Aspects of Building for Culture

written by Vera Grimmer

 

Industry of culture and the society of spectacle have become common terms when it comes to phenomena and activities related to culture. The boundaries of the term culture have thus been expanded and they are not so strict anymore since all the elements of our daily life have come into focus. The materialization of contemporary cultural buildings itself becomes simpler and closer to daily life. Zagreb Museum of Contemporary Art with the façade of the industrial material and the frac Museum of Contemporary Art in French Dunkirk come to mind. Lacaton & Vassal have placed an identical, but translucent volume coated in cheap, industrial membrane next to the old hangar. Historical London power station has kept the industrial character of its exterior, while Herzog & de Meuron’s subtle interventions have achieved one of the most successful exhibition areas of our time.