2G N.42 HildundK - Mechthild Stuhlmache, Mark Pimlott, Martin Tschanz

With its head office in Munich, the architecture studio HildundK, consisting of Andreas Hild and Dionys Ottl, bases its design activities as a whole on a single premise: to produce modern architecture without the latter entering into conflict with the urban setting, historical tradition, local craftsmanship and, of course, the needs of users. Its projects are articulated around three fundamental types of intervention. The first consists of taking some datum or other of the surroundings, in particular the city of Munich, its history and building tradition, as a point of departure. The resonance of the context enables their constructed buildings to have an evocative power that goes beyond the formal. In fact, theirs is a way of doing things that is deliberately at odds with the notion of form as a starting point. Secondly, they tackle the issue of ornamentation as a basic part of their project designs by linking it to the artisanal decorative traditions of the region. Lastly, and without losing a proximity to the simplicity of traditional buildings and their decoration, they incorporate a tremendous sensitivity towards materials and contemporary technical conditions. In the last analysis, HildundK hope their architecture is understood by its users, that its cultural contents communicate and connect the public with the discipline of architecture by providing a response to their requirements. To quote Mechthild Stuhlmacher, author of one of the introductory texts: ˇĄAndreas Hild and Dionys Ottl regard it as imperative to escape from an architectural discourse that is purely internal. In their view architecture must also be comprehensible to the layman if it is to survive as a discipline.