Bernd Grimm

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Bernd Grimm (* 1962 in Ellwangen (Jagst) ) is a German graduate designer , architectural model maker and artist . He became known for creating architectural models of historical and ancient buildings. Ten of his models belong to the collection of architectural icons by the architect Oswald Mathias Ungers .

Life

Bernd Grimm studied industrial design from 1983 to 1989 at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts under Lambert Rosenbusch , where he graduated as a designer. During his studies his interest in the field of architectural theory developed . Together with his fellow student Jan Christophe Kraege, he carried out scientific studies on historical buildings such as the Fonte di Clitunno temple near Spoleto (1985) and made a model of them. He also examined the functionality of the proportional circle developed by Balthasar Neumann . While he was still a student, the German Archaeological Institute commissioned him to create a model of the Mars Ultor Temple at the Augustus Forum in Rome (1987). After completing his studies, Grimm worked from 1990 to 2007 as a freelancer in the architecture office of Oswald Mathias Ungers , where he was responsible for creating architectural models of historically significant buildings. The idea was to create a kind of “three-dimensional collection”. Over the years, this is how the ten architectural icons of the Ungers collection emerged, which Grimm made from alabaster plaster after intensive research . The model thus becomes a valuable cultural asset .

Bernd Grimm has been the artistic director of Ungers' Archive for Architectural Studies since 2007 . From 2012 to 2014 he was an academic assistant in the Gerhard Richter studio in Cologne. In 2015 he received a practice scholarship from Villa Massimo in Rome.

Architectural models

"Abstract my models: they show no buildings, but the pure idea."

- Bernd Grimm : quoted in Eva Zimmermann: "Grimm's plaster models"

Architectural models can fulfill various functions. The architect can check his ideas for feasibility on a design model . Presentation models can be submitted to competitions; more extensive models can show how a planned building integrates into the existing environment. In the field of architectural theory , models are also used as teaching and learning models to illustrate the aesthetics and construction of historical buildings. Against this background, Grimm's works can be understood as models based on built architectures or memory models .

Every model building project by Bernd Grimm starts with scientific research; old drawings and building photographs are consulted and literature on the respective buildings is studied. This is usually followed by on-site investigations. B. spent a few months in Rome for the model of the Temple of Mars Ultor and photographed and measured the temple. Only after this extensive preparatory work can he make decisions about how the respective model should be designed: “First of all, I develop a thought model. What is the basic? What is the essence and essence of a building best? Two things are always decisive: reduction and interpretation. "

For the representation of the Tempietto di Bramante , it had to be taken into account that originally a circular courtyard surrounded by columns was planned, while the courtyard is now square and without surrounding columns. Originally steps also led to the temple so that the viewer could see the building from below. Grimm designed the base historically correct as a circular surface and made it so high that the lower view of the building mediated by the steps of the temple became visible. When recreating ancient temples such as the Pantheon or Parthenon , fundamental decisions had to be made about which phase of the respective building should be represented - the ideal state or a representation of what the temples look like today. Ultimately, a scale must be selected that illustrates the essential elements of the architecture without getting too lost in details.

  • Model of the Parthenon temple,
    1:50 scale model, architectural icon model collection by Oswald Mathias Ungers , Cologne

  • Tempietto di Bramante ,
    1:15 scale model,
    architectural icon model collection by Oswald Mathias Ungers, Cologne

  • Cenotaph for Isaac Newton ,
    1: 400 scale model
    Architectural icon model collection by Oswald Mathias Ungers, Cologne

Grimm produces all of his architectural models in pure white alabaster plaster, as this material has a neutral effect and, due to its properties, is well suited for the representation of fine details. For recurring building parts such as columns, he creates silicone molds. He also works with templates and develops his own tools if necessary. Since plaster is heavy, the models have a wooden substructure. For the model of the Parthenon alone, Grimm needed 200 kilograms of plaster and over a year of construction. While one always imagines something small with the word model , Grimm's works are by no means small. B. the model of the Pantheon the dimensions 74 × 170 × 97 cm and also its other models have similar dimensions. “After a long period of work, such an architecture emerges as a sculpture that, like ancient figures, is unique - just like the work techniques with plaster, which only a few have mastered and require a lot of experience.” The magazine Architectural Digest then describes Grimm in its special issue Best of Germany as the "Cologne Model - Michelangelo".

Bronze reliefs in public spaces

Since 2011, Bernd Grimm has been documenting the landscape and structural change in Cologne's Vogelsang district from a rural area to the “Triotop” commercial park with a series of seven bronze reliefs . The contractor for this work is Anton Bausinger (Friedrich Wassermann construction company). The bronze reliefs are each 1 × 1 meter and are set up on the Belvedere Bridge in Cologne. The spatial situations from the following years are shown in detail: 1893, 1926, 1934, 1975, 2000, 2010 and 2025. So far (2019) six of the bronze sculptures have been realized and can be viewed on site.

