In this volume, Annett Zinsmeister brings together her photographs from an exhibition on
utopian building in the former GDR, two of her own essays, in which she outlines the intellectual
context of her project, a number of response essays from various critics on her artistic work, and
two excerpts from longer theoretical pieces by Wittgenstein and Barthes. The central word in the
book's title, Plattenbau, refers simultaneously to the technique of building with prefabricated
concrete slabs and panels, and to a building constructed in that way. The subtitle translates as 'the art of maintaining utopia within a construction set,' where 'Baukasten' can also refer to a set of building blocks.
The installation that prompted this publication was shown at the Karl Ernst Osthaus museum
in Hagen, Germany, in the international exhibition under the title 'Museutopia -- Schritte in andere Welten'. [steps into other worlds]. Zinsmeister was an artist of the exhibition, which also included works
by numerous other artists. Throughout the book, there are
many black-and-white shots of the art piece. On eighteen pages the reader can study excellent
color photographs depicting both the artistic work of Zinsmeister and the everyday architecture
of socialist Plattenbau. These juxtapositions repeat visually the basic tenet of the accompanying
texts and combine to create a rather convincing utopian project. As a whole, Zinsmeister's edited volume makes a coherent argument, despite the differences in both style and tone as found in the various contributions. In her re-assessment of the rich potential of normed building, Zinsmeister successfully dissociates the engineering and
physical side of building from the aesthetic and politico-socially committed power of
architecture.
Gerd Bayer
