The Architecture of Jürgen Mayer H
The Berlin-based architect Jürgen Mayer claims he's pushing his discipline "beyond the blob". He talks to Miami Art Museum head, Terence Riley
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Berlin-based Jürgen Mayer H. just might be Germany's first starchitect since the days of Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe. His office, J. Mayer H. Architects (that dangling last letter is actually his middle initial, tacked on so that the firm name sounds generic and everyman), is just 12 years old—and he's only 42—but he and his 15 staffers have already produced acclaimed public buildings from Denmark to Spain. And they've developed a signature style that Mayer describes as "beyond the blob."
His structures' profiles swell or zigzag, and their window patterns can resemble honeycombs or bulging eyes. In fact, the more metaphors his forms inspire, the happier Mayer gets: "Multiple potential readings" are the goal, he says.