show would be of a use to those directly involved in architecture, but it also works for common spectators providing a solution to the problem of housing in the European cities. It has a simple logic which follows its goals, it does not consume a lot of time if you are just wondering around, but you may spend hours there researching the projects.
reshe_prg_artmap 