Change of perspectives

The dream of owning one's own hotel, café or restaurant is an idea many architects and interior designers dally with. The desire to "do one's own thing", to give it a personal touch and to work in beautiful, self-designed interiors is certainly one reason – not to mention the role as host. We asked someone who had dared to take the plunge. In 2017, interior designer Doreen Ludwig from Stuttgart moved to the Allgäu region to open her organic guest house Goldvogel.

The architect and architectural theorist Dr Jana Revedin writes fascinating biographic novels. In 2018, Jeder hier nennt mich Frau Bauhaus: Das Leben der Ise Frank was published and, in 2020, Margherita, a book about her husband´s grandmother and the artistic renaissance of Venice. In the interview, she talks about the rediscovery of these strong women of the 1920s and 1930s, about Venice as her residence then and today and her work on the art patroness Eugenia Errázuriz scheduled to appear in August.

The longing for the countryside is as present as never before in times of ever greater urban challenges. Anja Kluge and Ingolf Gössel renovated the centuries-old Kienzlerhansenhof in the Black Forest in a manner befitting a listed building. The Stuttgart architects live and work there most of the year, cultivate the land around the farm and keep endangered animal species. How do the part-time farmers master the balance between architectural practice and farming, and what does their farm estate offer them?

Nadine Landuris has worked for 17 years as an employed and as a freelance interior designer in Munich. Her job took her to Berlin, Tokyo and Shanghai. Then the Munich resident by choice fulfilled her heart’s desire. She became an independent dog trainer and bellobravo! was founded. Her training grounds? Parks, flats, public spaces ... Nadine Landuris knows all about (large-city) neighbourhoods and their associated challenges, and she knows how important it is to look at each human-dog constellation closely and individually.

Architecture and catering: Janusch Munkwitz is passionate about both. Since 2007, he has been running his own restaurants, advising landlords and conceptualising and implementing catering and other projects on behalf of clients with his studio Supersupply. He is just as adept at temporary uses as he is at permanent ones. We wanted to know: What are the key factors in the catering industry today? What does it take to be successful? How do interim solutions work? And which locations appeal to him? Insights from 14 years of experience ...

She is a writer, illustrator and painter. Annette Roeder, who completed a degree in architecture, has long since found her calling. The author and mother of three, who lives south of Munich, has already published more than 30 children’s books, series, non-fiction books on art and architecture as well as novels for adults. In this interview, Annette Roeder reveals the freedoms that this desired profession opens up for her and the overlaps between books and architecture.

Stuttgart-based architect Ruth Schagemann has been involved in national and international vocational politics since 2013. She was initially active in the Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Architects (AKBW) for ten years. Since the beginning of 2023, she has been representing the interests of the members of the Federal Chamber of Architects (BAK) in Europe in the EU liaison office in Brussels. We asked Ruth Schagemann about her diverse tasks – in her role for the BAK and as honorary president of the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE).

Yadegar Asisi’s 360° panoramas immerse in magnificent worlds, spatially, visually, acoustically, sensually and physically. For 30 years, the architect/artist has been creating experiential spaces allowing the public to discover historically relevant urban and natural spaces as well as art epochs – Rome in 312, Dresden during the Baroque era, Pergamon, Everest, Amazonia, Great Barrier Reef. In this interview, the Berliner-by-choice with Persian roots explains how complex his projects are as to research and implementation.

DOMpublishers publish books for interior designers and architects. They are “books made by architects”. In 2005, Berlin-based architect couple Dr Natascha and Dr Philipp Meuser founded their publishing house, which today offers an incredible range of (interior) architecture and urban design publications worldwide. Their logo? A play on letters! The supposed “A” is a Cyrillic “D”. It stands for dom, the root word for “house” in almost all European languages, and DOM publishers stand for “A” – architectural topics.

Whether walkable nets in the Grindelwald Gorge, in the NRW Art Collection and at Singapore Changi Airport, whether fall protection, animal enclosures, ball catch nets for sports or suicide prevention measures at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco – Thomas Ferwagner and MSIng officium design, plan and implement rope and net constructions worldwide. The Stuttgart-based architect tells AIT about the exciting work in this niche.

