7 December 2007

Aaah: Sweet, Sweet Disappointment

By

Buildings

Last November SLAB Magazine covered the tantalising developments on Gormannstraße 8/9. We had a good look at the hole, scrutinized the rendering, and postulated about possible ground-floor retail. «Escheresque», we called it.

disapointment1.jpg

And lo; what doth December 2007 reveal? A different story. Where the rendering had filigree window frames, the reality has chunky pre-fab aluminium standards; where the rendering showed a chalky white façade, the reality has baby-blue off-the-shelf panelling. It’s flat-pack avant-garde. Rem Koolhass Lite.

But maybe that’s the idea. How about a pre-fab-housing super store? Just drop by on a friday after work and pick up an easy-to-assemble flat-pack home in any architectural style you want. Without getting tangled up in any legal issues, famous architects names could be mangled into product ranges, reducing their entire eouvre to a lifestyle choice. How about combining building types: choose something out of the Coopy range of cottages, and if your garden needs a shed, about about a Remko?