Up in the clouds with COOP HIMMELB(L)AU September 29, 2008

Wolf D Prix is the charismatic face of COOP HIMMELB(L)AU, an Austrian architecture firm that base their ethos on gravity defying forms and have created such enigmatic designs as the BMW Welt in Munich. For this year's exhibition "Out There" Prix revisited an earlier idea from 1969, "Astroballon" and has built a large cloud-like space that amplifies two human heartbeats in real time, a cloud that connects two bodies as one. In our interview, Prix displays why he has come to be known as the Rocker of the architecture scene, addressing the syndrome of the bland "decaf architecture", the limits of the computer and urging architects to carry on provoking. In his own words - "Architecture must burn!". Language: English