Archiprix International 2001
Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau (FH), Hochschulteil Reichenbach/ Fachbereich Architektur - Reichenbach, Germany
Katrin Dietze
Tutors: Prof. Ludolf von Alvensleben, Prof. Dorothea Becker
A Center for Modern Music at the Edge of 'Downtown' ChemnitzThe task was to create a vision for an old factory building protected by law, transforming it into a concert hall with about 800 seats - as flexible as possible - and integrate the whole area into the citycenter of Chemnitz. The factory belonged to the huge areal of the former 'Hartmann Werke', which was famous for manufacturing locomotives in the beginning of the century. Besides a villa it is the last building left. So it is protected not for having beautiful details or brickwork but for beeing the last one. Nevertheless, when I visited it for the first time, I was really impressed by the arangement of interior space: a too big entrance, a high middle nave and two galleries lenghtwise, so high above - you think you might touch the sheds or the sky. In my oppinion that was the thing, that should be saved. I decided not to put the concert hall into the factory, because doing so would have meant to kill the old spirit, and: flexibility could not be created by realizing the project that way. But flexibility was necessary! There is more than one concerthall in Chemnitz. Reaching a high end level in mediatechnologies and flexibility, that means beeing transformable, is the onliest way to develop a strategical usage concept for a private owner. Beeing able to move almost everything: >> seats [0-800], >> floor [from the cellar to the ceiling], >> the stage [up and down or however, put it into pieces and move it from the huge entrance from the lobby, which is the old building, through the concert hall into the stage building, where it is connected to the university and research part of the complex, and out to the entrance at the other end to use it as a basis for an open air stage] >> the light /technical equipment is following the stage, >> even the walls [3 large 'doors' like iron curtains to clear the way for the stage, and 2 ways of opening the sides of the hall] To the whole builingcomplex belong also new premises for the department of media-technologies of Mittweida university, a music academy and about 10.000 square meters of commercial space, especially for shops selling music and equipment. So it offers a high amount of facilities for synergy effects. A transformable concert hall, the most up to date technologies - seams to be exciting for every artist and a great attraction to the public. The area is located at the edge of the citycenter, between an urban part of Chemnitz with a lot of entertainment and nightbeat, Chemnitz river and the fairground area. The building is an entrance to the city and forms a border to the fairground, turning the orientation of that place around to the city and offer more possibilities to use it. The areal has got a high potential to attract people´s attention and provide an additional part of living quality in the city centre of Chemnitz. So move to the music, move your ass and shake the house - its moving! Annaberg, 02.05.2001