Lighting concept for pedestrian tunnel under the main railway station
Winning design by artist Anke Neumann - preliminary planning for realisation next year
The desolate appearance of the passenger tunnel between Mauerstraße and Dresdner Straße, popularly known as the "Bazillenröhre" (germ tube), has been a topic that has been on the minds of stakeholders and residents around the Sonneberg for years.
Around 30 stakeholders from Sonnenberg, representatives from the city administration, energy supply, the railway, city councillors and interested citizens came together for the third time on Thursday to hold a workshop to decide what the future tunnel should look like.
The invitation to the artists goes back to the first workshop with Sonnenberg stakeholders in autumn 2014 under the leadership of the then Mayor of Construction, Petra Wesseler. The aim was to redesign the tunnel so that passers-by would perceive it as a fear-free, pleasant and emotionally positive space. As a result, it was worked out that a design with light was desired.
As a result, three artists and architects were asked to develop initial ideas and present them again to roughly the same audience. In addition to the design requirements, which centred on light as an artistic medium, safety aspects also had to be considered, taking into account the use of the tunnel for pedestrians, cyclists and the disabled. Ultimately, this also included the question of vandalism safety.
As a result of this second workshop, it was ultimately not possible to make a clear decision in favour of one design. All the designs met with approval and reservations at the same time, leaving questions unanswered.
Since August of this year, the three lighting artists and architects have had the task of further refining their ideas and presenting them again. The three very different designs were presented by the artists.
A long and very intensive discussion was held. Very different opinions and points of view confronted each other. However, in a final round of voting, Anke Neumann's design was ultimately considered the favourite by the majority.
Anke Neumann is sticking to her design for indirect lighting. The LED luminaires are run continuously on both sides at the base of the vault and illuminate the light-coloured ceiling. Alternating warm and cold light with a few coloured strips creates a rhythm in the tunnel and thus creates an optical shortening of the 220 m long tube. The walls of the tunnel are restored to their original state; a text by the band Kraftklub is displayed in large, similarly illuminated letters along the entire length.
In the next step, the artist must now deal intensively with the details before the design can be realised. The plan is to complete the preliminary planning in 2016 and secure further funding for the realisation.