Wolf Prix is introduced Michael Rotondi, discussing his office, Coop Himmelb(l)au, based in Vienna, and engaging the discipline of architecture on a range of scales.
Wolf Prix proposes the theme “open architecture”, based on intuition, consciousness and open-mindedness. He argues for a reconsideration of familiar terms used by architects, comparing facades to “third skins” and variations in form as “mutations”. He discusses the process of conceptual development as a subconscious human procedure. He stresses the importance of the sketch as guide to design and construction.
Prix presents a series of projects in various stages of development, from a small residential project from 1983 to an urban-scale master plan for Melun-Senart outside Paris, and the redevelopment of the docks in Hamburg .
