The first major presentation of the work of Austrian architecture magazine Bau is launched in the UK today by London's Institute of Contemporary Arts. The influential Vienna-based publication was founded in 1965 and helped define the era's architectural discourse through its inspirational content.
The exhibition, 'Everything is architecture: Bau Magazine from the 60s and 70s', will display vintage issues published between 1965 and 1970. This particular period was a turning point for the magazine as its editorship was at the time taken over by a group of influential Austrian architects and artists, including Hans Hollein, Walter Pichler, Günther Feuerstein and Oswald Oberhuber.
Exploring a period when new experiments in architecture were flourishing globally, the exhibition shows how the magazine presented a platform to push novel ideas, advocating that buildings were much more than mere concrete forms and arguing for their great influence in the realms of art and politics. This radical interdisciplinary approach was crystallised in the 1968 issue of 'Bau' where influential architect Hans Hollein boldly claimed that 'Everything is Architecture'.
In the ICA's display, visitors can experience first hand Bau's unique design and layout and its difference when compared other experimental publications of its time. The publication strikes a beautiful balance between key texts by philosophers, artists and architects and playful, dynamic imagery of architecture, art and popular culture - a powerful mix. Complementing the exhibition, further talks elaborating on the publication's background history will be held by seminal architect, founder of Archigram and former ICA director, Peter Cook.
Offering a glimpse into an exciting turning point in architectural history and press, visitors can see how the iconic magazine broke boundaries and questioned what defined modernist architecture in the pre-war period.
Bau Magazine, Issue 6, 1967 (left, front cover, design by Oswald Oberhuber) and Issue 3, 1965 (right, front Cover, design by Barbara Pflaum). published by Zentralvereinigung der Architekten Österrreichs (Central Association of Austrian Architects)
Bau Magazine, Issue 1, 1967 (left, front cover, design by Walter Pichler based on a diagram from the publication New Movement in Cities by Brian Richards) and Issue 1-2, 1967 (right, front cover, design by Walter Pichler based on a diagram from the publication New Movement in Cities by Brian Richards). published by Zentralvereinigung der Architekten Österrreichs (Central Association of Austrian Architects)
Bau Magazine, , Issue 2-3, 1969 (left, interior page, drawing by Friedrich St. Florian) and Issue 2-3, 1969 (right, interior page, drawing by Friedrich St. Florian). published by Zentralvereinigung der Architekten Österrreichs (Central Association of Austrian Architects)
Bau Magazine, Issue 1, 1967 (left, front cover, design by Walter Pichler based on a diagram from the publication New Movement in Cities by Brian Richards) and Issue 3, 1968 (right, front cover, design by Oswald Oberhuber). published by Zentralvereinigung der Architekten Österrreichs (Central Association of Austrian Architects)
Bau Magazine, Issue 2, 1967 (left, back cover, advertising) and Issue 2, 1967 (right, back cover, advertising). published by Zentralvereinigung der Architekten Österrreichs (Central Association of Austrian Architects)
-
Cocktail hour with Stanley TucciWallpaper* catches up with the consummate epicurean to discuss his culinary no-gos, Tucci-esque travel habits and how to make the perfect martini
-
28 Years Later, is Danny Boyle finding humanity in a dystopian world?Is that a touch of positivity we see in director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland's 28 Years Later?
-
Jenny Saville’s major exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery is raw, powerful and sublimeFifty works, from the course of the artist’s career, are brought together for ‘Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting’ in London
-
A new London exhibition explores the legacy of Centre Pompidou architect Richard Rogers‘Richard Rogers: Talking Buildings’ – opening tomorrow at Sir John Soane’s Museum – examines Rogers’ high-tech icons, which proposed a democratic future for architecture
-
At the Royal Academy summer show, architecture and art combine as never beforeThe Royal Academy summer show is about to open in London; we toured the iconic annual exhibition and spoke to its curator for architecture, Farshid Moussavi
-
This ingenious London office expansion was built in an on-site workshopNew Wave London and Thomas-McBrien Architects make a splash with this glulam extension built in the very studio it sought to transform. Here's how they did it
-
Once vacant, London's grand department stores are getting a new lease on lifeThanks to imaginative redevelopment, these historic landmarks are being reborn as residences, offices, gyms and restaurants. Here's what's behind the trend
-
Lego and Serpentine celebrate World Play Day with a new pavilionLego and Serpentine have just unveiled their Play Pavilion; a colourful new structure in Kensington Gardens in London and a gesture that celebrates World Play Day (11 June)
-
Inside Abbey Road's refresh: touring the legendary studio's new interiorAbbey Road gets an interior refresh by Threefold Architects, bringing the legendary London recording studio in tune with the 21st century
-
The Serpentine Pavilion 2025 is ready to visit, ‘an exhibition you can use’The Serpentine Pavilion 2025 is ready for its public opening on 6 June; we toured the structure and spoke to its architect, Marina Tabassum
-
A meticulously crafted artist’s space in east London evokes the area’s long creative historyMaich Swift Architects’ artist’s space has radically reconfigured a Victorian terraced house, transforming it into a contemporary live/work interior
