JOHN KÖRMELING

John Körmeling studied architecture at the Technische Hogeschool in Eindhoven. Visual art, architecture, urban and rural planning, design, ...: Körmeling’s designs and realisations cannot be classified into a single realm of thought.

Architecture is something to which Körmeling gives the widest possible definition: it involves all sorts and sizes of space, starting with the space inside one’s head. Furthermore, according to Körmeling, cars and the infrastructure that accommodates them are the real determinants of a town’s design. A town has to develop from its intersections; any town that turns its back on its roads becomes a ghost town. Körmeling’s contributions to a city are artistic interventions and creative solutions to parking problems and traffic jams. For the Panorama 2000 project, Körmeling developed a ‘drive-in’ wheel for cars. Cars, clamped on the wheel, were lifted 100 feet into the air: no worry about a parking place as the visitor could see the exhibition from the air. Körmeling’s projects, some totally unrealisable, are never stripped of humour.

John Körmeling had solo exhibitions at De Pont, Tilburg (NL) and Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven (NL). In 2004, Körmeling had a major solo exhibition at the Power Plant in Toronto (CA), for which the notorious drive-in wheel was re-installed.

Recently John Körmeling designed the Dutch Pavillion for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai (CN). Known as Happy Street, the pavilion consists of 26 elevated small buildings, designed after various Dutch architectural styles, along a main pedestrian strip that curves in a figure eight. Each house is a mini pavilion in itself, exploring themes such as energy, water, space and other urban issues to achieve a ‘Better city, Better live’.

Courtesy Zeno X Gallery