Gerd Bulthaup

Statement of the jury

Gerd Bulthaup is such a brand- name entrepreneur. He stands in his showroom in Herrnstrasse in Munich, sporting a black jacket and open white shirt, his hair combined forward in a youthful style, and presents his world: On the wall is a series of coarse-grained black-and-white photographs of works by his heroes – the Katsura imperial villa outside Kyoto, Donald Judd’s farm in Marfa, Claus Herman’s house in Arhus, John Pawson’s church St. Moritz in Augsburg, or the house of the Maack family in Lüdenscheid. “Once I have walked the length of these walls with a visitor, then I will most likely have sold him a kitchen by the time we reach the end,” says a confident Bulthaup and smiles, as if he were surprised at the logic of what he has just uttered. Gerd Bulthaup is right. What we see hanging on the wall is the quintessence of his brand. The clarity of the aesthetics, the mystical, indeed religious quality of the presentation, the perfection of detail. This is a point where the visitor takes an oath – swears affinity to the brand, or he turns on his heel. The latter rarely occurs. Anyone who comes here into the bulthaup church has made up their mind. How did Gerd Bulthaup come to transform the kitchen into a church?