Klaus Staeck

Klaus Staeck (born in Saxony, Germany in 1938), is one of the most prominent graphic artists in Germany. except for being a lawyer, politician, organiser, publisher, author, and television contributor, he is mostly known as a political artist. for over 30 years he has made posters that deal with freedom of speech, peace, environment, poverty, and the constant struggle against political hypocrisy. something to remember for the up-coming elections in Germany next month.

I need an explanation

still in Jerusalem. Elrov project in Mamilla. without doubts, one of the most important projects of urban renewal in the city. but someone, probably a close friend of the architect (Safdie), had a huge stock of light fixtures at home back from the 80's. what an error...

Learning from Las Vegas

better late then never. learning from Las Vegas was originally published by the MIT press in 1972. thirty-six years later, the research conducted by its authors, architects Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour is still extremely relevant. Las Vegas strip was a case study to discuss the virtues of the 'ordinary and ugly' above the 'heroic and original' qualities of modern architecture. the research exams the importance of symbolism following the critics about the way abstract shapes and spaces can express any significance (i believe it's almost impossible).
it would be very interesting to see the research continue after the last transformation of Las Vegas in the last decade. how the local abstract symbols of the desert - dunes, Aladdin and the wild west are now surrounded by detailed copies of symbols imported from Europe - piazza San Marco and the Eiffel tower; and how 2D signs became grotesque 3D signs of the pyramids in Egypt and New York City.

Pierre et Gilles

Pierre e Gilles create a unique hand painting photographic portraits of film icons, sailors and princes, saints and sinners, of mythological figures and unknowns alike. kitsch with baroque, indian and popular influences. however, in the recent works the fairytale paradise background (left) changed his place to a trash urban environment (right). a research for aesthetic perfection covered with paillettes and glitters.
CO Berlin until 04.10.09

Jerusalem

some cities have never meant to be big metropolis. Europe, and in particular Italy, are full of them: Florence, Bologna, Verona etc. you could find them also in North America, Asia and actually everywhere. sometime even the capital cities are not the biggest one in the country, Bern, Brasilia, Yamoussoukro, Pretoria, Ottawa, even Washington DC and they all live good with it. i believe that it should be also the case of Jerusalem.

i guess no other city in the world is so influenced by political development ambitions as Jerusalem. an incredible damage for generations. the urban development after the reunification of the city in 1967 created a city that is almost completely detached from its historical context and its growing capacity. bulldozers shave the terrain of every hill around to allow new constructions making it the biggest city in Israel. this forced growing process is not only for political reasons though, it also serves to include more taxpayers within its territory since the city is also one of the poorest in the country (or the poorest among the big cities). the exodus of the ‘productive’ middle class and the fast growing population of social supported class, add another layer to this complicated urban reality, not talking about the inter religious and political conflicts.

a big population requires infrastructure. Some projects, like road n. 1, might do the job, but it ignores completely the old city and it cuts the city in its heart. nothing similar would be possible elsewhere. the transport terminals are on the western edges, leaving the old Turkish railway station near the old city abandoned. the city center is dieing and absurd phantom projects for foreigners invade it.
today as never before, Jerusalem longings the British mandate.

The Hanuka brothers

on the research for israeli illustrators and cartoonists you can't miss the brothers Asaf and Tomer Hanuka (maybe because they are one of the few that have websites...). Tomer (right image), works on a range of projects for magazines, book publishers, ad agencies and film studios. he was also involved in the animation for the film Waltz With Bashir. Asaf (left image and i love the name) was collaborating with the israeli author Etgar Keret. although the two identical twin brothers have a very distinguished style, they do collaborate in common projects: the comic book bi-polar and a blog!

Imagine if... II

the plan of Albert Speer to redesign Berlin under the nazi regime would have been realized. the dome of the volkshalle, that dominates this out of scale monumental project, was to rise to a total inclusive height of 290 m. almost as high as the Eiffel tower (324 m). the red spots are the Reichstag and Brandenburger tor.
an exhibition about the project Mythos Germania is next to the holocaust memorial in Berlin.

I need an explanation

a detail from bundeskanzleramt in Berlin designed by the german architects Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank, completed in 2001 for the cost of 230 million euro. the building is so full of elements that sometime you really would like to know what was the intention of the 'poet'...?

Imagine if...

Plan Voisin of Le Corbusier for central Paris would have been built.
in 1925 he proposed to erase most of the city centre, north of the seine, and replace it with sixty-story cruciform towers placed in an orthogonal street grid and green spaces between.
one good point: forum des halles wouldn't have been built either.

Rio

Rio de Janeiro, 80's, no global warming, no favelas (at least not in the movie...), no deforestation, only beautiful beaches and amazing topography. how nice would it be!

Neo Rauch

Neo Rauch is a young german artist born in Leipzig. his work is shaped by the experience of growing up in east Germany and it swings between surrealism and popular romantic imagery. his paintings are usually full of historical figures repeating sisyphean tasks in ambiguous landscape. with spots of acidic colors contrasting with deep shadows, Rauch's paintings create an atmosphere of confused nostalgia and failed utopias.
i saw his exhibition 'para' (prefix of paranormal, parallel, paradox and so on) at the Metropolitan Museum in New York in 2007.

Plastic glacier

amazing what a plastic bag and a good lighting can create. i can already see the Yeti dragging one of his victims to his hidden cave. antarctica in a bag by François Delfosse