by Antonello Ferraro

Architektur + Technologie, Thomas Herzog, (German/English), edited by Ingeborg Flagge, Prestel Verlag, München London New York, 2001 (224 pages)

The recent spate of natural disasters, which have become frequent, worrying occurrences, prompt serious reflection on our daily use of resources and energy to build and manage our ‘artificial’ environment. Born in 1941, Thomas Herzog is an architect and professor at Munich’s Technical University. For at least 30 years, as an architect and teacher, he has dealt with the search for alternative technologies and systems capable of addressing the problems of sustainable growth. To paraphrase the famous remark by a celebrated Neapolitan mathematician, Herzog is the example of an architect who wisely ‘does not’ merely do what seems possible. A tribute to one of Germany’s leading contemporary architects, this monograph was edited by Ingeborg Flagge, the current head of the Frankfurt Architecture Museum. The volume’s contributors include Winfried Nerdinger.

Following in the footsteps of German predecessors who made the traditional Italian tour, Herzog studied at the German Academy in Rome’s Villa Massimo. He produced a dissertation on inflatable buildings (with the decisive support of Frei Otto) for his Ph.D. at the University of Rome. Herzog provides personal impressions of his early career in a long conversation with Werner Lang at the end of first part of the volume. He gives a very explicit reply to the question of why he designed a totally different work for Hall 26 of the Hanover Fair after rave reviews for his Design Centre in Linz, Austria. He says that Mies van der Rohe was right in asserting that one does not create a fresh architecture every Monday morning. However, the quest for ‘perfection’ is not undertaken through routine solutions, for one must ask new questions in response to each individual case. One does not seek a language that is an end in itself; one searches for the tools to express oneself.

When architecture is reduced to mere stylistic and formal content, it begins to decay. Herzog firmly takes a stand against this trend, for he favours architecture that is as multidisciplinary as possible, open to the profitable contributions of other fields. This aspect of his methodology is acutely examined in Winfried Nerdinger’s essay ‘Ars sine scientia nihil est – Thomas Herzog: Architecture and Science’. Herzog surely ranks second only to Frei Otto as the most coherent and significant proponent of this approach, which should not erroneously suggest a (trendy) globalization in architecture. In contrast with universal solutions, this method underscores context, understood as including history, physical setting and environment and leading to a so-called new regionalism. One of Herzog’s earliest works offers a successful example of experimenting with the possibilities offered by materials like glass and wood. The Regensburg House (1977-79) optimizes available resources by means of the appropriate use of solar power. The greenery of the trees is integrated with the building, providing natural shade. Research on light and how it relates to cladding is a hallmark of Herzog’s work. The outcome is masterfully manifested in the Linz Design-Centre (1989-93).

The great glazed vault that runs the entire length of the structure, spanning 76 metres, is completely clad in glazed panels with a special grid to let daylight in – a feature that has been read as a contemporary interpretation of Joseph Paxton’s 1851 Crystal Palace and the Munich Glaspalast of 1854. Thanks to its section and facing, the structure allows over 90 per cent of the light to be reflected. The purely protective function of building enclosures is increasingly enhanced through the employment of high-tech solutions to controlling daylight and temperature. Above all, these efforts are aimed at optimizing energy performance. Consistent assumptions generated novel constructional and formal traits in Hall 26 (1995) at the Hanover Fair. An effective wedding of technology and architecture, the architecture features a roof that consists of nearly 20,000 square metres of wooden panels. Wood is one of Herzog’s favourite materials, for it represents an alternative to non-reproducible raw materials. It is no accident that he built Expodach, part of the 2000 Hanover Universal Exposition, using skilled workers.

The gigantic wooden roof (ten modules measuring 40 metres square, with a span of 20 metres) pushes the material to its utmost potential. Massive pylons comprising four tree trunks with wooden wind-bracing are capped by wavy elements with two curves; upon these rests, in a perfect match, a cladding film that lets daylight through. Among the architect’s other designs that certainly are worthy of mention are the Hanover Fair Administration Buildings (1997-99) and the recently completed Soka-Bau Administration Buildings in Wiesbaden. The centre of this volume is devoted to the design of new components and services, which Herzog also accomplishes successfully at the university. The book addresses several studies, most performed by laboratory students. They include experiments on ‘modifiable’ building surfaces employed to control interior climate, wooden systems providing shelter from the sun and heat insulation for facades with an inner gap. Herzog’s fame is closely tied to so-called solar architecture, an idea that is concisely presented in his essay ‘Building with the Sun’. This design concept, which shuns silly fads, sets long-term goals for improving humanity’s and architecture’s environment.

The publication concludes with the ‘European Charter for Solar Energy in Architecture and Urban Planning’, written by Herzog in 1994 and 1995 as part of a project on renewable resources in architecture and industrial design. The charter’s signatories include Norman Foster, Herman Hertzberger, Angelo Mangiarotti, Gustav Peichi, Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers. The document stresses the fact that in Europe 50 per cent of energy consumed is used to erect and manage buildings, while traffic accounts for 25 per cent. These figures show that we must thoroughly rethink our designing, for we must seriously start considering the utilization of renewable materials and resources. The example set by Herzog and his creations is paradigmatic. Two of his numerous publications bear particular mention, for they are closely related to his architecture: Solar Energy in Architecture and Urban Planning (1996) and Wood Atlas (1998).

Antonello Ferraro is an architect in Munich