Juergen Teller: Plumtree Court

Description

This book traces the five-year construction of Plumtree Court, Goldman Sachs' new headquarters in Central London, through Juergen Teller's inimitable vision. Teller relished immersing himself in such a long-term project, one thrillingly different to the fashion world he knows so well. From the rising walls of reinforced concrete and lattices of scaffolding, to the sparkling glass facades and gleaming interiors of the finished building, Teller became obsessed with recording intricate details within the larger shifting context: "I liked the diggers, cranes, cables, concrete and dirt. Not in a macho or childish way, but appreciating how all this construction work produces such a beautiful mess." The project allowed Teller to draw on his own past experiences of collaborating with architects-with David Adjaye, who built his home (as well as the auditorium at Plumtree Court), and with 6a architects, who built his studio. His juxtaposition of final photos and collages throughout the book-seen here for the first time in his work-embodies the contrasts between past and present, order and chaos, architectural forms and the surrounding cityscape. All my life I thought I would never work for a bank. And here I am. - Juergen Teller

Juergen Teller, born in Erlangen, Germany, in 1964, studied at the Bayerische Staatslehranstalt fur Photographie in Munich. His work has been published in influential magazines such as Vogue, System, i-D, POP and Arena Homme+, and has been the subject of solo exhibitions including those at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in Paris and Martin-GropiusBau in Berlin. Teller won the prestigious Citibank Photography Prize in 2003, and from 2014 to 2019 held a professorship at the Akademie der Bildenden Kunste Nurnberg. His books with Steidl include Louis XV (2005), Marc Jacobs Advertising, 1998-2009 (2009), Siegerflieger (2015), The Master IV (2019) and Handbags (2019).

This book traces the five-year construction of Plumtree Court, Goldman Sachs' new headquarters in Central London [...] Teller became obsessed with recording intricate details within the larger shifting context: "I liked the diggers, cranes, cables, concrete and dirt. Not in a macho or childish way, but appreciating how all this construction work produces such a beautiful mess."--Editors "Art Daily News"