Herzog & De Meuron’s Blue Period
Photo: Thomas Mayer
At the end of the Avenida Diagonal in Barcelona stands, raised on concrete columns, a blue equilateral triangle shaped building with a length of 180 metres per side. The Forum as it is known,was built with UNESCO backing to host the first World Cultural Forum; four months of events, talks, concerts and exhibitions. The ground floor is left mainly open as a public space. The building houses, among other functions, an auditorium of 3200 seats below the plaza, and an exhibition space within its envelope. The underside of the elevated building is covered in triangular stainless steel panels with patterns that result in water like reflections. The building is sprinkled with light wells that bring light to the ground floor spaces deep within its plan.
The sponge like blue treatment of the walls is highly reminiscent of the work of Yves Klein, his International Klein Blue monochrome paintings, and his blue sponges. The sponge itself was to be understood as a metaphor for the viewer of his monochrome paintings, who would, like a sponge, become impregnated with their blue energy.
Klein’s metaphor of the blue sponge is here applicable to Herzog & De Meuron themselves, who have always been very interested in creating buildings where art and architecture can meet.
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