ArchiSculpture

Catalogue for the exhibition ArchiSculpture (ArchiSkulptur in German) at Fondation Beyeler (Riehen, CH) from 3 October 2004 - 30 January 2005, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (ES) from 28 October 2005 - 19 February 2006, and at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg (DE) from 1 March - 10 September 2006. 

The dynamic reciprocal relationship between sculpture and architecture is one of the most fascinating phenomena of twentieth-century art. At the time of its birth in the nineteenth century, modern sculpture drew significant impulses from architectural history. Thus, for example, Aristide Maillol was inspired by classical architecture, the Constructivists by that of the Gothic period. Sculpture actually evolved into a form of walk-through architecture (Dan Graham) in the installation art of the 1970's, completely changing the ways in which viewers perceived their own bodies. Conversely, architects began modeling their buildings according to sculptural principles in the 1920's (Goetheanum). In view of recent developments in architecture, especially the digital, biomorphic projects of such blobmeisters as Greg Lynn and NOX, one is even prompted to ask whether the history of contemporary sculpture is not actually being written by the architecture of our time. This richly illustrated publication featuring some 370 images explores this largely overlooked phenomenon in a very unusual approach. The dialogue between these two fields of aesthetics is traced from the eighteenth century to the present in ten chapters, each presenting astonishing juxtapositions of sculptures and architectural models by outstanding sculptors and architects.