Competition for the market fountain
Exhibition of the finalists I Public discussion round on 3 June
From Saturday 25 May to Friday 28 June, nine models of what the future market fountain could look like will be on display in the Chemnitz Art Collections. These are the designs of the finalists of the artistic competition organised by the city. The models can be seen in the exhibition on a scale of 1:20.
The exhibition of the market fountain designs can be viewed during the opening hours of the art collections: Tuesday, Thursday to Sunday, public holidays 11am to 6pm, Wednesday 2pm to 9pm. It will also be open on 27 May 2019 from 11 am to 6 pm. Admission is free.
A jury consisting of art historian Susanne Altmann, Professor of Fine Arts and Sculpture Else Gabriel, form designer Prof. Karl Clauss Dietel, the landscape architect Stefan Leiste, the professor of surface design Jörg Steinbach, the rector of the Dresden University of Fine Arts Matthias Flügge and the Director of the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz Frédéric Bußmann, together with six other judges, selected the works of the nine international artists from 114 entries.
The jury will make its decision on the placings independently and confidently on 5 June 2019 based on professional and factual considerations. The winning design will be built. A budget of 450,000 euros has been earmarked for this. Construction of the fountain is scheduled to begin in 2020.
The market fountain should be a centre of attraction and invite people to linger. In their designs, designers should utilise water as a moving and animated element, creating a tension between the flowing and the static. The water feature is to be erected at Bretgasse level. An area measuring 14 by 9 metres is available for this purpose. In their proposals, the designers had to take into account the fact that the location of the Chemnitz market fountain has been established since 1998 and that the technical requirements are in place. In 1998, a competition was held to redesign the market square. The winner of the competition, WES & Partner from Hamburg, deliberately chose the location of the fountain at a distance from the town hall and justified this as follows: "The historic town hall and the Siegertsche 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 lines of sight between Bretgasse and the Old Town Hall passageway and between Straße der Nationen and Rosenhof. The water feature will attract the attention of passers-by from a distance.
Event information: On 3 June at 6 pm, interested parties are cordially invited to the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz to discuss the nine fountain ideas with the jury in public. Admission is free.
Further information and the models can be found here