David Chipperfield, sobriety and sophistication

The Pedro Barrié de la Maza Foundation is hosting the first show in Spain devoted to this British architect

David Chipperfield
The Hepworth Wakefield, UK
Photo: Alessandro Milani
Le camps Yantar, août
1994, 2008

Curator: Gemma Curtin

Works: 75, including scale models, blueprints and audiovisuals

Organizer: Design Museum, London

La Coruña is the first stop on the international tour of the show “David Chipperfield. Form Matters” organized by the Design Museum of London (where it was on display until last January). The exhibition was designed by David Chipperfield Architects.

With a strikingly sober, easeful, environmentally friendly style, this British architect has become one of the most acclaimed in the world right now thanks to his sophisticated, subtle designs that are profoundly committed to sustainability. Examples include his own residence in the Galician town of Corrubedo (2002), the Veles e Vents building in the port of Valencia (2006), the Museum of Modern Literature in the German town of Marbach and his recent restoration of Berlin’s Neues Museum.

 

His designs, which have often been described as conservative, are influenced by the clarity of vision of modernist architecture. Their goal is to last, yielding simplicity as opposed to showy buildings.  Reflective design has been the hallmark of Chipperfield’s output ever since he opened his first studio in London a quarter of a century ago.

 

Through blueprints, scale models and audiovisual screenings, the show examines the artist’s most noteworthy projects throughout his entire career, including his most acclaimed buildings (like the River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames and the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield). His reconstruction of the iconic Neues Museum, which had been bombarded in World War II, is particularly spotlighted with a special section of its own. The result of his particular restoration of this museum is not merely a compendium of his architectural principles; rather it also offers an innovative glimpse into the future of museum architecture.

 

Chipperfield was born in London in 1953 and educated at this city’s Architectural Association. He worked with Douglas Stephen, Richard Rogers and Norman Foster before opening his own studio in 1984. In 2000, he represented his country at the Venice Architecture Biennale, and in 2007 RIBA awarded Chipperfield its Stirling Prize for his Literature Museum in Marbach. David Chipperfield Architects currently has 150 employees and offices in London, Milan, Shanghai and Berlin.

 

“David Chipperfield. Form Matters” is not the first exhibition that the Barrié de la Maza Foundation has devoted to architecture; rather this topic has always been one of the leitmotivs in its programming. In the past, the Foundation has examined the output of architects like Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright and George Nelson at its Galician branches.