The Architects
2019 · recycled concrete, white cement
Small Foyer, Ground Floor
permanent
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| Admission free |
| No language skills required |
| Accessible for wheelchairs |
Names like Konrad, Andreas, Heinz or Franco can be deciphered from the unbroken chain of letters. They surround the foyer of the event rooms on the ground floor in a narrow, all-round frieze. 110 capital letters show the first names of the architects and master builders, who in previous centuries built and operated on this site: from the construction of the Renaissance Palace under Konrad Krebs, the Baroque transformation by Andreas Schlüter, the erection of the Palace of the Republic under Heinz Graffunder to the partial reconstruction of the Berlin Palace as the Humboldt Forum under Franco Stella.
Dellbrügge & de Moll have designed the freeze in a clear sans serif typeface, emphasising the rational architecture of Franco Stella. The material also creates references to the site. The concrete used for the letters was made from the ground-up rubble of the Palace of the Republic. The artist duo recycled it for the artwork.
“In its entirety, the work is convincing and impressive,” writes the prize committee in its assessment. “The names both reflect the history of the building and also open it up. The work emancipates itself from the architectural history through the reinterpretation of names from the chain of letters. Thus the hierarchy between architects and visitors is called into question. The latter can recognise themselves in the names. Independent thinking is stimulated.”
BBR-WB Art in Architecture, Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss, artwork location: foyer to the Auditorium – extract from the written assessment of the prize committee, dated 7 August 2018.