Furnish

Magazinstraße 15, Berlin, DE 1995

The Art Nouveau building in Magazin Strasse near Alexanderplatz was erected in 1906 and converted into a modern office complex in 1996. The two foyers and large inner courtyard are connected by means of three independent works, forming an art axis.
Foyer 1 forms the central entrance of the office complex. A droplet-formed sculpture made of plastic hangs from the ceiling of the narrow space, referring to the immense height of the room, which measures almost nine yards. A compact bronze droplet is positioned on the floor in counterpoint, reflecting the entire space around it in its highly polished surface. Both sculptures are dynamic in flow and form a contrast to the functional architecture of the entrance area.
The closed-off inner courtyard, with its richly decorated facades, forms the center of the office complex. Here, one enters into a circle of seven garden benches of varying size. The smallest bench seems to have been built for a two year-old child, whereas the largest lays claim to a height of over 6 1/2 feet. The benches serve the purpose of resting and offer a view of the historic facades; on the other hand, through the unusual heights of the seats, the viewer is thrown back upon himself as a human being. A consistent scale of reference is missing here; only one of the seven benches is of normal size. The courtyard acquires the character of a square and becomes defined as a public space. Seen from the upper stories, the ensemble appears as a spiral-shaped sculpture.