Gustav Düsing

Gustav Düsing and Max Hacke recently won the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award for their Study Pavilion at the University of Braunschweig, recognized for its innovative use of materials and exemplary integration with the natural environment.

In the main subterranean gallery space, Düsing presents sunsight to sunclipse, a project originally developed at Villa Massimo in Rome in 2021. The title reflects the earth’s rotation around the sun, highlighting that the sun becomes visible (sunsight) and then darkens again (sunclipse). This concept, coined by Buckminster Fuller in his book Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, likens the earth to a spaceship with its atmosphere as a gigantic architectural shell.

Fuller’s perspective on architecture as a shield against nature’s forces informs this installation. The work sunsight to sunclipse uses natural laws to propose a new form of architecture that is soft, dynamic, and in direct contact with its environment. By harnessing solar energy, the installation behaves in synergy with planetary constellations, transforming energy into architectural space. Influenced by the Coriolis Effect and resembling Rossby Waves—high-altitude winds shaping global weather—this dynamic structure illustrates a new type of architecture integrated into the planetary system. The kinetic structure creates a communal space where people can gather and experience these otherwise invisible forces that significantly impact our lives.

In the second gallery space, Düsing presents a new project titled Picknick (2024), an installation featuring a series of parasols both inside and outside the gallery. These versatile structures can create passages, hideouts, roofs, and tents, offering endless possibilities. The parasols symbolize responsive and adaptable architecture that speaks to the transient and mutable nature of space.

Opening: 16.8.2024, 6 pm