KunstHalle: Beton als Marmor!

Add To Collection

Other Projects by XPEKT

Add To Collection

KunstHalle: Beton als Marmor!

Firm

XPEKT

Type

Cultural ›

KunstHalle: Beton als Marmor!

1. Summary:
We
propose to transform Halle-Neustadt into a living
sculpture-park-city that continuously evolves by recycling deserted or vacated
buildings into art objects. Demolition is no longer viewed as a negative process
but becomes a celebration for cultural and urban renewal. – Beton als Marmor!

2. Subject
Beton
als Marmor!
World-renowned
artists are invited to transform Halle-Neustadt
into the largest sculptural symphony in the world. The population of Halle-Neustadt is invited to
participate in the process of urban transformation.
As each vacated building is subsequently recycled and transformed into a
sculpture, abandonment and demolition is no longer viewed as a negative process
but becomes a celebration for cultural creation,
urban revitalization, and identity building.

3. Mode of action
The
mode of action is to rally artists with concrete proposals and initiate a
participatory process by inviting local institutions, residents, and city
officials to collaborate with them, ultimately re-imagining their
community. By initiating this
process as a local initiative, a new identity for Halle emerges from within and not through adopting a
ready-made, imposed image.

Protagonists: Artists,
architects, and urban planers collaborate with city officials, cultural
institutions, property owners, and the citizens of Halle.

Resources:
In order to launch this project we need the support of local
institutions,
private and corporate sponsorship and philanthropists.
Support by local
institutions might include help to reassign the governmental demolition
subsidy.

Role:
Our role is to investigate the manipulation of existing
pre-cast concrete buildings into sculptures with engineers, to involve the
population and to develop partnerships with property owners, corporate
sponsors, the City of Halle, as well as cultural institutions.

4. Methodology
Tabula Creativa
Our approach can be defined as a “Tabula Creativa”: The past is not simply erased but
transformed and re-defined. Eventually, the combination of all architectural
changes will create a new urban environment that is defined by a multitude of
original and artistic statements, as opposed to the rigid homogeneity that has
characterized Halle-Neustadt. Tabula Creativa declares vacant buildings as
equity, and envisions Halle-Neustadt as a unique place to life, work, visit,
and enjoy.

5. Prototype
Composer Karl-Heinz Stockhausen creates a
“Symphonic Concrete Demolition”; Damien Hirst engulfs an entire concrete
housing complex in formaldehyde; Jeff Koons is turning housing blocks into
lushly overgrown colossi and is pronounced the Green Mayor of Halle. Famous
authors (novelist and poets) are in charge of transforming billboards and
street ads into “visual literature.”

In short, artists from all over the world will help
Halle-Neustadt reclaim the future as the entire city is opened up to become a
creative arena of an unprecedented scale.