2nd Place
Design Glass Façade 700 x 600 cm (275.59 x 236.22 in) with Chrome Coating
Concept “Art in Architecture” for the Construction Project New Building for Teaching and Laboratory Facilities at the University of Applied Sciences Dresden (HTW)
Non-public Single-phase Competition with Preceding Application Process
Client: State Enterprise Saxon Real Estate and Construction Management (SIB), Dresden II
2021
Budget: € 125,000
Partner: Peters Glass Studio Paderborn
The glass artwork FORESIGHTS emphasizes the building’s architecture from the outside and introduces the research guidelines from the inside. It takes up the structure and design of the building and blends discreetly with the elements. The motif spans the entire glass portal (706 x 624 cm) and depicts an abstracted cloudscape with towers rising upward. A bronzed chrome coating provides point reflections outward and inward. Thus the viewer becomes part of the light landscape—part of their own “lighthouse project.”
The towers are connected by diagonal lines, forming a network that links the individual projects and enables communication between them. Through restrained color and a striped pattern, the artwork harmonizes with the facade and, like the building’s frieze bands, strives toward the sky. The glass work thus underscores the university’s universality and creates an open space for experimentation and the development of one’s own themes.
From different viewpoints, varying light worlds emerge: externally the chrome layer shines in gold and bronze tones, internally it reduces to silver. The clear interior color in the foyer gives students space for their own design and presentation. Outside, the golden chrome surface is enhanced by transparent blue and opaque white.
FORESIGHTS combines traditional and modern glass techniques. Timeless glassmaking meets contemporary chrome processing. This fusion fits HTW Dresden, which aims to adopt proven techniques and develop them into innovative experiments. The viewer’s perspective shift—from outside to inside—opens space for movement, perspective, and personal interpretation. Students, teachers, and visitors should actively experience the new building, not view it museum-like, but use HTW’s space to shape their own viewpoint.