Architecture x Fashion — A Dialogue
Exhibition to mark 20 years of gmp in China
To mark 20 years of building activity in China by architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners, the exhibition “Architecture x Fashion— A Dialogue” will come to Germany and will be shown from June 29 to July 12,2019, as part of the Hamburger Architektur Sommer (Hamburg Architecture Summer) in Barlach Halle K. Hamburg is the second venue after Shanghai, where it was on show in 2018.
In the exhibition, fashion and architecture are juxtaposed in large photographic displays. The pairs of imagesare the result of cooperation between the architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners and the ICICLE FashionGroup. The Shanghai fashion company took an interest in the special character of gmp’s commercialbuildings, a type of building that is not normally taken much notice of, and used it as a source of inspirationfor one of its collections. In addition to administration and culture buildings, in particular opera houses,industrial buildings are amongst the diverse projects carried out by gmp in China, where the practice hasbeen active for two decades and has completed 137 commissions. The book Industrial Buildings in an UrbanContext gives a detailed overview of gmp’s commercial buildings.
Using the medium of photography, the sense of proportion of the paired motifs has been taken to a differentdimension. The fashion photographs are shown larger than life, whereas the architecture images arereduced in scale. As a result, both arts become comparable—at an equal level, so to speak. In order to givevisitors the opportunity not only to see but also to touch exhibits, samples of facade elements and fabric areexhibited next to the large photographs.
gmp and ICICLE share the same fundamental values. This led to a creative exchange beyond the relationshipof architect and client, which is revealed by the exhibition. Both companies perceive their designs as beingtimeless, in the sense of holistic sustainability. Characteristic of both houses is their clear and bold signature.Top quality standards in the form of high-quality materials and careful design and production in bothdisciplines ensure a long service life.
