Discover Germany | Special Theme | German Architecture 2017
Living hybrid Hamburg, Baakenhafen. Photo: © pfp architekten bda
Changing history by building a lasting future The offices of pfp architekten bda bring years of experience and dedication to a range of architectural projects. Whether working on theatres, social housing projects or renovating pre-standing buildings, pfp architekten bda meet each creation with a sensitivity that puts the people who will engage with the site in the centre of focus. Their humanistic approach to architecture captures the contemporary spirit and produces timeless results. TEXT: JAIME HEATHER SCHWARTZ
After working in world-class cities such as Berlin, Cologne, and Venice, Professor Jörg Friedrich established pfp architekten bda in 1986. Along with its Hamburg headquarters, the firm has an office in Frankfurt and two in Italy: one in Genoa and one in Rome. The firm is always busy but, regardless of the project, handling the relationship between site and who it serves is always met with the same consideration. “To us, architecture is the art of simplicity,” Professor Friedrich explains. “We want to 90 | Issue 50 | May 2017
design simple spatial structures that can provide an architectural beauty and dignity to the people who will use it and which give them the necessary space for their own development.” ‘The Immediate Theatre’ is an urban public space The concept of viewing Theatre as part of the public arena is a perspective that sees the theatre as a space that combines, as Professor Friedrich references, “the rough
and the holy” (Peter Brook: The Empty Space; London, 2008). It is an architectonical container bringing illumination of human truth and experience to an audience in an immediate, visceral, sometimes sub-conscious but always revelatory way. Professor Jörg Friedrich explores the techniques of theatre practitioners of all disciplines; audience, creators, actors, directors and critics to ensure his creation is one that is both architectonically and societally relevant in the context of the European city. The urban projects for the ‘Staatstheater Karlsruhe’ and the ‘Congress and Theatre Center Padova’ are demonstrative of this special approach. Anticipating the future while acknowledging the past Part of the approach to working with the challenging and highly specialised ar-