Silver Tower, Frankfurt/Main, 2009-11

The Silver Tower was the former headquarters of the now defunct Dresdner Bank in Frankfurt's financial district. Founded in 1872, it was one of Germany's largest banks. When the 166 meter high-rise building opened in 1978 it was the tallest building in Germany. The futuristic tower, with its aluminum façade, was designed by ABB architects and Otl Aicher. A central theme of rounded corners is repeated throughout the floor plan, the building, the windows, pillars, information signs, and so on. Matthias Hoch began to take photographs of the once state-of-the-art tower after the takeover by its competitor Commerzbank in 2009. In its deserted state he conducted a visual research of the vacant space, looking for the legacy of a bank: an empty safe, leather armchairs, marks on the carpet, inoperable network cables, the bank's logo on a windowpane. In lucid compositions Hoch exposes the building’s materials in all of their austere sensuality. The series consists of 45 photographs and is about the process of disappearance. It gives an insight into a closed system, which has expired. Exhibitions: Matthias Hoch, Silver Tower, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.staedtische-galerie-wolfsburg.de/ausstellungen/matthias-hoch/">Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg</a>, 19 January - 27 April 2014, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kunstmuseum-magdeburg.de/de/ausstellungen/aktuell.html">Kunstmuseum Magdeburg</a>, 19 January - 27 April 2014, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.museumkurhaus.de/de/7807.html">Museum Kurhaus Kleve</a>, 29 September - 24 November 2013. Publication: Matthias Hoch, Silver Tower, with texts by Harald Kunde, Andreas Maier, and Markus Weisbeck (German/English), 29x24 cm, 124 pages, softcover with flaps, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.spectorbooks.com/#silver-tower">Spector Books</a>, Leipzig 2013, ISBN 978-3-944669-01-4.