Mira Asher: DAP Abstract: Coop Himmelblau

Coop Himmelblau architectural firm was founded in 1968 by architects Wolf D. Prix, Helmut Swiczinsky and Rainer Michael Holzer. In its early days, the firm was based in Vienna, but moved to Los Angeles in the 1980’s. Their design philosophy is inextricably tied to the gradual privatization of public space in cities over time, due to decreasing availability of public funding for city architecture and increasing numbers of city projects funded by private investors. They believe that architects are equally designers and urban planners, and in taking on private urban projects must preserve the unity of the city, if not through an urban grid, by creating monumental architecture. Coop Himmelb(l)au usually renders their building in extreme detail, however chooses to barely represent the surrounding context of the site. This also shows that they really do believe that the background is set off by the architectural foreground.

On a smaller scale, however, their design theory retains that people define the space that they are in, instead of the space defining where the people should be. Their earlier work included a series of design experiments in which humans play key roles. These experiments included inflatable spaces that could fit into a suitcase and spaces that changed based upon heartbeats. These particular experiments were small enough that they were represented in full scale. However most of their earlier work was represented by large-scale models. Coop Himmelb(l)au paid attention to extreme detail, creating interior models, many times, at a scale of 1:10.

The name “Coop Himmelblau” is German for “Blue-Sky Cooperative” and reflects the firm’s design intent to make architecture that alludes to cloud-like and heavenly imagery through complex angular forms that create dynamic and airy spaces, as well as their extensive use of glass and steel in their projects. Some of Coop Himmelblau’s recent projects which best exemplify this design intention are the BMW welt in Munich, the Cinema Center in Busan, South Korea, and particularly the Akron Art Museum in Akron, Ohio, which was completed in 2007.

The Akron Art Museum selected Coop Himmelblau in 2001 through an international competition reflecting the museum’s longtime focus on introducing new artists to the region. The firm was chosen because of its leadership in contemporary architectural theory and thought-provoking approach to the reinvention of existing building resources. Coop Himmelblau’s design literally and metaphorically opens the museum to the City and to the public. In designing the museum, the architects of Coop Himmelblau wanted to create a cultural center that was not only an art display case but a monumental part of the urban fabric that functions as a landmark from the exterior and, when occupied, generates discourse among visitors and a flow of creative energy. The building is comprised of three main spaces called the Crystal, the Gallery Box, and, in keeping with the firms “heavenly” building aspirations, the Cloud. The steel framed and glass Crystal serves as an entrance hall to the museum and is also used to host cultural events. The vast amount of natural light allowed to pass into this space minimizes the need for artificial lighting, but the strategic massing of the other elements of the building protect the Crystal’s occupants from harsh southern light. In stark contrast to the Crystal, the Gallery Box is aluminum-clad with very little natural light allowed in, so that the experience of the exhibits can be carefully controlled. There is very little interior structure in this space, which makes it flexible and accommodating for exhibits to come. The steel and glass roof cloud hovers over the two other spaces, and serves to unify the three elements as one structure, provide shade for the Crystal, and denote the museum as a landmark in the city.

To optimize the efficiency of the heating and cooling systems in the building, the Crystal uses the concept of microclimate zones that are determined by which areas of the building are most frequently and heavily occupied. This way, only specific areas of the building, and not the entire enclosed space are climate-controlled. Temperature is also controlled from within the poured concrete floors: water pipes transport hot and cold water throughout the building in a system called radiant cooling and heating.

Coop Himmelblau designs each project based on a series of intense discussions, which eventually lead to the emergence of a sketch. This sketch, in turn, leads to a fully formed model. The team rarely alters the design from the initial sketch phase. Instead, they transfer it virtually line for line into a working drawing. The team attempts to generate asymmetrical structures that strive for freedom from the constrained formalism of a given style. They create "open-planned, open-minded, open-ended" designs, made up of complex, undefined spaces

Akron Art Museum Images: