From the 1970s to the present day there is scarcely an architect who has produced such pioneering work as a creative explorer of limits, lateral thinker and stimulating inspirational figure than Hans Dieter Schaal. With a high level of professionalism Schaal has regularly provided us with essential food for thought and hypotheses as an architect, painter, sculptor, draughtsman, designer, garden and stage designer, Utopian, philosopher and author. His work has always been driven not by superficial effects, but by existential statement on what surrounds us in terms of facts and things that are concealed or suppressed. Schaal’s artistic statements have elicited responses at home and abroad and have influenced whole generations of younger designers to a considerable extent.