Bittermann & Duka
ALLOTMENT BUILDINGS
Cut out of a colony of summer houses, the wind-bent hut stands in an imaginary row of middle-class Robinsonesque shacks. As is to be expected of Mr Crusoe and Mr Schreber we also find a primitive hut of fragile simplicity here. With a densitiy of viewpoints, however, which can only be construed from outside. Eight curtained windows, two closed doors, a canopied porch, two sun shades, two unusually long balconies, a strikingly pointed roof, an enormous chimney - every proportion is so contorted that it hardly seems posssible to imagine the interior. The accessories markedly suggest a great deal of warmth. Sometimes one can feel the effect of a scorching sun demanding a range of protective measures, at other times the anticipation of a frosty winter which can only be encountered with an enormous chimney.
The composition of every detail is perfectly balanced when considered in a non-functional way and the fenced hut becomes a well-constructed image - an emblem of a 'panorama-rich' retreat. However, when seen functionally the hut is a sculptural ensemble the inhabitability of which is obvious. Everything seems to point to a conspiratorial situation - as if the hut was only a camouflaged entrance to an underground forger's workshop, as if its harmless appearance was supposed to distract attention from something far more sensational.
