Ceci n’est pas une Anne Lacaton et Jean-Philippe Vassal.

It's not by Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal.


(image by ack-online_de, @flickr)

Lacaton and Vassal were presented by Roger Buergel - the curator of the documenta12 in Kassel - as the principal architects of the exhibition pavilion. Accordant their design, pre-fabricated greenhouses should house the collection of exhibits ranging from sculptures, paintings, photographs, etc. The greenhouses were meant as ready-made minimalistic structures – light, open and with natural ventilation.

The proposal however, was brought to fall by the requirements of the art collector. Also at the vanguard documenta12 in Kassel art demands for secure, closed, air-conditioned, well-controlled spaces: the White Cube. It's not a surprise that this position violates against the idea of Lacaton and Vassal, who got famous for their reduced and simple design approach.

So Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal disclaim any liability for the pavilion design of the Documenta12 design. It wasn’t done in there name.


(image by ack-online_de, @flickr)

The list of adulterated building schemes is endless. Usually it isn't just the effect of a compromise between client’s and architect's approach. Clients like the architect's brand name but they are often unwilling to participate in the process that finally enables the product. Simply it's the lack of communication between architects and clients.

The documenta is one of the most important exhibitions of contemporary art, drawing attention.

"It was initiated in 1955 by the artist and art educator, Arnold Bode, in Kassel. After the period of Nazi dictatorship, it was supposed to reconcile German public life with international modernity and also confront it with its own failed Enlightenment. (..)Every five years, a new director is chosen and the exhibition is reinvented, a concept which to date has been affirmed by the public's interest."