For Manfred and Laurids Ortner, art is an integral part of architecture. The new monograph on O&O Baukunst published by Hatje Cantz illustrates what this means.
Isabella Marboe, genau!
O&O Baukunst. 2012-2024, Texts: O&O, introduction: Patricia Grzonka, Design: Heimann & Schwantes, 328 pages, English/German, Hatje Cantz, Berlin 2025, ISBN:978-3-7757-6135-2 → order now
Studio monographs are a category unto themselves; the standards are high and the issues complex. What time period is appropriate for the book’s documentation? Which paper, printing method and binding style reflect the studio’s identity? And, perhaps even more importantly: what does it cost to produce the book?
Wohnhaus Leyserstraße Wien, © David Schreyer
Classic qualities
Geisberg Berlin, © Schnepp Renou
From Haus-Rucker-Co to O&O
The two founders of the practice, the brothers Manfred and Laurids Ortner, are among the most colourful figures in recent architectural history. Under the label Haus-Rucker-Co, together with Günter Zamp Kelp and Klaus Pinter, they shook the very foundations of established architectural concepts from the late 1960s until 1992 with a refreshingly humorous brand of actionism. In installations that now seem retrospectively visionary, they addressed themes relevant even then and to this day—such as the constant expansion of human consciousness, air pollution, ecology and flexibility—and, in doing so, also built up a veritable international artistic career.
Museumsquartier Libelle Wien, © DroneProject Robert Smely / O&O Baukunst
Art and architecture
In 1987, they established their own independent architectural practices, remaining true to their fundamental conceptual approach. Their built projects, too, were continually developed through the interplay of art and architecture. Vienna owes them the Museumsquartier (2001), the original design of which – featuring a reading tower – came under fierce criticism at the time. Ultimately, the design was scrapped; Ortner & Ortner set the three art buildings – the classically styled limestone cube of the Leopold Museum, the Kunsthalle developed with Manfred Wehdorn, and the dark MUMOK – like gems within the framework of the former imperial stables. In 2020, O&O Baukunst placed a very light-footed, elegant pavilion, resembling a dragonfly, on the flat roof of the Leopold. Laurids Ortner designed the amoeboid-shaped building, which Brigitte Kowanz crowned with three circles of light. The façade was designed by Eva Schlegel; a lift allows visitors to ascend to the terrace without having to purchase anything. A noteworthy detail on the side: the Leopold Museum is already a listed building, so O&O Baukunst have effectively added a new listed structure to their own. The Dragonfly is one of 31 projects realised between 2012 and 2024 featured in the monograph.
Hochschule für Schauspielkunst, Ernst Busch Berlin, © Schnepp Renou
Understatement
The book is based on the decision to include all the buildings completed in recent years in their entirety and without filtering, writes Patricia Grzonka in her foreword. Competitions and design sketches have been deliberately excluded; the finished projects speak for themselves. “These more than ten years tell the story of the transformation of an ambitious and dedicated architectural practice into a transnational firm, whose core activities include the execution of impressive large-scale construction projects.”
Hotel am Kanzleramt Berlin, © Stefan Müller
Granary in Duisburg
One of the most impressive projects is the North Rhine-Westphalia State Archive in Duisburg, an iconic building of rare radicalism. It is housed in a listed grain silo dating from the 1930s, from the centre of which O&O have created a 76-metre-high archive tower. An archive does not require light, which is why the tower – built of red brick – has no windows. With its gabled roof, it echoes the roofs of the existing building and the archetype of a house.
Wohnhochhaus Schwedler Carré Frankfurt, © Marcus Bredt
The collage technique
“Collage is an artistic method that has something to do with artistic radicalism and which can also be painful,” says Roland Duda, explaining the design process. This seems to be particularly evident at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. Here, a renovated historic building has been cut open at the front to create a docking point for the timber-clad, 24-metre-high stage tower. Opposite, a glass canteen block has been pushed up against the existing building. The juxtaposition of the raw and the refined, the old and the new, is evident in a line running through the entire building at a height of 2.30 metres. All surfaces below this line are finished, whilst those above remain raw.
This article by Isabella Marboe was first published by our partner genau !
O&O Baukunst. 2012-2024,
Texte: O&O, Introduction: Patricia Grzonka
Design: Heimann & Schwantes
328 pages, Hardcover, 250 x 330 mm
Hatje Cantz, Berlin 2025
ISBN:978-3-7757-6135-2
