In February 2018 the concept “Häuser bauen” (Building Houses) was submitted as a competition entry for a public square in Neu-Isenburg near Frankfurt. The occasion for the competition was the 300th anniversary of the death of Count Johann Philipp zu Ysenburg-Büdingen, the founder of the town, who enabled Huguenot immigrants to settle. The intention is to highlight this aspect of the town’s history, in connection with migration and integration, by means of an art object.
development
of the stelae
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(individual pair and
overall arrangement)
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chamfered
steel U-profiles
18-01-003
“It is good for us to be here: let us make here tabernacles.” This biblical initiative also applies to Neu-Isenburg. The foundation of the town is a historical example for a culture of welcoming immigrants. That is why the icon of the tabernacle – the archetype of the tabernacle – is the basic form for the Building Houses concept. The ur-form of the tabernacle is made abstract, dramatic and heroic. It becomes a monument in that it forms a tall, slender stela. This generates a landmark and at the same time a module for a sculptural ensemble. The stela is a vertical axis that draws attention to the place, emphasises the place and takes possession of the place. A vision, a claim, a future are given a location. The stela becomes a body of walls. It forms the walls of a dwelling. The walls enclose a space from three sides and suggest shelter. The fourth side remains open. This reveals the process of enclosing and thus also the process of becoming and of building. Openness is at the same time an attitude: the traditional, historically evolved openness of the town towards diversity of origin and religion. The three-walled stela is repeated in mirrored reversal. These two stelae form the symmetry of a gable wall. The archetype of the tabernacle generates the archetype of the house. The two stelae make up a pair that belong together and relate to one another. By keeping a distance and being placed apart with spatial depth, they convey a process: the process of joining, of extending, of planning and ultimately of building a town. From this arises the principle of settlement. To reinforce this principle, an ensemble consisting of several pairs of stelae is installed. Four pairs of stelae are “scattered” in a free sequence like the casting of seed by a sower. In this way the settlement of Neu-Isenburg resembles a seed that germinates and puts down roots.
of Neu-Ienburg
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of the stelae
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in the public space
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Building Houses is not only a sculptural concept; it is above all a painterly concept. The pairs of stelae are similar in form but distinct in their colour positioning. Colour contrasts within individual stelae dissolve the form and at the same time build bridges to neighbouring forms. The colour thus counteracts the character of a solitaire. De facto the stelae may be individual elements, yet in subjective perception there arises a complex whole from which, depending on the viewpoint of the beholder, individual elements emerge again and again. The colour values and the proportional weighting of colours are derived from the coat of arms of Neu-Isenburg. The Neu-Isenburg colours are not overlaid and underlaid as in the municipal coat of arms, but co-exist collectively in accordance with the artistic idea
(photomontage)
18-01-013
(photomontage)
18-01-014
(photomontage)
18-01-015
(photomontage)
18-01-016
(photomontage)
18-01-017
(photomontage)
18-01-018
Building Houses is a concept that relates closely to the history and identity of Neu-Isenburg. This identity is lived by the citizens of Neu-Isenburg. For this reason, the population is involved in the concept. The people of Neu-Isenburg take over the final design of the object from the initiator like the passing of a baton in a relay.
option 1
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option 2
18-01-020
option 3
18-01-021
The art object provides the answer to a question: What is Neu-Isenburg? As the four pairs of stelae are proposed and realised by the initiator, they represent a possible formulation of this answer. The residents of Neu-Isenburg can (and should) reformulate and change this answer again and again through design interventions and additions to the object. In this way a series of temporary art installations is made as their own creation.