Tony Cragg #2

Universität der Künste, Neubau Atelier Tony Cragg, Entwurf: Studenten der UdK, 2001/2002.

Ein Atelierbau mit Stahlbetonkern und Titanzinkfassade, räumlich gegeneinander verkantet, bildet einen spektaulären Arbeitsraum für Tony Cragg und seine Studenten. (bron: Architekturbüro Engelbrecht)

"Mr Cragg's studio was built in the 1920s as a garage for repairing tanks and other military vehicles. Renovated eight years ago by Rudolf Hoppe, a local architect, the studio includes several glorious rooms with a 22-foot-high ceiling and a wall of windows. It also comprises some well-dressed office spaces and a few grim industrial workshops containing large-scale equipment and air-filtration systems for the heavier side of manufacturing sculptures. Echoing the sculptor's appetite for experimenting with materials, the building is made from an eclectic range of stone, wood, steel and glass.
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As Mr Cragg gives a tour of the studio, he notices two of his craftsmen lying on lounge chairs outside in the sun. “Shall I bring you a cocktail?” he hollers. The men laugh. His staff consists of some 20 full-time workers—five administrative assistants and 15 skilled tradesmen, including carpenters, industrial model-makers and ceramists. Mr Cragg concocts the sculptures through drawings and his staff help transform them into three-dimensional objects. “What we do here is very hard work,” he explains. “Tough, loud, dirty work. They can take a break whenever they want.” On the wall of the largest studio hangs a large flat-screen television, installed during the European Cup final two years ago. His international staff likes to bet on the games. The lingua franca of the studio is German; even the Brit converses with the Irishman in Deutsch.
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Mr Cragg's studio is strictly top down. “I wouldn't know what to collaborate on,” he explains. His “left-hand man” is John McCormack. For 16 years Mr McCormack has liaised with the foundries that make the bronze and stainless-steel works and overseen installation in museums and galleries around the world. “I'd have a high regard for his opinion, but I don't want to know it because I don't want to be interfered with on that level,” admits Mr Cragg. “I just want to get on with following my own thoughts.” His staff seems content with this. When asked to name the best thing about working for Mr Cragg, one of the carpenters says in broken English, “We make stuff that no one else can make—the stuff that Tony has growing in his head.”
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Mr Cragg is adamant that his studio is not a factory. His staff could be making something entirely different in three months. “They have to be adventurers,” he says. “We don't design things!” He produces about a dozen new works a year...." (bron: The Economist, foto: Tony Cragg)