Berlin practice Magma Architecture have created an installation called Head-in for a solo exhibition of their work at Berlinische Galerie in Berlin, Germany.
The structure is supported above the floor and made from fabric stretched between aluminium frames on the walls and ceiling of the gallery.
Visitors view models of the practice's projects - which are suspended inside the void - by standing underneath and inserting their heads through holes in the underside of the structure.
Here's some more information from Magma Architecture:
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MAGMA ARCHITECTURE
head-in | im kopf
The jetzt | now series in the Berlinische Galerie, museum for contemporary art, architecture and photography features current positions of different artistic genres which have not been shown in a museum previously. Host of the 11th exhibition of the series, head-in | im kopf, is the museum’s architecture collection which Berlin based magma architecture in a solo exhibition.
magma architecture is specialised in creating spaces and buildings in complex geometrical shapes. The unusualness of these spaces triggers the spectator’s curiosity and enhances them to appropriate and experience them in unexpected ways. Models of magma architecture’s spaces only insufficiently create the full, physical experience. The aim of the exhibition design was to display not only architectural models as usually on show in exhibitions, but also integrate a 1:1 piece of the characteristic spaces created by magma architecture.
The centrepiece of the exceptional spatial installation for the Berlinische Galerie is an amorphous spatial sculpture custom tailored for the 150 m² temporary exhibition space. It is constructed of fabric (spandex) which spans between the four walls and ceiling of the exhibition space pending above the floor. Aluminium frames are used to fix the fabric to walls and ceiling.
Visitors of the exhibition can poke their heads through the fabric evolving surrounded by the organic space and vivid colour of the installation.
Inside the suspended room models, drawings and photographs are displayed, amongst others the designs for the revitalisation of the former GDR Radio Center in Berlin, the new Nexus Productions headquarters in London and the pPod mobile theatre. Through carefully orchestrated geometries the space is transformed into a vibrant and dynamic environment revealing a spatial phenomenon not normally achieved in architecture or interior design. The spatial installation appears almost alienated from its surrounds of the Berlinische Galerie yet remains fixed to and ultimately enveloping it to spawn a relationship of dynamism and contrast.
The interior has been programmed strategically with works to enable the inhabitant to physically immerse themselves in this realm. The production of sensually inspiring spaces and uses and a playful dealing with programmes, functions, materials and geometries practised by the office is mirrored in the exhibition architecture.
magma architecture was founded in 2003 by Martin Ostermann and Lena Kleinheinz in Berlin. Martin Ostermann was previously a senior architect at Studio Daniel Libeskind, Lena Kleinheinz is an exhibition designer specialised in interactive mediation of content.
head in | im Kopf was rewarded an honourable mention from the AR Awards in London and a contractworld award 2008. The jury of the contractworld award 2008 noted: "The project impressed the jury with its remarkable conceptual continuity. Continuity in the sense of the spatial representation of the position from which the designers started. This tautological dimension is experienced by the observer through his physical senses, so that the exhibition leaves an enduring impression."
head in | im Kopf was sponsored by: ellermann GmbH, Zumtobel Licht GmbH, procuratio GmbH, Betonmarketing Ost GmbH, Happold Ingenieurbüro GmbH and Knobelsdorff-Schule Oberstufenzentrum Bautechnik I.
Location : Berlinische Galerie, State Museum for Modern Art, Photography and Architecture, Berlin
Design: magma architecture (Rui Alves, Hendrik Bohle, Dominik Jörg, Ksenia Kagner, Lena Kleinheinz, Yohko Mizushima,
Anke Noske, Martin Ostermann, Ben Reynolds)
Structural Engineering: Happold Ingenieurbüro GmbH (Florian Förster)
Construction: ellermann GmbH