Q: Mr. Mayer H., the SCHAUSTELLE that has been built in the immediate vicinity of the Pinakothek der Moderne, while the museum is closed temporarily. It is based on a design intended for Berlin, but never executed, that has now been implemented in Munich. What is behind the idea of this unusual skeletal structure?
JMH: The SCHAUSTELLE is based on a spatial concept that provides an enclosed, flexible area, with an open skeletal space above, that alternately can be used for any variety of interventions, installations and events. Reference has been made to the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin with its large exhibition hall for multiple uses, sitting on a closed basement level, as well as to the concept behind Cedric Price’s Fun Palace – a building that was a constantly modifiable cultural machine. This idea was put into practice for the first time in a design for a temporary art space in Berlin. We have developed this concept further for Munich.
Q: Is this your first design for a temporary building? What are the specific characteristics of a provisional structure that is to be used for a brief period only?
JMH: In spatial installations for museums and galleries we create temporary situations that enter into dialogue with the architecture. In the case of the SCHAUSTELLE, this relationship has been reversed. Here, different spaces are provided that can be used in a variety of ways, enabling new boundaries in curatorial work to be reached which could not otherwise be implemented in a closed, institutional museum. The SCHAUSTELLE offers a unique opportunity to experience the Pinakothek der Moderne as a lively integral part of the city.
Q: The SCHAUSTELLE’s scaffolding elements, function-specific building containers and cladding can all be put to other uses afterwards and fed back into the construction cycle. How important is the use of recyclable building material to you?
JHM: The SCHAUSTELLE is largely made of components designed for building sites. As such, the SCHAUSTELLE refers to the Pinakothek der Moderne next to it that, at the moment, has once again become a building site. For a few months, certain elements are being removed from their normal field of application as components purely for use on a building site, and will then be returned to this cycle. For us, a respectful, sustainable handling of material for this temporary building was important. The SCHAUSTELLE will simply be disbanded.

Photo: © Paul Green