  • Transformations - The history of an area in Cologne-Vogelsang
    (1893–2010),
    here depiction of the situation in 1975, bronze relief

  • Transformations - The history of an area in Cologne-Vogelsang
    (1893–2010),
    here depiction of the 2010 situation, bronze relief

  • Transformations - The history of an area in Cologne-Vogelsang
    (1893–2010),
    here overall view of the previous reliefs, bronze relief

Reconstruction "Scala del Bramante"

During his time as a practice scholarship holder at Villa Massimo in Rome in 2015, Bernd Grimm dealt with the Scala del Bramante by the architect Donato Bramante , which is located in the Vatican . It is a spiral staircase that was built in 1512 to connect the Papal Palace with the city of Rome. It was designed as a stepless ramp ( Rampa in Italian ), which is why Grimm calls his research report Rampa del Bramante . The staircase is housed in a square tower and comprises 36 columns of various types. Grimm got permission from the Vatican to measure and photograph the stairs in detail. Then he prepared his report. Part of the investigation was the “decoding of the basic mathematical and geometric structure” of the ramp. In addition, Grimm examined the structural design of the pillars. In antiquity and since the Renaissance , so-called column orders formed an important architectural system with a hierarchy of the different types of columns. Grimm found out that Bramante did not strictly adhere to this system when designing his stairs. Thanks to a grant from the Rolf Linnenkamp Foundation, he was able to make a three-dimensional model of the stairs in stainless steel and birch plywood on a scale of 1:20.

  • Mathematical-geometric structural analysis of the Scala del Bramante, drawing and model in 1:20 scale

  • Presentation on the occasion of the exhibition “10 Years of Villa Massimo in the Martin-Gropius-Bau ”, Berlin 2016

  • Detail of the mathematical-geometric model of the stairs

Here the construction and structure of the stairs were made clear by the fact that the columns were only reproduced as outlines in stainless steel. To visualize the dimensions of the building, Bernd Grimm has given the dimensions in centimeters as well as in piedi and digiti (old Roman units of measurement that were still used in the Renaissance) and comes to the result: “The Rampa (Scala) del Bramante is conceived and realized from a single point. A high level of precision in the positioning of the components is achieved on the basis of a simple geometric structure that always allows a reference to the center. [...] The exceptional quality of the spiral ramp lies in its strong design core idea, namely to combine simple and ideal geometric shapes with the column arrangements, as an important element of architectural design. "

Further building recordings and reconstructions

Architectural icons from the Oswald Mathias Ungers collection

Teaching activities

Participation in exhibitions

  • 1999: OM Ungers: Time Spaces - Architecture - Context , Kunsthalle Köln
  • 1999: Construction of the Ursuline Church in Cologne , Hamburg University of Fine Arts
  • 2000: From the Renaissance to the Present , Hamburg University of Fine Arts
  • 2003: ZwischenRaumZeit , gallery suitcasearchitecture, Berlin
  • 2003: Via Culturalis , Roman-Germanic Museum , Cologne
  • 2004: ArchiSkulptur , Fondation Beyeler , Basel, Switzerland
  • 2006: OM Ungers: Cosmos of Architecture , Neue Nationalgalerie , Berlin
  • 2012: The architectural model - tool, fetish, small utopia , German Architecture Museum (DAM) , Frankfurt am Main
  • 2015: Final presentation of the scholarship holders , Deutsche Akademie Villa Massimo, Rome, Italy
  • 2016: The architectural model - a medium in theory and practice , ETH Zurich, Department of Architecture, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 2016: 10 years of Villa Massimo, presentation of the research report Scala del Bramante , Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany
  • 2017: Globes. Architecture & Sciences explorent le monde , Cité de l'architecture et du patrimoine , Paris, France

