Coop Himmelblau designs each project based on a series of intense discussions, which eventually lead to the emergence of a sketch. This sketch, in turn, leads to a fully formed model. The team rarely alters the design from the initial sketch phase. Instead, they transfer it virtually line for line into a working drawing. The team attempts to generate asymmetrical structures that strive for freedom from the constrained formalism of a given style. They create "open-planned, open-minded, open-ended" designs, made up of complex, undefined spaces.

biography contributed to ArBITAT by Enzo

UFA Cinema Center
(1998) Dresden, Germany

The coolest movie theatre in Dresden, or possibly anywhere. The UFA Cinema Center includes a transparent glass lobby and a decidedly more solid piece that holds eight commercial movie theatres.

Click here to go to UFA Dresden site. Find out showtimes and prices for all your favorite German movies and at least a few pictures (under "Beschreibung des Hauses").

Groninger Museum East Pavilion
(1994) Groningen, Netherlands

Coop Himmelblau designed the East Pavilion, a piece of a larger museum designed by multiple architects (and whatever Phillipe Starck counts as) and the site of temporary museum exhibits. The buildings are dominated by large steel plates built by ship builders, a move that I'm sure went over really well with the local contractors.

Click here to go to Groninger Museum site. If you pick the full version, you should make sure that you like pop up windows. There are pictures and descriptions of all of the different architectural styles as well as everything else you'll need to know before planning a visit.

Gasometer B Apartments
(2001) Vienna, Austria

If you ever wanted to live inside a giant, abandoned gas tank, you probably would want to live in this one. Coop Himmelblau were one of four firms to convert four matching tanks into a different use, although their design (Gasometer B) looks like the most interesting one.

Click here to go to Gasometer site, an experience that is much more rewarding if you can read German.

ArBITAT FutureWatch

Soon Akron, Ohio will have something in common with Vienna and Dresden. Follow the progress of Coop Himmelblau's first American job at ArBITAT FutureWatch... (go to ArBITAT FutureWatch)