Rob Krier, Figures

In his contribution to the European Embankment project in St.
Petersburg, Krier recently demonstrated the power of architecture
and fine art to cross-fertilise. The architects in charge of the urban
development of this district are Sergei Tchoban and Evgeny Gerasimov.
Krier designed the façade for a 132-metres long building on
the Newa riverbank - one that looks across the water onto the
rear façade of the Hermitage. The vibrancy of the architecture is
enhanced by its sculptural ornamentation based on the Balzac
theme, 'The Human Comedy'. In this regard, Krier modelled more
than 50 figures in white clay, as well as around 65 linear metres of
reliefs. The short poems that comment on the sculptures also centre
on the theme of mankind and its interrelationships in society.
Born and raised in Luxembourg, Krier moved to Vienna after having
studied in Munich and worked for Oswald Mathias Ungers and
Frei Otto. After teaching posts in Stuttgart and Lausanne, he was
a professor at the Technische Universität in Vienna from 1976 to
1998 and, in 1986, held a guest professorship at Yale University in
New Haven, Mass. Krier has developed urban-design concepts for
Stuttgart, Vienna, Berlin, Amiens, Montpellier, Leeds, Gothenburg,
Lodz, Amsterdam, Den Haag and many other cities. Projects with
which he was first able to translate his vision of a spatial concept,
such as Rauchstrasse in Berlin, Breitenfurterstrasse in Vienna or
Ritterstrasse with Schinkelplatz in Berlin, repeatedly found their
place in international publications.