Using plastics and styrofoam to convey sculpturalforms, Coop Himmelb(l)au have explored thefracturing of architecture and the amorphousnature of the contemporary city for a number ofyears. Key to their philosophy is the dynamismand concentration of spatial qualities that arevisibly manifest in their designs. This agendabrings with it a need to communicate suchaspirations, and the use of plastics and styrofoamis frequently found in their models as thesematerials easily embody the fragmentary andsculptural nature of their architecture. Thetransparent acrylic glass enables the typically complex internal spaces to be appreciatedthrough the building’s frame, and allows lightto permeate them in order to add furtherdramatic effect.
