OBJECTIEVE ARCHITECTUUR

In 1971 the Swiss architect Werner Blaser curated the group exhibition 'Objective Architecture—Skin and Skeleton 'in the National Higher Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning in Antwerp. Jef Cornelis made a television report for the current art events programme 'Zoeklicht'. The documentary features only photographs of architecture on four continents. Yet this “objective architecture” is not static at all: by zooming in, active camera movements and a rapid editing, Cornelis lends the “two-dimensional” photographs a three-dimensional effect. We see traditional Japanese houses, primitive baskets and boats, but also works by architects such as Mies Van der Rohe and Gerrit Rietveld. Cornelis is openly critical about the exhibition. “I don’t know very well what to do with Gaudi, Le Corbusier or Aalto,” he declares.