Grenzen (er) leben

The two-storey exhibition pavilion designed by Stuttgart-based Atelier Brückner stood on a platform in Lake Biel. It was intended to enable visitorsto experience borders, including those of spaces, in a new way. This intention was also to be reflected in the supporting structure planned by Werner Sobek.

Art Space with a New Type of Surface Covering

The upper part of the pavilion, the art room, rested on a forest of 84 wooden columns, each 4 m long. It formed a fluid boundary between inside and outside, between fixed and movable.

A new type of surface covering was developed especially for the art room, which has all the advantages of a technical fabric. In addition to its high load-bearing capacity, it is also highly resistant to weather and heat. The newly developed composite material is also translucent on the one hand and at the same time reflective to a certain degree.

This results in direction-dependent light behaviour: when light falls on it from the outside, it is reflective or mirror-like; when light falls on it from the inside, it is translucent and capable of rear projection.

Architecture
Atelier Brückner, Stuttgart/Germany

Planning time
2001 − 2002

Construction time
2002

Services by Werner Sobek

  • Structural engineering (WP 1 − 7 acc. to § 64 HOAI)
  • Facade engineering (WP 1 − 8 acc. to UBF)

Client
Interkantonale Trägerschaft „Grenzen (er)leben“/Switzerland

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