The leafy atriums of the LAC, with their plants originating from various climate zones, find a perfect complement in Michael Beutler's "Aluminum Pagoda".

Beutler translated the principle of the pagoda – a building with a square floor plan and a round hemisphere, crowned by many eaves or roofs – into a tower of various garden sheds, which, like the gardens, symbolize the various architectural styles around the world.

Made on site

Made of sheet aluminum on site, the pagoda tells the story of the process of its creation, one which is deliberately manual. Beutler chose a strength of the hardened aluminum that is also used in aircraft construction, which meant that he could cut it with a simple cutter and then use squarewood to make it into quadrangular struts, which he then used to stack and insert into different forms. Because the material is wrapped around the wood in several layers, their diameters and volumes differ slightly, and the pagoda looks like something artificially produced yet naturally evolved. It shines in the light and embodies the principle of serenity that is also attributed to the classical pagoda which is meant to be a visualization of the cyclical world view of Buddhism. 


Michael Beutler

born in Oldenburg in 1976
lives in Berlin

  • 2001 New Heimat, Frankfurter Kunstverein
  • 2002 Wiener Secession
  • 2003 Total motiviert - ein soziokulturelles Manöver, Kunstverein München
  • 2004 Frankfurter Kunstverein
  • 2005 Sprengel Museum Hannover
  • 2006 Housewarming, Swiss Institute, New York
  • 2007 Portikus, Frankfurt
  • 2008 Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm
  • 2009 Fortino 1 Project - Fondazione Brodbeck, Catania
  • 2010 Galerie Bärbel Grässlin, Frankfurt
  • 2011 Singapore Biennale 2011, Singapore Biennale
  • 2012 Das Atelier, Orte der Produktion, Kunstmuseum Luzern
  • 2013 Galerie Nagel Draxler, Berlin
  • 2014 Haus Beutler, Umfangreiche Überblicksausstellung, Bielefelder Kunstverein
  • 2015 Moby Dick, Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin