Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery

The House and the City: Architecture by Diener & Diener

17 Jan - 22 Mar 2009

Wohn- und Bürohaus Bäumleingasse Basel CH 2004
photo: Christian Richters
THE HOUSE AND THE CITY: ARCHITECTURE BY DIENER & DIENER

17 January [Sat] - 22 March [Sun] 2009

Diener & Diener (D&D) is an architectural office based in Basel, Switzerland, which develops projects throughout Europe. It's principle, Roger Diener (1950-), carries on in the footsteps of his father, Marcus Diener (1918-1999). Whether in new construction or in renovation, D&D's position is to view architecture within the context of the existing city, a position in sharp contrast to architects who seek to tag trade mark signature styles on the city. D&D's architecture is based on careful analyses of the surrounding environment. It blends into the cities, at first glance seeming almost anonymous. Their architecture, standing as if intentionally subsumed to each and every circumstance, extrudes the city's memory, read in the context of its current life, to become an existence with a delicate internal pulse, through which inhabitatnts can discover new significance in relationships between architecture and the city. By coming to know the gentle living breathing function of D&D's architecture, and following the traces of their thinking, we hope that this exhibition will be an excellent opportunity for we in Japan, where specific values within the urban macrocosm can be hard to grasp, to re-think anew the relationship between architecture and the city.