THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE
BUILDING AND ITS ENVIRONS IS CRITICAL...
ROOTED IN RATIONALISM, HE DEVELOPED
HIS OWN PHILOSOPHY WHICH
MIGHT BE SEEN AS NEO-CORBUSIAN
I first came across a Meier structure
in a small town in South Germany.
The Ulm Stadthaus Exhibition and
Assembly proudly shows off its modernist
curves opposite the dark, austere,
gothic Ulm Minster church. The
tallest cathedral in the world, it took
105 years for the city to finally approve
a blue print for construction next to this
historic spot and choose an American
who was already making waves in
the architectural world in the '80s. In
fact, two years before the commission,
he'd won the Pritzker Prize in '84.
The surprising juxtaposition of the two
styles is better enjoyed inside, where
one large space of 3,600 sq mtrs is
divided visually by four interrelated
levels and connected by an open
staircase, whose function is also to
provide framed views of the interiors
and the church outside.
