Organizing the City through Architectural Projects: The Elbe Philharmonic Hall, Hamburg

Author: Monika Grubbauer & Venetsiya Dimitrova (HafenCity University Hamburg)
Year: 2017 (conference paper)
Source type: article (conference paper)
Raw file: raw/articles/grubbauer-dimitrova-2017-organizing-city-through-projects.md

Summary

Using the case of the Elbe Philharmonic Hall (Herzog & de Meuron, opened 2017), Grubbauer and Dimitrova examine how iconic architectural projects are actually planned and executed. They argue that iconicity "cannot be perceived as the product of celebrity architects alone": it depends on specific networks of professionals — on-site employed architects and local/global subcontractors and specialized executing firms — whose contributions "remained invisible and underappreciated in the public discourse." They thus demystify the star-architecture image, showing the localized, multi-sited, and labour-intensive making of the icon.

Key Claims

• Iconicity and city branding: iconic architecture (Sklair) is enhanced by the fame of "starchitects" used to add weight to place-marketing; the Elbe Philharmonic materialized a "radical urban imaginary" (Kaika) promising Hamburg "world-class city status."
• The invisible making of the icon: "iconicity cannot be perceived as the product of celebrity architects alone"; the paper sheds light on "the mostly invisible and less 'glamourous' side of iconic structures, namely their actual realization and construction."
• Non-standard solutions and unique products: the ambitious design required "non-standard architectural and construction elements" (façade panels, acoustic cladding) whose production "required the development of new tools and technologies ... sourced from specialized firms and implemented by local subcontractors," largely invisible to public discourse.
• Employed architects as organizers: a branch office of ~80 architects in Hamburg handled "the daily interaction" with on-site partners and subcontractors, located and contracted specialized firms across Europe, and "securing quality control" throughout; "having little symbolic status and no visibility to the public, these employed architects proved to play a key role."
• Stable networks of trust: Herzog & de Meuron and leading specialized firms formed "stable networks ... built on trust and mutual understanding," carried across projects; global design firms are "crucially reliant on their linkages to specialized executing firms."
• Transformation of the construction industry: the rise of iconic/large-scale projects "has enhanced the ongoing transformation of the construction industry," enabling the emergence of "highly specialized, global execution firms" that monopolize niche markets.

Connections

Concepts: Star Architecture · Iconic Architecture · Authorship · Everyday Architecture
Authors: Monika Grubbauer & Venetsiya Dimitrova · Maria Kaika
Debates: Genius vs. Bureaucracy
Related source notes: What the Files Reveal (Boucsein) · The Age of Spectacle (Dyckhoff)

Direct Quotes

"[I]conicity cannot be perceived as the product of celebrity architects alone."

"[T]hese employees were in charge of the supervision of these partners ... Having little symbolic status and no visibility to the public, these employed architects proved to play a key role."

"[W]e show that the actual making of iconic architectural projects requires specific knowledge and specialized expertise of other disciplines beyond design."

"[G]lobal architectural firms are crucially reliant on their linkages to specialized executing firms."

Open Questions

• Does the demystification of the icon's "invisible" labour (employed architects, subcontractors) refute the star/hero-genius myth, or does it merely document a new division of labour still crowned by the celebrity architect and the icon's market value?