Competition for the market fountain to begin shortly
The international artistic realisation competition for a market fountain in Chemnitz is to be published shortly. The Planning, Building and Environment Committee had commissioned the city to launch an artistic competition for the construction of a market fountain. The administration then defined the modalities - including a brief, the services to be provided and the procedure. A jury consisting of art experts, construction specialists and political decision-makers was appointed.
On 1 June 2018, the international artistic realisation competition will be published at www.chemnitz.de and also in the Chemnitz official gazette. Prior to this, the building department will present the contents of the competition and the jury to Chemnitz residents on 8 May 2018 at 6 p.m. in Haus Kraftwerk.
The procedure
The international competition is organised in two stages. Firstly, participating designers and artists are asked to describe their ideas in an anonymous public competition in the form of 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 like to meet and socialise. 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 and thus create a field of tension between the flowing element and the static nature of the surrounding buildings. The market fountain should be interesting, 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 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, a competition was held 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 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.
Prizes awarded after second phase
The entries for the second stage of the competition are due to be submitted to the City of Chemnitz on 29 April 2019. The jury's work will then begin. Three prize winners will be selected, who will only be announced 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.
The jury members
The jury consists of the following seven expert judges: 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.
Other jury members are Matthias Flügge, Rector of the Dresden University of Fine Arts, the renowned designer Karl Clauss Dietel and landscape architect Stefan Leiste - both from Chemnitz. Jörg Steinbach, Professor of Surface Design, West Saxon University of Applied Sciences Zwickau, Faculty of Applied Arts Schneeberg, is also a member of the expert jury, as are two art historians: the new General Director of the Chemnitz Art Collections, Dr Frédéric Bußmann, and his deputy, Cultural Operations Manager Ferenc Csák.
The judges will be Michael Stötzer, Chemnitz's Mayor of Construction, Ulf Kallscheidt (SPD), Thomas Lehmann (Alliance 90/The Greens), Tino Fritzsche (CDU/FDP) and Kai Tietze (Left Party). Prof Borczyskowski from the Henry van de Velde Society Saxony is also one of the judges. Sandro Schmalfuß from the VOSI/Piraten parliamentary group and Joachim Zschocke from the PRO Chemnitz parliamentary group are deputy judges.
Information event on the competition
Interested parties are invited to Haus Kraftwerk on 8 May 2018 at 6 pm. There, the City of Chemnitz will present the content of the competition as well as the jury.
Introducing the expert judges
Susanne Altmann, art historian in Dresden: Susanne Altmann studied art history, philosophy and history in Dresden and New York. As a curator and publicist, she has accompanied public art projects, including "Trichter" (2011) by Franka Hörnschemeyer. She was a jury member of the Dresden Art Commission, the BBR, the Kulturstiftung Sachsen and the Krupp Foundation Essen, among others. She has realised museum exhibitions in Nuremberg, Mannheim, Dresden and internationally.
Professor Else Gabriel, Professor of Fine Arts and Sculpture at the Berlin-Weißensee School of Art: She studied stage and costume design at the Dresden School of Art from 1982 to 1987. Else Gabriel was a co-founder of the performance-orientated artist group "Auto-Perforations-Artisten", which existed until 1991, and worked as a freelance artist.
Prof. Karl Clauss Dietel, form designer, Chemnitz: Form designer Professor Karl Clauss Dietel was honoured for his life's work in 2014 with the Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany (the highest German award for design). In almost 60 years of work, he created an almost unmanageable oeuvre. His design work ranges from typewriters, radios, signets, product graphics, machines, vehicles and systems to architecture. User-friendliness and sustainability are particularly important to him. He taught at Burg Giebichenstein and was Vice President of the Association of Visual Artists from 1974 and its President from 1988 to 1990.
Stefan Leiste, landscape architect, Chemnitz: Dipl.-Ing. landscape architect Stefan Leiste has been working as a freelance landscape architect since 2008 and is the owner of sLandArt Landschaftsarchitektur in Chemnitz. He is a member of the Saxony Chamber of Architects and on the board of the Association of German Landscape Architects/Saxony. He has developed numerous public open spaces in Chemnitz, such as the redesign of Brühl Boulevard and Wilhelm-Külz-Platz.
Prof Jörg Steinbach, Professor of Surface Design, Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau, Faculty of Applied Arts Schneeberg: Jörg Steinbach is an artist and has also been a member of the Cultural Advisory Board of the City of Chemnitz since 2009 and a member of the Advisory Board for Fine Arts of the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony since 2011. Steinbach mainly designs artistic works for public spaces. He works in the fields of painting, graphics, installation and sculpture, among others.
Dr Frédéric Bußmann, General Director of the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz (from May 2018) The art historian with a doctorate worked as a curator for the 19th century to the present at the Museum der bildenden Künste in Leipzig. He has gained extensive curatorial and academic experience in various major museums and institutions, including in an international context. He has previously worked in Berlin, Paris, Venice, New York and Munich.
Deputy Expert Judge - Ferenc Csák, Head of the Chemnitz Cultural Centre: Art historian Ferenc Csák worked as a government representative for the European Capital of Culture 2010 in Pécs, Hungary, and as State Secretary for Culture at the Ministry of Education and Culture in Hungary. He was Director General of the Hungarian National Gallery and has headed the Chemnitz Cultural Centre since July 2015. Today, he is also responsible for the city of Chemnitz's bid to become European Capital of Culture 2025.
Subject judge
- Michael Stötzer, Mayor of Urban Development and Construction
- Ulf Kallscheidt, SPD parliamentary group
- Thomas Lehmann, BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN parliamentary group
- Tino Fritzsche, CDU/FDP parliamentary group
- Kai Tietze, DIE LINKE parliamentary group
- Prof Borczyskowski, Henry van de Velde Society Saxony
Deputy judges
- Sandro Schmalfuß, member of the VOSI/Pirate parliamentary group
- Joachim Zschocke, PRO Chemnitz parliamentary group