ICC Berlin, 2009
The International Congress Center Berlin was opened in 1979 as one of the world’s largest and most modern congress centers. Thirty years later, in the midst of discussions on whether to renovate or tear it down, Matthias Hoch set out in search of the future visions cherished back in the days it was built. Starting off by taking stock of the present state of the futuristic complex, he explored the utopias and the spirit of invention embodied in the structure and how the spaces are organized within it.
Here, on the Berlin trade fair grounds, stands the material realization of a groundbreaking design conceived by architects Ralf Schüler and Ursulina Schüler-Witte. They lent the ICC a concise sculptural form, experimenting with what were at the time brand new building materials and fabrication methods. Every detail, from the display panels in the lobby to the mobile bleachers, from special reading lamps in the conference rooms to the pattern of the carpeting: all was designed and carefully coordinated by the two architects. The architecture of the ICC represents a visionary ideal that, with its idiosyncratic aesthetic, seems alien to us today. This disjunction is demonstrated by Hoch’s interior views, which can be read as images of a bygone future.
Exhibition: Art in Berlin, Presentation of the Collection, Berlinische Galerie, Landesmuseum für Moderne Kunst, Fotografie und Architektur, Berlin 2012
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