In June/July 2020 the exhibition DIE MODERNE IM KLEINEN (modernity on a small scale) turned to a phase of St.Gallen’s architectural history that has been widely overlooked: the 1930s. This decade was the starting point of modern architecture in St.Gallen. 'New Buildung' ('Neues Bauen') with its functional design language found its way into the crisis-ridden city of Art Nouveau. The few new buildings that were created in this period have nevertheless left their mark on the city up until today. This exhibition, which was initiated by Nina Keel, presented them more closely for the first time.
DIE MODERNE IM KLEINEN was shown in several shops and attics of the Linsebühl building, the biggest building complex of the 1930s in St.Gallen. The exhibition looked at the forms and functions of the buildings and presents plans, historical and topical photographs, letters, articles and corresponding buildings from Zurich, Stuttgart or Tel Aviv.
Five contemporary artists and two artists from the 1930s’ avant-garde brought to light some of the less well-known aspects of New Building: Siegrun Appelt’s indoor photographs showed so-called empty visions of the architecture of the Linsenbühl building. Together with textile designer Martin Leuthold, Appelt created silk foulards on the topic of the building. With the help of colourful glas objects and a large-scale painting, Andrea Heller changed the violin maker workshop on Linsenbühlstrasse into a time-transcending work of art. Felix Bächli was scating along Schubertstrasse, passing houses with cubic shapes. Within a funnel, Nadine Kunz presented photographic montages of Tel Aviv buildings. An avant-garde film by Man Ray was shown in an attic room. Last but not least one got lost in a caleidoscopic play of colours and shapes created by New Zealand artist Len Lye in 1935. In this way, the exhibition could be seen as a “Gesamtkunstwerk”, taking the viewer on a trip through various levels of time within the Linsebühl building.
In addition: a musical compilation by Marina Spörri, books on architecture from Sitterwerk, cocktails by Philipp Grob (Cocktails&Bitters), a perfume by Giovanni Sammarco, furniture and lamps by Silvio Cazorzi (retrovare).
Location: Linsebühl-Bau, Linsebühlstrasse 25, St.Gallen
Exhibition: Saturday, 20th June – Saturday, 18th July 2020
Opening: Saturday, 20th Juni, 1-5 p.m.
Opening hours
Thursday: 3–8 p.m.
Friday: 12 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: 1-5 p.m.
Reviews
Hochparterre, 14th May 2020
Modulor, 3rd May 2020
Beobachter, 9th April 2020
Saiten, 22nd November 2019
With the support of: