Synopsis
The well-known artist Jean Pfaff has undertaken a series of fascinating colour interventions in buildings - documented and analysed here for the first time. Pfaff's colour interventions in architecture are not just a matter of art in buildings, rather they are an exciting dialogue between colour and space. The chromatic modifications allow materials to assume a different appearance, to seem insubstantial, and they are a vital factor in the visual interplay between inside and outside spaces. Areas of dynamic colours alternate with indirect colour effects and reflections which enrich the ambiance of the building. With expressive photographs and enlightening texts, Heinrich Helfenstein reveals the quality and range of Jean Pfaff's interventions, using examples including Peter Zumthor's Kapelle Sogn Benedetg, Meili und Peter's School for Forestry, Biel, and Schrodt Architects' office building at Iserlohn. Heinrich Helfenstein, born in 1946, studied in Zurich and Florence before going on to be the assistant of Aldo Rossi and Paul Hofer at the ETH Zurich. Since 1980 he has headed his own atelier for architecture photography.
He has written numerous publications on architecture and photography.
