Finding aid for the Coop Himmelblau architectural models and drawings for five projects, 1983-1995
Sara McGillivray
Descriptive Summary
Title: Coop Himmelblau architectural models and drawings for five projects
Date (inclusive): 1983-1995
Number: 2002.M.2
Creator/Collector:
Coop Himmelblau
Physical Description:
138.21 Linear Feet
(33 boxes and 1 flatfile folder)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: This collection consists of architectural models and drawings for five
projects designed by the architectural firm Coop Himmelblau from 1983 to 1995. The five projects are: Open House, Malibu,
California, 1983-circa
1990; Rooftop Office Remodeling, Vienna, 1983-1989; City Plan for Melun Sénart, France, 1987; Rehak House, Malibu, California,
1990-circa 1995; and
Anselm Kiefer Studios, Buchen, Germany, 1990 and Barjac, France, 1992. The firm name is also presented as Coop Himmelb(l)au.
Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory
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record
for this collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Language: Collection material is in English with some German
Biographical / Historical
Coop Himmelblau is a Viennese architectural firm founded in 1968 by Wolf D. Prix, Helmut Swiczinsky, and Michael Holzer.
Holzer left the firm in
1971, and Prix and Swiczinsky continued working as partners until Swiczinsky's retirement in the early 2000s. The name Coop
Himmelblau translates to
Blue Sky Cooperative and reflects the firm's focus on designing structures that reach towards the sky and endeavor to leave
the ground. The firm's
early work was rooted in theory and performance art, and by the 1980s had developed into experimentations with structure and
design processes. Prix
and Swiczinsky explored architectural tectonics and the visual expression of tension through structural materials. They pushed
their design process
by cycling back and forth between sketching and modeling, and by sketching with their eyes closed.
The materials in this collection date from the 1980s to early 1990s as the firm's work was gaining international recognition.
The Rooftop Office
Remodeling project brought the firm attention, and the firm was included in the 1988 exhibition
Deconstructivist Architecture at the
New York Museum of Modern Art.
Coop Himmelblau opened a Los Angeles office in the late 1980s, where they would develop such unbuilt projects as Open House
and Rehak House.
In the mid 1990s, the firm began to concentrate on built work, and also began to present the firm name as Coop Himmelb(l)au
to emphasize the role of
construction in their practice.
Bibliography:
Coop Himmelblau website; coop-himmelblau.at
Wim de Wit, Acquisition Approval Form for "Twenty-seven architectural models and 49 drawings by the Viennese firm of Coop
Himmelb(l)au", accession
no. 2002.M.2, August 21, 2001.
Administrative Information
Conditions Governing Access
Open for use by qualified researchers. Contact the repository for information regarding access to the architectural models.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Coop Himmelblau architectural models and drawings for five projects, 1983-1995, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles,
Accession no.
2002.M.2.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2002m2
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquired in 2002.
Processing Information
The collection was rehoused upon receipt. In 2017, Sara McGillivray rehoused the drawings and wrote the finding aid.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection comprises architectural models and drawings related to five projects designed by the architectural firm Coop
Himmelblau from 1983 to
1995. There are 27 models in the collection, including conceptual and sketch models, site models, and finished models. The
drawings consist of 38
computer generated negatives, 41 prints printed directly from the negatives, nine computer generated prints, 16 original drawings,
and two color
photocopies. Materials for each project include both models and drawings.
The five projects are: Open House, Malibu, California, 1983-circa 1990; Rooftop Office Remodeling, Vienna, 1983-1989; City
Plan for Melun Sénart,
France, 1987; Rehak House, Malibu, California, 1990-circa 1995; and Anselm Kiefer Studios, Buchen, Germany, 1990 and Barjac,
France, 1992.
Open House began as a paradigmatic design in 1983, and was later developed for a New York-based client, to be built on a site
in Malibu. The
double-skinned structure was conceived as a shell only, with an open floor plan balanced above the ground plane. The project
was not realized.
The design for Rooftop Office Remodeling began in 1983, and was further developed and constructed between 1987 and 1989. The
project consists of an
addition to an existing building on Falkestrasse in Vienna for the law firm Schuppich, Sporn, Winischhofer, Schuppich. The
cantilevered structure
houses a meeting room and office space.
The firm's City Plan for Melun Sénart is a master plan study that responds to urban sprawl in an area outside Paris.
Rehak House is an unbuilt project sited in Malibu. Material for this project includes 15 models at various stages of the design
process.
The firm designed studios for the German artist Anselm Kiefer in two different locations, neither of which were realized.
Arrangement
This archive is arranged by project in rough chronological order guided by the job numbers assigned to each project by the
firm.
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Topics
Architecture, Modern -- 20th century
Genres and Forms of Material
Architectural models
Architectural drawings -- 20th century
Contributors
Coop Himmelblau
Prix, Wolf D.
