Anna Klingmann

Anna Klingmann

Anna Klingmann, SoHo NYC, 2010
Born 1965
Germany
Nationality German
Alma mater Berlin University of the Arts, Architectural Association School of Architecture, Pratt Institute
Occupation Architect
Practice Klingmann Architects and Brand Consultants
Projects Khawr Awqad, Mixed Use Community, Middle East, Esplanade, Middle East, World Coffee Natural Oasis, World Coffee Fellowship

Anna Klingmann (born 1965) is an architect and academic who specializes in branding. She is the founder and principal architect of Klingmann Architects and Brand Consultants, and author of Brandscapes: Architecture in the Experience Economy.

Education and early career

Anna Klingmann began her education in New York City in 1984 studying painting at the Arts Students League. In 1985 she enrolled in the Parson's School of Design where she earned an associate's degree in interior design. After working for several years in commercial interior design firms, she received a Fulbright Scholarship in 1991 and enrolled at the Pratt Institute, where she earned a bachelor's degree in architecture. She then went on to study urban planning in the master's program at the Architectural Association in London. In 1998 she registered with the Berliner Architektenkammer to become a licensed architect. In 2006 she received her PhD in architecture and marketing from the Berlin University of the Arts (UDK).

Klingmann's early academic career can be seen as a continual broadening of scope, working from the small scale of fine arts and interiors to the large scale of urban design. When she went on the write her thesis, she combined all of these fields to create an interdisciplinary look at architecture not as an isolated field of aesthetic study, but as an integral part of shaping the world in which we live. Connecting the study of architecture and branding, she examined the impact that architecture has on the identity of its location. In 2007 she expanded her thesis into the book Brandscapes: Architecture in the Experience Economy,[1] published by MIT Press. A second edition of the book was released in paperback in October, 2010.

While pursuing an academic career, she balanced the theoretical nature of her studies and research with solid experience in both commercial and critical architecture firms. She worked for commercial firms Rambush Associates and Pfieffer & Miro Associates in New York, and then for Zaha Hadid (1996) and Rem Koolhaas at OMA (1996–1998). Klingmann's goal is to unite disparate fields, to utilize both small and large scale practices, to join commercial and aesthetic interests, and to apply theory to practice.

Teaching and lectures

In 1998, Klingmann began to teach interdisciplinary seminars and design studios at various universities. Among others, she has taught at the UDK (1998–2001), Cornell University (2000–2003), Columbia University (2004), University of Pennsylvania (2004), and University of Texas, Austin (2008). Her classes usually combine architecture with other fields, like marketing or real estate, to connect the study of architecture with the commercial realities of practicing architecture.

She has also given lectures on brandism, authenticity in architecture, sustainable models of placemaking, and other topics at various institutions and conventions, such as Rhode Island School of Design, Harvard University, MIT, Cityscape, Bauhaus, Princeton, Venice Biennale, University of Naples, Ohio State University, and more.

Brandism series

In 2007, Klingmann organized and moderated a panel series on brandism held at the American Institute of Architects in New York. The series was designed to encourage candid discussion within the New York community about the recent trend in branding architecture and how architecture has come to expand two-dimensional logos into three-dimensional experiences. It featured six different panel discussions about branding and architecture, cutting across several fields. The topics were "Event as Brand", "Icon as Brand", "Strategy as Brand", "Signature as Brand", "Sustainability as Brand", and "Architecture/Identity/Community". Panelists featured Daniel Libeskind, Richard Meier, Bernard Tschumi and many more leaders in the field of architecture, branding, and real estate.

Theoretical position

Brandism

Brandism is a technique that connects architecture with branding in order to create a unique identity for a location, and thus increase the value of that location. With brandism, architects look at the culturally unique and interesting elements of a location and incorporate these elements into their design. The goal is to capture the inherent potential of the places and people and design a development that is not only aware of, but enhances the cultural growth of an area. In this way, the building becomes a symbol for the area. In aesthetics and use it represents the population and becomes a branded destination that attracts both local users and visitors, acting as a catalyst for growth and the improvement of urban districts.

A brand is a set of values associated with a product or service, and in the case of brandism, it is a set of values associated with the community and symbolized by architecture. The brandism technique is inside-out branding. It uses qualities already present in an area, and pulls them out, creating a brand for the area, unique to the location. Brands often have a homogenizing influence when they are used by major corporations to impose the corporation's brand identity on the community, but when used in the opposite way, brands can have a positive impact on the creation of an identity and community.

Brandscapes: Architecture in the Experience Economy

Brandscapes is a critical look at the combination of architecture and branding and the negative and positive outcomes of this combination. The book looks at a wide range of case studies, including Times Square, New York, Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, Disneyland, Niketown, and Las Vegas, to analyze how branding and architecture are used together. Klingmann analyzes the way branding can be used to create identity and be a catalyst for cultural and economic transformation, but also how this trend can result in homogenization and a "culture of copy." [2] Brandscapes discusses the new role of architecture not as an isolated, formal study, but as a connected and integral part of the global economy. Brandscapes is the culmination of Klingmann's academic research and has examples of her theories on brandism and sustainability.

Holistic sustainability

Holistic sustainability integrates four principles of development—social, cultural, environmental and economic—to create projects that work with, as well as within, an environment and lead to the growth of strong, integrated, healthy communities in every sense. This method goes beyond green building, to use environmental responsibility, social integration, cultural development, and economic growth in conjunction with each other so that a large scale, planned community can sustain itself over a long period of time and positively contribute to the global community.[3]

Klingmann Architects and Brand Consultants

In 2001, Klingmann founded her own architecture firm, Klingmann Architects and Brand Consultants. The firm puts Klingmann's theories into practice, using brandism and holistic sustainability to create a variety of architectural environments ranging from large-scale, mixed-use communities to residential interiors. Klingmann's most recent projects have been mixed use communities in emerging markets. These communities incorporate traditional architecture and culture in the modern, sustainable designs that promote economic growth as well as cultural and social development.

Selected projects

External links

References

  1. ↑ Anna Klingmann, Brandscapes: Architecture in the Experience Economy, MIT Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0262113038
  2. ↑ http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=12372
  3. ↑ http://klingmann.tumblr.com/post/815767018/what-is-holistic-sustainability
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