The Neufert Variations

Neufert was first published in Germany in 1936 and has since been released in numerous languages and updates. As a comprehensive architectural reference book, Neufert contains an enormous amount of functional and dimensional diagrams; how much space do you need for a handshake, what is the turning radius on semi-trailer, how do you organize a cemetery most effectively, and how to arrange two guest beds based on the relationship between the sleepers.

But Neufert also contains a large amount of meta information, such as a crash courses in architectural history and the psychology of perception, the art of holding a pencil properly, and instructions in negotiating contracts. In other words, Neufert could be seen as a complete guide to the world of the functionalist architect; avoiding design, only abstract diagrams focused on distilled functions. The book fits perfectly to the modernist ideology of creating the building inside and out, tailored around the function. Having spread successfully across the globe – it can probably be found in a majority of architects’ offices in the western world – it has nonetheless always been a source of criticism; its simplifications of man, its connection to Albert Speer, its scientific approach to the world. Nevertheless, it has been standing strong, both loved and hated, until today – when it is pushed aside in favour of increasingly specialized building legislation, digital databases, and new design paradigms.

The exhibition “The Neufert Variations” circles around Neufert, not biographically, but rather as a phenomenon within architecture culture. Through commissioned and historical works by architects and artists, we speculate around the book´s world of ideas, its history and creative potential. Topics include architects’ passionate love-hate relationship with rules and norms, the compromise as a negotiation between utopia and reality, as well as Neufert´s esoteric and fictional sides.