RELEVANT LINKS

press release 10.09.2007 [EN] [DE]

Hackenbroich Architects

Jan Christensen

"The Traffic of Clouds"
bob International Magazine of Space Design, Spring/Summer 2008

"инсталляция_по дороге с облака" (in russian)
Le Magazine, December 2007, Anna Lengle

"The Traffic of Clouds"
urbanophil.net. 04.10.2007

The Traffic of Clouds
Hackenbroich Architekten in collaboration with Jan Christensen

September 13 – October 21, 2007



model views



The Traffic of Clouds is a large scale site-specific installation developed by Hackenbroich Architekten in collaboration with Jan Christensen. Developed over the course of eight months between the artist and the architects, this project is ultimately an experiment in collaborative thinking across disciplinary and methodological borders. A logic of weaving and constant movement pervades both the built form and the wall painting. The tension in the wood fibers of the interwoven boards forms sturdy walls of lace, redefining both the visual effect and the intended use of the wood boards. As if casting the negative space between the structure onto the gallery wall, Jan Christensen’s painting deepens the space of the room – blending color into changing views afforded by the installation.

The Traffic of Clouds aims to question the standardized ways we use our everyday spaces and to present an alternative where a space’s function is not prescribed by convention but determined by its users. Spreading between rooms and reaching towards the ceiling, the new surfaces disrupt and reconfigure the planning of PROGRAM’s functions: the installation will dissolve the boundaries between exhibition space and office, hybridizing the formerly separated gallery and office functions. Filling up the entire room, the structure’s role will also be blurred – at once an installation object, a walking surface, and a room. Folding upon itself in waves of wood, the structure’s fluid form accommodates various activities simultaneously. Like an outdoor park, the construction provides for its users a place for leisurely diversions; continuing to blur categories of indoor/outdoor uses and sponsoring an indoor urbanism of sorts. Indeed, those who work in PROGRAM’s office space are invited to use the structure as an office throughout the duration of the exhibition.

Jan Christensen’s paintings work similarly to bridge these categories. Having a formal origin in street-art and graffiti, Christensen recaptures the spirit in this practice of ‘urban wall painting’ by trespassing the formal boundaries of the gallery’s wall. As if in conversation with the movement of the boards, multi-hued patterns span indiscriminately across walls, ceiling and column.

Wi-Fi use will also be available for visitors during the exhibition hours.


Hackenbroich Architekten (www.hackenbroich.com) is led by Wilfried Hackenbroich and Rainer Mühr. The office focuses on developing and realizing new and innovative concepts and constructions in architecture. In doing so, they place a lot of emphasis on putting architecture in context – the context of function and the surrounding area, the context of the life of the user, as well as the cultural and social contexts. The analysis of these factors often leads to surprising solutions, fulfilling the needs of the client in an innovative way. The goal is to create buildings in which architecture, design and new technologies are organized into one concept. An important aspect of their practice is the teaching and research at various institutions including Bauhaus in Dessau and the Architectural Association in London. Their work has been published in numerous books and publications. Hackenbroich Architekten's engagement with new influences in architecture has led to numerous designs for cultural buildings in and outside Germany, projects for complex apartment buildings, as well as technically and spatially innovative installations and furniture.

The principal, Wilfried Hackenbroich, born in Cologne 1965, has studied architecture (graduated as Dipl.-Ing.) in Cologne, Germany and at the SciArc in Los Angeles (Master of Architecture), USA. His working experience ranges from internationally recognized offices like OMA (Rem Koolhaas) in Rotterdam or Morphosis in Los Angeles to regional offices in Cologne, London and Berlin. Besides the actual building experience as project manager for building volumes up to 20 million euro, OMA has offered insights into urban planning and large scale project planning.

The partner, Rainer Mühr, born 1974 in Potsdam, has studied architecture (graduated as Dipl. Ing) in Berlin, Germany. His working experience ranges from architectural design, building construction and site supervision as well as interface design, web design and media design (e.g. for the Deutsche Telekom and an established German car vendor). This range of expertise enables him to realise visionary and interdisciplinary architectural projects.


Jan Christensen (www.janchristensen.org) was born in Copenhagen in 1977 and currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany and Skien, Norway. Notable solo exhibitions include Initialraum, Münster (2007), Milieu, Bern (2007), "Relative Value", c/o - Atle Gerhardsen, Berlin (2007), Galleri MGM, Oslo (2007), BAR-Code Program, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent (2006), "Forward Momentum", Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel/Muttenz (publication, 2006), c/o - Atle Gerhardsen, Berlin (2006), Process Room, The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2005), Hordaland Kunstsenter (with Josefine Lyche and Lars Morell), Bergen (2005), "Unfinished Painting", Yvon Lambert Project Room, New York (2005), "Painting Myself into a Corner", Galleri MGM, Oslo (2004), "Some Titles for Which I Don't Know What to Make", c/o - Atle Gerhardsen, Berlin (2004), Galleri MGM, Oslo (2003), "You Are Always Alone in the Cinema (J. Monk)", Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm (2003), and Quarantine Series, Amsterdam (2003).
Recent Group Exhibitions include "Tomorrow", Kumho Museum and Artsonje Center, Seoul (upcoming October), "Yeeonheedong 195 Recidency Project: A Hundred Ideas and Ten Thousand Combinations", Yeonheedong 195, Seoul (publication), "Tempo", Skien (publication), "Stuff", Detroit MOCA, Detroit, "Art is Not Mute", Ersta Konsthall, Stockholm, "Vorstellen, formulieren – Sprache als Modell der Wirklichkeit", K3 – Project Space, Zürich, "Believers & Illusionists", R. T. Hansen, Berlin, "I Will Never Make It!", Kunstraum D21, Leipzig, "Poster Project", Participant Inc./Devon Costello & Ilya Lipkin, New York (2007) and "Rio", Artnews Projects, Berlin, c/o - Atle Gerhardsen, Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, "Cosa Nostra", Glassbox, Paris, "JRP|Ringier – We Make Books With Art", Daviet-Thery, Paris, "Please Love Me", Walker's Point Center for the Arts, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.


Special thanks: Kuc Miodrag, Sandra Schneider, Jesko-Malkolm Johnsson-Zahn, Matthias Feulner, Iris Tegtbur, Anna Bactschon, Rodney LaTourelle, Lars Morell.