Chemnitz market fountain: The process
The international competition is organised in two stages. Firstly, participating designers and artists should describe their ideas in an anonymous public competition with sketches and the materials and technical components to be used. The spatial situation and the height relationships to the surroundings must also be graphically illustrated. References from previously realised projects in public spaces should support the jury in its selection.
From all the designs submitted, the jury will select seven to a maximum of nine ideas to take part in the second stage of the competition. In the second stage, the artists submit a 1:20 scale model, explain their design with drawings and descriptions and provide information on the possible staging with colours, light and sound. A detailed cost estimate is also included.
The task
The city wants its market fountain to be a public place where people enjoy meeting and socialising. It should be a point of attraction in the city centre and invite people to linger. In their designs, the designers should utilise water as a moving and dynamic element, thus creating a field of tension between the flowing element and the static nature of the surrounding buildings. The market fountain should be interesting as well as striking and unmistakable, according to the defined requirements of the tender. And, of course, the city is hoping for fountain designs with a connection to Chemnitz, which draws its development from its industrial tradition and modernity. The contemporary designs should create an area of tension between the past and the future and thus create an identity that does justice to the guiding principle of the "City of Modernity".
The jurors
The jury consists of seven renowned expert judges, including form designer Karl Clauss Dietel, Susanne Altmann, art historian and freelance curator and publicist in Dresden, Prof. Else Gabriel, Professor of Fine Arts and Sculpture at the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art. There will also be other judges. more
The location
In their proposals, the designers must take into account that the location of the Chemnitz market fountain has been fixed since 1998. The technical requirements for its realisation are already in place. In 1998, there was a competition to redesign the market square. The competition winner, WES & Partner from Hamburg, deliberately chose a location for the fountain that was distanced from the town hall and justified this as follows: "The historic town hall and the Siegert'sche Haus are the only historic buildings within the current boundaries of the square. The fountain was not intended to be associated with these buildings. Rather, the intention was to find a location that would give the square a calm centre." In future, the fountain will intersect the visual connections between Bretgasse and the Old Town Hall passageway as well as between Straße der Nationen and Rosenhof. The water feature will attract the attention of passers-by from a distance.
Prizes awarded after second phase
The entries for the second stage of the competition are due to be received by the City of Chemnitz on 29 April 2019. The jury's work will then begin. Three prize winners will be selected, which will only be published once the process has been completed. In addition to the prize money, the first prize will be awarded the contract to realise the Chemnitz market fountain. The 1st prize is endowed with 15,000 euros. The 2nd prize will be honoured with 6,000 euros and the 3rd prize with 4,000 euros. The jury's decision will be made by mid-June 2019.