Coop Himmelblau, also rendered Coop Himmelb(l)au, an avant-garde architecture firm that rose to prominence in the 1980s and ’90s. The two central members were Wolf D. Prix (b. December 13, 1942, Vienna, Austria) and Helmut Swiczinsky (b. January 13, 1944, Poznań, Poland).
Coop Himmelblau was founded in 1968 by Prix, Swiczinsky, and Rainer Michael Holzer; Holzer left the partnership in 1971. The firm’s name—German for “Blue-Sky Cooperative”—was a wordplay describing their efforts to “make architecture light and fluctuating like clouds.”
This European firm produces really cool designs. One of the most interesting buildings I have seen by these designers includes the Paneum, a four-story event and information center located in Asten Netherlands. This building is beautiful and funky. The top is meant to resemble kneaded bread, important to the owner’s company, and functions as the studio space. The bottom, visually symbolic of a bread box to me, holds the event rooms
The entire space is visually dynamic and very inviting. If I ever get the chance to visit the Netherlands, this futuristic Paneum is my first stop.
https://www.detail-online.com/article/a-whirlwind-of-a-museum-paneum-by-coop-himmelblau-31665/
https://www.britannica.com/topic/business-organization
http://www.coop-himmelblau.at/architecture/projects/wunderkammer-des-brotes
