Architecture, product design, textiles, and furniture are some of the areas that Swiss duo Trix & Robert Haussmann has been exploring and working on for several decades now. On February 9, the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin is inaugurating The Log-O-Rithmic Slide Rule: A Retrospective, which will occupy the first and second floors of the building and dedicate them to the pioneering couple.
Evading the dictum ‘form follows function’, their work has followed a self-proclaimed ‘manierismo critico’ (critical Mannerism), which has led them to break the premises of canonical orders and concepts and reinterpret the dogmas of architecture theories. After founding their Allgemeine Entwurfsanstalt (General Design Institute) in 1967, they’ve worked on more than six hundred and fifty projects, which include legendary bars and boutiques like Da Cap Bar, Shopville, and Weinberg, almost all of them in their native Switzerland.
The two-floor retrospective at KW Institute in Berlin, curated by Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen, will showcase several of his projects, from sketches to final products, to photographs and other archival material, as well as interventions by Liam Gillick, Karl Holmqvist, and Inside Outside / Petra Blaisse. Also, the day after the inauguration (February 10), there are two related activities that will make the retrospective easier for the public: at 2pm, a walk through the exhibition with the two curators; and at 4pm, a talk in which Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen will discuss with Oliver Elser, curator at Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt, and with Oda Pälmke, architect, the importance of Trix & Robert Haussmann’s work.
The two-floor retrospective at KW Institute in Berlin, curated by Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen, will showcase several of his projects, from sketches to final products, to photographs and other archival material, as well as interventions by Liam Gillick, Karl Holmqvist, and Inside Outside / Petra Blaisse. Also, the day after the inauguration (February 10), there are two related activities that will make the retrospective easier for the public: at 2pm, a walk through the exhibition with the two curators; and at 4pm, a talk in which Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen will discuss with Oliver Elser, curator at Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt, and with Oda Pälmke, architect, the importance of Trix & Robert Haussmann’s work.
The Log-O-Rithmic Slide Rule: A Retrospective, by Trix & Robert Haussmann will inaugurate on February 9 and will be on view until April 29 at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Auguststrasse 69, Berlin.
Trix & Robert Haussmann, Stoffpräsentation mit den Architekturmotiven / Fabric presentation with architectural motifs Mira-Lapideus Squama und / and Murus, Mira-Marmoreus Columna, Mira-Lapideus Arcula, Mira-Marmoreus Clatri und Canna (von links nach rechts / from left to right) photo: Alfred Hablützel
Trix & Robert Haussmann Passage Galleria, Hamburg, photo: Wulf Brackrock. Courtesy Trix and Robert Haussmann
Trix & Robert Haussmann, S-Bahnhof Museumstraße Haupthalle und Passagen, Hauptbahnhof Zürich / S-Bahnhof Museumstraße, main hall and passages, Main station Zurich, photo: Nick Brändli. Courtesy Trix & Robert Haussmann
Trix & Robert Haussmann, Da Capo Bar im Hauptbahnhof Zürich / at Main station Zurich, 1979– 80, photo: Alfred Hablützel, Courtesy Trix & Robert Haussmann
Trix & Robert Haussmann, Ionischer Säulenstumpf, Lehrstück V / Ionic column stump, Lehrstück V, Function Follows Forms, 1978, Modell, Zabrowsky Modellbau, Dumeng Raffainer, photo: Fred Waldvogel, Courtesy Trix & Robert Haussmann
Trix & Robert Haussmann, Manierismo Critico, 1981
Trix & Robert Haussmann, 6 Poster für / 6 posters for De Sede AG, Klingnau/CH, designed by Hablützel & Jaquet, Berne / Berne, Sammlung / collection: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich / Zurich, Plakatsammlung / poster collection © ZHdK