The peaceful monolithic language of Chipperfield's architecture is
evidenced in his design for the third and final building in a complex
for the German clothing retailer Ernsting. Chipperfield's building
stands on a greenfield site in the small town of Coesfeld-Lette, just
west of Münster; its companions are two distribution centers built in
the late 1990s by Fabio Reinhardt and Bruno Reichlin with Santiago
Calatrava, and by Shilling Architects. Chipperfield's structure
completes the Ernsting compound and provides office space for business
and retail managers as well as a Research & Development department.
Christian Richters' and Edmund Sumner's photographs of Chipperfield's
architecture reveal its harmonious relationship with the organic curves
of Peter Wirtz's landscape design, while Jay Wolke's photographic
studies of the workplace illustrate the highly successful collaboration
between client and architect that created a freedom-filled place for
Ernsting's employees to think and work.