Gertrud Louise Goldschmidt (1912–1994) studied architecture in Stuttgart with Paul Bonatz. As a Jewess, she was forced to go into exile in 1938. In Venezuela, she subsequently became an artist under the pseudonym Gego. “In her lifetime, she was well known by everyone in North- and in South America”, Stefanie Reisinger claims. The art historian has done research on Gego and curated the exhibition at the Stuttgart Kunstmuseumdedicated to her.We asked her about Gego’s life and work and her intertwining of art and architecture.

The profession of goldsmith is one of the oldest professions in the metal trade. The architect couple Antonia Frey-Vorhammer and Simon Vorhammer from Munich have reinterpreted gold jewellery for the twenty-first century. In a digital design process, based on algorithms, they create complex, delicate, three-dimensional structures. In the following interview, the two founders of the label Sian Design explain how they create their earrings, rings, bracelets and necklaces.

In October, the Hermann Schmidt publisherwill be able to celebrate its 30th anniversary! Together with her husband, the typographer Bertram Schmidt-Friderichs, the architect Karin Schmidt-Friderichs has established the small but fine specialist publisher inMainzwith expertise for high-quality works focussed on typography and graphics. In addition, the successful businesswoman is the head of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels. How did she manage this successful change from architecture to the book sector?

Der libanesische Architekt Jad El Khoury arbeitet seit 2015 als Künstler und studiert derzeit Art and Public Space in Oslo. Er erfand die Figur Potato Nose und machte mit seiner Fassadenkunst auf die Kriegsschäden in seiner Heimat Beirut aufmerksam. In seinen Arbeiten mit verlassenen und zerstörten Häusern zeigt sich seine nach wie vor hohe Affinität zum Thema Architektur. Jad El Khourys Popularität in der Urban-Art-Szene mündete auch in eine Kooperation mit dem kunstaffinen Schweizer Uhrenlabel Swatch.

kundschafter is the name of the school-satchel manufactory which Ilka Koss and Arp Dinkelaker jointly operate in Berlin. In its manufactory at Helmholtzplatz, the architect couple creates simple, lightweight, sustainable, self-sewn satchels. In 2004, the enterprise started in parallel; since 2016, they have been concentrating on their independence as satchel makers. The demand is strong! We asked Arp Dinkelaker to tell us how everything started, how they developed kundschafter and what all of it has to do with architecture.

In autumn, Myriam Kunz can pop the corks. This is because her Buchstäbchen bookstore for children’s and adolescents’ books in Stuttgart-West celebrates its fourth anniversary. For 15 years she had been successfully working as an interior designer, then the mother of two daughters changed the metier. When it comes to designing, she is still able to optimally express herself in her world of books. Buchstäbchen is one of those individual stores that enrich the cultural life of the city district.

Aleksandra Gleich is a lawyer and an architect at the same time and therefore has an extraordinary profile. She is versed in the language of the architects, has practical experience and advises architects just as well as private building clients and public authorities in matters concerning construction law. In this interview, the freelance architect and head of the Gleich law office in Mannheim explains how she combines her two professions for the benefit of her clients.

With his works, Karl-Heinz Bogner deliberately places himself at the interface of art and architecture. The freelance artist had originally studied art and design. “Space” is his primary topic: His objects have the appearance of architectural models and his drawings and paintings remind of fragments derived from architectural structures. Besides other venues, his works have been displayed in the Aedes Architecture Forum Berlin, Raumgalerie Stuttgart as well as the Forum Kunst & Architektur in Essen.

Felicitas Seidler studied architecture and afterwards – right, in that order! – completed an apprenticeship to become a goldsmith. In 2006, she founded her own Felicious jewellery label in Berlin. The architectural imprint can be clearly seen in her jewellery series. In this interview, Felicitas Seidler explains why this path was the right one for her, what it takes to be successful as a jewelry designer, and why she is not interested in growth at any price.