The term "Luftschlösser” (pipe dreams) colloquially stands for designing bold, often unworkable plans that have little chance of realisation - "ūf den regenbogen būwen"1 (construction on a rainbow), but this is also precisely what the Austrian architects and artists' association Haus-Rucker-Co is known for, realising art and architecture, sculptures and installations in public spaces that are primarily utopian in nature, at the same time aiming to activate and expand the public's capacity for perception and experience. The group was founded in Vienna in 1967 by the architects Laurids Ortner (born 1941), Günter Zamp Kelp (born 1941) and Klaus Pinter (born 1940). In the early 70s, they opened studios in Düsseldorf and New York. New members, such as Manfred Ortner (born 1943) and Caroll Michels, soon joined the group. In 1977, the New York office shut down when Pinter and Michels pursued their own personal artistic practice. From 1987, Laudris and Manfred Ortner, as well as Zamp Kelp opened their own architectural practices. In 1992 Haus-Rucker-Co finally dissolved.
Most images of their work have become iconic, such as Oasis No. 7, an artistic contribution to documenta 5, 1972 installed on the exterior façade of the Fridericianum in Kassel. The synthetically created space invited visitors to ponder upon isolated perspectives of future developments in urban spaces. The focus is on the management of climate, which is indispensable for the human survival on the earth's surface. Ideas and constructions for small and large cathedral-like constructions, instruments of perception, transparent shells and roof gardens emerge, simulating artificial natural landscapes and opening up insights into possible alternative living spaces.
With his previously partly published and partly unpublished contributions in the book, Zamp Kelp allows a comprehensive overview from his own perspective into the world of Haus-Rucker-Co and beyond into his own practice. The texts provide information about ideas and important influences of thinkers and contemporaries; about his own fictions and designs as well as works of art and realised buildings. A chronology at the outer margins charts the major stages of his career. "Many ideas open many windows, they are the oxygen of life".2
1 Kluge, Friedrich: Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache. 25., durchgesehene und erweiterte Auflage. Berlin/Boston : de Gruyter, 2011, S. 586
2 Ludwig Engel im Gespräch mit Zamp Kelp. In: Luftschlosser. Leipzig : Spector Books, 2019, S. 198