literature

Web links

Commons : Bernd Grimm  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bernd Grimm; Jan Christophe Kraege: Spoleto, Tempio Fonti di Clitunno . In: Lambert Rosenbusch (Ed.): Industrial Design 10: Architecture . Thomas Helms, Schwerin 2000, ISBN 978-3-931185-78-7 , p. 11 .
  2. ↑ Bernd Grimm: The proportional circle by Balthasar Neumann . In: Lambert Rosenbusch (Ed.): Industrial Design 02 . Thomas Helms, Schwerin 1992, ISBN 978-3-931185-27-5 , p. 19-33 .
  3. ^ Thomas Weaver: Model Maker Grimm . In: The Architectural Association (Ed.): AA Files 73 . London 2016, p. 96 .
  4. ↑ a b Eva Zimmermann: Grimm's plaster models . In: Architectural Digest (Ed.): Architectural Digest: Best of Germany . New York October 2008, p. 68 .
  5. ^ Ansgar Oswald: Masters of miniatures: Architectural model construction . DOM publishers , Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-938666-05-0 , pp. 36 .
  6. ↑ Villa Massimo 2015. (PDF, 29.05 MB) www.villamassimo.de, October 23, 2016, accessed on February 28, 2019 .
  7. ↑ a b c Eva Zimmermann: Grimm's plaster models . In: Architectural Digest (Ed.): Architectural Digest: Best of Germany . New York October 2008, p. 70 .
  8. ↑ Oliver Elser: The collection of architectural models based on own and historical drafts . In: Andres Lepik (ed.): OM Ungers: Kosmos der Architektur . Hatje Cantz Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-7757-1820-2 , p. 44 .
  9. ↑ a b Jan Maruhn: Collectors' Seminar: Architecture en miniature - Architectural models are wonderful works of art. In: Weltkunst , No. 118, August 2016, p. 73
  10. ^ Hubertus Günther: Tempietto in San Pietro in Montorio. (PDF, 2.34 MB) Heidelberg University, March 28, 2012, accessed on March 3, 2019 .
  11. ^ A b Ansgar Oswald: Master of miniatures: Architectural model construction . DOM publishers , Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-938666-05-0 , pp. 87 .
  12. ^ Thomas Weaver: Model Maker Grimm . In: The Architectural Association (Ed.): AA Files 73 . London 2016, p. 100 .
  13. ↑ Oliver Elser: The collection of architectural models based on own and historical drafts . In: Andres Lepik (ed.): OM Ungers: Kosmos der Architektur . Hatje Cantz Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-7757-1820-2 , p. 41 .
  14. ↑ From arable land to the TRIOTOP landscape and industrial park. www.triotop-koeln.de, July 15, 2011, accessed on February 15, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Bronze reliefs tell a story. www.triotop-koeln.de, accessed on February 15, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Bernd Grimm: Rampa (Scala) del Bramante. (PDF, 1.74 MB) www.villamassimo.de, May 24, 2018, accessed on February 28, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Bernd Grimm: Rampa (Scala) del Bramante. (PDF, 1.74 MB) www.villamassimo.de, May 24, 2018, p. 1 , accessed on February 28, 2019 .
  18. ↑ a b Bernd Grimm: Rampa (Scala) del Bramante. (PDF, 1.74 MB) www.villamassimo.de, May 24, 2018, p. 6 , accessed on February 28, 2019 .
  19. ↑ Sponsorship Award 2017. In: www.linnekamp-stiftung.de. Retrieved August 2, 2019 .
  20. ↑ a b c d e f g Vita Bernd Grimm. In: www.hfk-bremen.de. Retrieved June 26, 2019 .
  21. ↑ Bernd Grimm: Santa Maria del Priorato, Rome, architect Giovanni Battista Piranesi - built architectural graphics. (PDF, 144.06 MB) In: www.berndgrimm.info. May 1, 2016, accessed February 8, 2019 .
  22. ↑ a b c d Ungers Archive for Architectural Science: Model workshop. Retrieved February 4, 2019 .
  23. ↑ a b c Ungers Archive for Architectural Science: Architectural Icons. Retrieved February 4, 2019 .
  24. ↑ Benedikt Totze: Unger's icons. (pdf, 945, 26 KB) In: Baunetzwoche, Heft 4, 2006. October 27, 2006, p. 4 , accessed on February 4, 2019 .
  25. ↑ Department of Design. Event calendar 1999/2000. (PDF, 175.84 KB) Cologne International School of Design , October 13, 1999, accessed on February 10, 2019 .
  26. ^ Course catalog WS 2005/2006, Department of Architecture. (PDF, 142.52 KB) www.uni-hannover.de, August 20, 2008, accessed on February 10, 2019 .
  27. ^ Building a model: Exhibition and symposium. www.bauwesen.tu-dortmund.de, accessed on February 10, 2019 .
  28. ^ International summer studio "The Rural in the City". (PDF, 240.07 KB) www.hcu-hamburg.de, April 20, 2016, accessed on February 10, 2019 .
  29. ↑ Bernd Grimm. www.hfk-bremen.de, accessed on February 10, 2019 .
  30. ↑ Oswald Mathias Ungers: 10 chapters on architecture. A visual treatise . DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2000, ISBN 978-3-7701-5270-4 (published on the occasion of the exhibition).
  31. ↑ Lambert Rosenbusch (Ed.): Industrial Design 10: Architecture . Thomas Helms, Schwerin 2000, ISBN 978-3-931185-78-7 .
  32. ↑ "Zwischenraumzeit" in the gallery suitcasearchitecture. www.art–in–berlin.de, February 4, 2003, accessed on February 8, 2019 .
  33. ^ Römisch-Germanisches Museum: Archive. www.roemisch-germanisches-museum, accessed on February 8, 2019 .
  34. ↑ ArchiSculpture. www.fondationbeyeler.ch, accessed on February 8, 2019 .
  35. ↑ OM Ungers. Architecture cosmos. www.smb.museum, October 26, 2006, accessed on February 9, 2019 .
  36. ↑ The architectural model - tool, fetish, little utopia. In: Baunetzwoche, issue 272, 2012. Accessed on June 16, 2019 .
  37. ^ Ten years of Villa Massimo in the Martin-Gropius-Bau. Villa Massimo, February 25, 2016, accessed March 8, 2019 .
  38. ↑ Visite guidée de l'exposition “Globes. Architectures et sciences explorent le monde ”. www.citedelarchitecture.fr, November 26, 2017, accessed on February 9, 2019 (French).
personal data
SURNAME Grimm, Bernd
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German designer and architectural model maker
DATE OF BIRTH 1962
PLACE OF BIRTH Ellwangen (Jagst)