Coop Himmelblau (C) 1980.
Poem written for exhibition at Technical University Graz, the ‘Flaming Wing.’
Architecture Must Blaze
You can judge just how bad
the 70’s were when you look
at it’s super tense architecture.
Opinion polls and com-
placent democracy live behind
Biedermeier- facades.
But we don’t want to build
Biedermeier. Not now and at
no other time.
We are tired of seeing Palladio
and other historical masks.
Because we don’t want
architecture to exclude every-
thing that is disquieting.
We want architecture to have
more. Architecture that bleeds,
that exhausts, that whirls and
even breaks. Architecture that
lights up, that stings, that rips,
and under stress tears.
Architecture should be cavern-
ous, firey, smooth, hard,
angular, brutal, round, delicate,
colourful, obscene, voluptuous,
dreamy, alluring, repelling, wet,
dry and throbbing. Alive or
dead. Cold- then cold as a block of ice.
Hot – then hot as a blazing wing.
Architecture must blaze.