Swiczinsky, Helmut, 1944-
P_8301
Open House (Malibu, California),
1983-circa 1990
box 4**
Site model,
Physical Description:
9 1/2 x 36 x 27 inches;
Physical Description:
corrugated board, paper, foamcore, and metal wire
box 5**- 8**
Model,
Physical Description:
12 3/8 x 36 x 25 inches;
Physical Description:
plywood, plexiglass, cardboard, board, corrugated board
box 9**
Finished model,
Physical Description:
12 3/8 x 36 x 25 inches;
Physical Description:
wood, paper, wire, corrugated metal, and plexiglass case
P_8401
Rooftop Office Remodeling (Vienna, Austria),
1983-1989
box 10**
Site model,
Physical Description:
23 1/2 x 33 1/4 x 18 3/4 inches;
Physical Description:
board, wire, paper, and plastic sheet
box 11**
Model,
Physical Description:
23 x 39 3/4 x 44 inches;
Physical Description:
wood, metal wire and rod, plexiglass, paper, and foamcore
W_8602
City Plan for Melun Sénart, France,
1987
"Dissipation of our Bodies" (sketch models)
box 12**
Model A,
Physical Description:
12 x 22 x 15 inches;
Physical Description:
wood, metal, wire, rubber band, foamcore, paper, and tape
box 12**
Model B,
Physical Description:
12 x 22 x 15 inches;
Physical Description:
wire, foamcore, paper, rubber band, metal, wood, and tape
box 13**
Conceptual model,
Physical Description:
3 1/2 x 40 x 28 inches;
Physical Description:
board, paper, plexiglass, wood, metal wire, rubber band, and
foamcore
box 14**
Model,
Physical Description:
7 3/8 x 46 x 34 1/8 inches;
Physical Description:
paper, foamcore, wire and sculpting foam, and plexiglass case
box 15**
Part 1,
Physical Description:
10 x 79 3/4 x 41 3/8 inches;
Physical Description:
painted board, metal wire, and plexiglass
box 16**
Part 2,
Physical Description:
11 x 79 3/4 x 41 inches;
Physical Description:
painted board, glass, metal wire, and plexiglass
box 17**
Part 3,
Physical Description:
6 x 79 3/4 x 41 5/8 inches;
Physical Description:
painted board, wood, glass, metal wire, and plexiglass
P_9009
Rehak House (Malibu, California),
1990-circa 1995
box 18**
Study model with base,
Physical Description:
33 3/4 x 50 1/2 x 17 3/4 inches;
Physical Description:
paper, wood, and plastic sheet on plywood base
box 19**
Study model,
Physical Description:
8 1/4 x 17 1/4 x 11 inches;
Physical Description:
foamcore, paper, metal pins, and corrugated cardboard
box 20**-21
Study model,
Physical Description:
15 x 18 x 11 inches;
Physical Description:
paper, wood, blackline print, cellophane tape, and plastic sheet
box 22**
Topographical model,
Physical Description:
2 1/2 x 18 x 9 1/2 inches;
Physical Description:
foamcore, paper, and metal pins
box 22**
Study model,
Physical Description:
16 x 20 x 18 inches;
Physical Description:
plexiglass, corrugated cardboard, and wood
box 23**
Study model, 3/8" scale,
Physical Description:
56 1/2 x 50 1/2 x 38 1/2 inches;
Physical Description:
foamcore, white paper and plexiglass, wire, white board, cellophane tape, and
metal pins
box 24**
Site model,
Physical Description:
8 1/4 x 39 x 18 3/4 inches;
Physical Description:
plaster, wood, cardboard, and metal pins
box 25**
Site study model, Main and Guest House,
Physical Description:
13 x 16 3/4 x 17 inches;
Physical Description:
foamcore, plexiglass, paper, and wood base
box 26**
Structural model,
Physical Description:
27 1/2 x 33 x 52 1/2 inches;
Physical Description:
plaster base on wood, wood, and board
box 27**
Model "A" (site model),
Physical Description:
14 1/2 x 39 3/4 x 19 1/4 inches;
Physical Description:
foamcore, paper, wire, photographic plastic film mounted on plexiglass sheet
inside case
box 28**
Model "B",
Physical Description:
26 3/4 x 21 x 16 5/8 inches;
Physical Description:
cardboard, metal, and wood
box 29**
Model "C",
Physical Description:
20 x 17 1/2 x 16 3/4 inches;
Physical Description:
board, plexiglass, wood, and plastic
box 29**
Model "D",
Physical Description:
20 x 17 1/2 x 16 3/4 inches;
Physical Description:
plexiglass, plywood, wood, plastic, metal wire, and paper
box 29**
Model "E",
Physical Description:
20 x 17 1/2 x 16 3/4 inches;
Physical Description:
foamcore, paper, wood, and plastic
box 30**
Model "F",
Physical Description:
30 x 50 3/4 x 17 3/4 inches;
Physical Description:
board, plexiglass, cardboard, wood, plastic, and metal wire
box 31**
Model "G",
Physical Description:
53 x 53 1/2 x 50 1/4 inches;
Physical Description:
plywood, foamcore, paper, plexiglass, and metal wire
box 19**
Unidentified base,
Physical Description:
8 1/4 x 18 x 11 inches;
Physical Description:
wood
VP_9013
Anselm Kiefer Studios (Buchen, Germany, and Barjac, France),
1990, 1992
box 32**
Model I,
Physical Description:
10 1/2 x 39 3/4 x 83 inches
Physical Description:
; paper, masking tape, wood, metal, and plexiglass
box 33**
Model II,
Physical Description:
18 x 65 1/4 x 71 inches
Physical Description:
; wood, masonite (or particle board?) base, corrugated board, plexiglass, and
metal
