ART/Munich
"Show Me the Future"
Through August 29

"Why is tile roofing still used today? Because hundreds of years ago there was, technically, no alternative -- and because, in the interim, no one was prepared to fundamentally consider doing it differently." (W. Sobek)

Werner Sobek is one of a small group of engineers and architects who systematically work to integrate developments in material research, nano-technology and sensor-engineering -- used in automobile, aviation and aerospace technology -- into the construction field.

In a relatively short period of time, Werner Sobek's "House R 128" in Stuttgart has become known, even outside of professional circles, as the embodiment of future construction and habitation form.




[Shown above: “R128 Haus”, (1999-2000), Werner Sobek. Photo: Roland Halbe]

[Shown/header image: “R129 Haus”, (2002-2008), W. Sobek.
Photo: Werner Sobek]

The "Show Me the Future" exhibition begins with a look at this recyclable house that needs no energy and is emission-free; the house contains no knobs or switches, no brick walls.

Through the use of state-of-the-art technology, which also partly stems from the aviation and aerospace industry, commonly held ideas about building and dwelling are being revolutionized.

To that end, basic building principles are fundamentally analyzed and questioned.

At Sobek's "Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK)" at the University of Stuttgart, as well as in his own architecture and engineering office, the accent is on the development of new techniques, structures and materials that have already been put to use in his architectural works in, for example, Chicago, Shanghai and Bangkok.

Sobek's research work into load-bearing systems, his innovative use of glass, textiles and titanium, as well as the development of adaptive or self-regulating elements, are demonstrated and explained through the use of models, work pieces and films.

For example, glass surfaces with changeable light-permeability or a load-bearing glass dome out of glued segments will be used to illustrate potential future uses for these materials.

For Werner Sobek, civil engineering and architecture combine into a more unified form of engineering; a form process that brings together elements of the highest technical and aesthetic levels.

Finally, the exhibition presents Werner Sobek's "House 129”", which is still in the development stage, a project that is more radical than "R 128", which breaks with all usual preconceptions about building, pointing the way to new directions in future architecture and ways of life.

The exhibition affords a chance to take a stimulating and comprehensible look into these "ways into the future" as they relate to architecture and civil engineering.

Find it: Pinakothek der Moderne
Kunstareal - Barer Str. 40, Munich
Get info:+49-89-23805-360

Find other art events worldwide, in the August 2004 issue of "Arte Six".