creative infidelities
Exhibition on display at the arc en rêve centre d’architecture, Bordeaux from Tuesday 14 September 2017 to Sunday 14 January 2018.
The exhibition engages in an interpretation of Topotek 1 projects with an unusual three-dimensional device. Oliver Klimpel created, in an imaginary conversation with Topotek 1, a scenography of volumes and pieces modeled in printed silk fabrics that combines and recontextualizes collages made from images of the projects of Topotek 1. This immersive installation is conceived as an interior landscape that expresses the importance of narrative in the work of Topotek 1.
arc en rêve centre d’architecture presents the exhibition creative infidelities TOPOTEK1 devoted to the Berlin-based architecture and landscape design studio Topotek1. The show takes place within the stimulating context of a contemporary urban society that is increasingly eager to embrace nature.
Topotek1 designs and carries out projects in a way that is both intelligent and playful. Their work draws skilfully and mischievously from the vocabularies of architecture, planning, design and graphic design, and is characterised by a determined quest for hybridisation that can be seen in the form, the function and the image of the projects, including their choice of materials (for example, artificial grass or plastic flooring for a public square).
Topotek1 is a two-sided enterprise: on the one hand, it is emotional and passionate; on the other, it is realistic and pragmatic.
The originality of what they produce lies in this tension between control and lightness, seriousness, and fun. Their work in urban and rural settings in Europe and Asia is underscored by local cultural references that resonate with references from further afield, and also introduces unusual and unexpected features.
The work of Topotek1 is truly astonishing. At once pertinent, precise and unsettling, it sparks an emotional response.
The exhibition has been designed to inflect the way we look at things in a similar way. Drawing from both art and design, Oliver Klimpel has created an installation that interprets the work of Topotek1. This design approach highlights the importance of storytelling for Topotek1, offering visitors a spatial experience.
The exhibition creative infidelities provides an opportunity to see and feel the Baroque aesthetic of Topotek1’s work, which skilfully cultivates a sense of ambiguity by deliberately playing with artifice to create landscapes to be used as public spaces. Topotek1’s cheekily poetic creations are sharply sensitive to the complexity of the world and invite us to take part in truly fabulous and unexpected experiences.
