|
|
Denn als Ganzes wartet die Schau mit vielen sorgfältigen Details auf, den Modellen – besonders pfiffig die Vorher-Nachher-Darstellung des Universitäts-Hauptportals 1953 (Sebastian Gille) und das Projekt eines Wochenendhauses 1944 (Karol Wolczyk), das präzise visualisiert, wie aus Flächen Räume werden können –, den Reproduktionen von Farbdias, die Kramer von seinen Gebäuden gemacht hat und die nun erstmals in einer Ausstellung und im Katalog zu sehen sind, und nicht zuletzt mit dem schönen Detail der Beschriftung auf grauem Karton, die Kramers Vorliebe für Stahlbeton zitiert.
|
|
|
The period of the “Neues Frankfurt” [New Frankfurt] in which Kramer developed standardised furnishings and installations is presented as an example with the Westhausen housing estate; his work from this point until emigrating in 1938, which has almost 100 entries in the catalogue of works, has barely been included. This could be justified with the material conditions, especially as it concerns many rebuilds of apartments after the rise of fascism in Germany in 1933, and also the fact that Kramer was obliged to make stylistic compromises, alone, and in the US, he did not only build in a radical modern style, and it was that, that could have facilitated comparison. Yet this objection should not be overrated. For as a whole, the show comes up with many careful details, the models – particularly clever are the before and after representation of the university’s main entrance of 1953 (Sebastian Gille) and the weekend house project of 1944 (Karol Wocyzyk), that precisely visualises how spaces can be made from surfaces –, the reproductions of colour slides that Kramer took of his buildings and which can now be seen for the first time in an exhibition and in the catalogue, and not least, with the beautiful marking detail on the grey cardboard, that invokes Kramer’s preference for reinforced concrete. In the exhibition area dedicated to the university buildings, great emphasis has been put on the contrast of historic image material with current photographs by Norbert Miguletz – if perhaps dramatically excessive – that document the decades of shocking neglect by university administration. Unfortunately, the latest example of this public contact with Kramer, the inappropriate removal of the university logo above the main entrance in autumn 2015, is not included.
|
