BIENNIAL PROJECT
Sonsbeek Readymade
Aldo van Eyck’s Sonsbeek Sculpture Pavilion (1966/2006) is a built manifesto for the Dutch architect’s theory of “in-between-space.” The structure is both open and closed and with its prehistoric aura, reminds the spectator of sites such as Stonehenge. The building’s construction underlines that the value of architecture is not to be found in the materials used, but rather in the expression of their ordered tectonics. Creating a complex matrix of larger and smaller rooms with narrower and wider views in both longitudinal and diagonal direction, a myriad of places reveal themselves for the intimate encounter with the sculptures originally conceived by artists such as Brancusi, Arp, or Giacometti. While clearly following Van Eyck’s architectural prerogatives, we do not replicate the art pieces originally shown in the pavilion. Instead, positioned on the plinths is a personal selection of ready-mades, complemented with a series of quotes by pop artist Andy Warhol to reflect the relationship between standardized production and individual expression. The surreal combination of all these produced and common elements lend themselves, and their context, new meaning.
BIO
Sauter von Moos is an architecture studio established in Basel, Switzerland, in 2010, by Florian Sauter and Charlotte von Moos. The studio engages in work on all scales, both in theory and practice. Amongst their best-known projects are the House with a Tree (Basel, 2013) that received the Swiss Architecture Award in 2015, the competition entry for a Natural History Museum and City Archive (Basel, 2015) and several pivotal exhibition contributions (e.g. Books for Architects, gta Exhibitions, 2015). Besides their practical activities, both partners have been engaged in teaching and research, amongst others at ETH Zurich, the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio and Harvard GSD. As co-editors and authors they have published a series of books including Earth Water Air Fire (Actar, 2014) and achtung: die Landschaft (Lars Müller Publishers, 2015), while Painting the Sky Black: Louis Kahn and the Architectonization of Nature (de Gruyter Open) is forthcoming this year.
