Zamp Kelp: Prospector

An insider account of Haus-Rucker-Co’s futuristic and utopian architectural visions, from miniature cities made of bread to suspended PVC bubbles

In 1967, Austrian architect Günter Zamp Kelp (born 1941) founded Haus-Rucker-Co with fellow architects Laurids Ortner and Klaus Pinter, forming what would become one of the most legendary artists’ collectives of the 1960s. From their earliest projects, such as 1971’s Food City, which reproduced downtown Minneapolis in miniature out of bread and vegetables, Zamp Kelp and his colleagues have endeavored to move architecture beyond form and function into the psychophysical dimension. This text examines Zamp Kelp’s career through studies of his performances, objects and architectural projects that illuminate his futuristic, sci-fi approach to design. Prospector compiles selections from the Zamp Kelp archive, contextualizing photography and text with collages, drawings and other ephemera. Biographical notes are presented alongside essays, some previously unpublished, that explore the subjects at the core of Zamp Kelp’s work: architecture, landscape, space and virtuality.