Artist Birthday: Jürgen Mayer

Jürgen Mayer is part of a generation of young 21st century architect/designers who create forms that respect the surrounding environment, as well as paying tribute to the history of the locale.

Artist Birthday for 30 October: Jürgen Mayer (born 1965 Germany)

Jürgen Mayer, for J. Mayer H. and Partners (1996-present, Berlin) Metropol Parisol, 2004-2011, Seville, Spain, wood with polyurethane coating, 26 x 150 x 70 meters Image: Les Nelken, © 2025 Davis Art Images (8s-30669)

By the late 1990s, the Plaza de la Encarnación, previously a market square, had fallen into disrepair. When the city decided to dig to build a new underground garage, ancient Roman and Nasrid Moorish ruins were discovered. Construction stopped and the city held a competition to come up with alternatives for the space. The plaza contains an archeological museum, farmer’s market, bars and restaurants, and all of that is unified by Metropol Parasol.

Inspired by the vaults of Seville’s Gothic cathedral, and the trees in the Plaza de la Encarnación, Mayer designed Metropol Parasol to simulate a grove a prefabricated wooden trees, aiming to provide shade and revitalize the square. Seville considers the structure to be the largest wooden one in the world. It features an innovative bonded timber construction with a polyurethane coating. The parasols grow out of the archeological excavations, and the entire structure is topped with a panorama terrace.

Background

Jürgen Mayer was born in Stuttgart, Germany. At age 16, he saw a photograph of the now-demolished Schocken department store in Stuttgart. Already interested in sculpture and installations that can be walked through and around, the photograph triggered in Mayer a keen interest to know more about architecture. He studied architecture at Stuttgart University, Cooper Union in New York, and Princeton University.

Mayer founded his own architecture firm J. Mayer H. in 1996 in Berlin, and it has since 2014 been known as J. Mayer H. and Partners. Mayer focuses on the intersection of architecture, communication, and new technology. His work is characterized by fragmentation and transformation, and a definite sense of sculptural form. Using two-dimensional patterns used in data protection as a point of departure, he infuses his designs, both sculptural and spatial with patterns that take on the function of graphic enclosure. Playfulness plays a part in how Mayer chooses patterns to be used in his art.

Correlations to Davis programs: Explorations in Art 2E, grade 1, 1.1; A Global Pursuit 2E, Unit 6 6.1; A Personal Journey 2E, Unit 8, 8.1