"Light Art-In-Architecture" for Helmholtz Munich Conference Center
The artwork "Auf den Schultern von Riesen" (Standing on the shoulders of giants) by Heike Weber and Walter Eul will illuminate the tower of the future conference center on Neuherberg Campus. The artist duo made first place in the competition "Light Art-In-Architecture" out of a total of 145 applicants.
The competition "Light Art-In-Architecture" aimed to create artwork for the interior of the future Helmholtz Munich conference center, in particular the tower of the building.
The artists participating were assigned to engage with the spatial, architectural and social dimensions of the site and to incorporate the use of the building and its particular architecture and history in their designs. The artwork is to be created specifically for this place and the task set, with special consideration to the dimension of light. All contemporary art forms were conceivable, as long as they created a multi-sensory and tangible composition.
A selection committee chose five final artworks from 145 entries submitted. In the subsequent selection process, anonymous from then on, a jury of experts unanimously chose the artwork "Auf den Schultern von Riesen" (Standing on the shoulders of giants) by Heike Weber and Walter Eul to be the winner.
How does the winner artwork look like and what does it stand for?
A sphere consisting of 812 colored glasses hanging centrally in the tower symbolizes the interaction between man and its environment. Each individual glass element forms and reflects the total and therefore only is a small part and a crucial element at the same time. On each individual glass plate, the name of a philosopher or a scientist will be engraved, highlighting the whole concept. Each individual glass element influences and changes the appearance of the total sphere and interacts with the surrounding walls of the tower by throwing colored shadows and light reflections.
What is “Percent for art”?
As early as 1950, the German Bundestag stipulated that a fixed percentage of the construction sum for all federal buildings have to be used for Art-In-Architecture. <link www.bbr.bund.de/BBR/DE/KunstamBau/kunstambau_node.html - extern>Art-In-Architecture </link>therefore officially is part of all federal funded constructions. In this context, the artwork should "form an independent artistic contribution to the finished construction that establishes a relationship to the architecture or the function of the construction." For this purpose, the federal government regularly invites to Art-In-Architecture tenders, which may be open or partly restricted.
Here is an overview of the final round artists and their works:
- Walter Eul & Heike Weber "Auf den Schultern von Riesen":https://hmgubox.helmholtz-muenchen.de/d/6a1f4d11a6054115b54d/
- Susanne Rottenbacher "Hyparkristall":https://hmgubox.helmholtz-muenchen.de/d/004b305245fc40cb831d/
- The Green Eyl "In the Beginning":https://hmgubox.helmholtz-muenchen.de/d/83705e05c84f4ce0b7ca/
- Zora Kreuzer "Colour Grid":https://hmgubox.helmholtz-muenchen.de/d/a90b5787ee1c407eb4b2/
- Robert Patz & Robert Seidel "Iteration":https://hmgubox.helmholtz-muenchen.de/d/2db3f66544094fb7a5a8/