We warmly invite you to the opening of the exhibition PLATZ NEHMEN! by Moritz Holfelder on Tuesday, September 16, at 7pm at the Architekturgalerie München.

Speakers
Nicola Borgmann Architekturgalerie München
Moritz Holfelder Photographer

Chairs can be mass-produced objects or design icons, reflecting social status, craftsmanship, ergonomics, and creativity. In the end, a chair is always more than just a chair – it embodies a vision of society and a way of life: tell me how you sit, and I will tell you who you are.

In his photographic series PLATZ NEHMEN!, Moritz Holfelder shows a particular sensitivity for chairs. He photographs abandoned seating in natural and urban landscapes exactly as he finds them, letting them tell stories of presence and absence: Who once owned them? Who sat on them? What was thought, done, or spoken while seated? Why were they placed outdoors? Often they bear the marks of weathering or are already disintegrating. How long have they been standing or lying there?

Chairs speak of solitude as much as sociability, of resilience as much as impermanence, of construction as much as statics. The architect Peter Zumthor, a trained carpenter, once said: “Whoever can build a chair can also build a house.” It is therefore no surprise that many architects design furniture alongside their buildings. A chair is the smallest house that can be inhabited – the purest form of settlement.

The exhibition touches on all these aspects: slides of chairs on light tables, large-format photographs on the walls, and found objects installed in the space. Quotes from renowned architects orbit around the chair as a house en miniature, and the history of the exhibition venue at the Viktualienmarkt is evoked – a high-rise bunker that served as a chair storage facility after World War II. The program is complemented by two panel discussions with designers, architects, and manufacturers on the future of sitting.