1st Place
transparent illuminated glass artwork 450 x 250 cm (177.17 x 98.43 in)
design “Art in Architecture” for the construction project New Building Technology Center West Saxon University of Applied Sciences Zwickau
non-public Single-Phase Competition with Preceding Application Procedure
Client: State Enterprise Saxon Real Estate and Construction Management (SIB)
2021 (Implementation autumn 2025)
Financial Framework: € 75,861
Partner: Peters Glass Studio Paderborn
Architecture and design of the “Technikum” align clearly with the orientation and the purpose of the Technical University of Zwickau – analysis and innovation in the weave and textile sector.
My aim was not to create competition for this thoughtful presence, but to communicate with the building and the space, and to adopt materiality and texture. The result is a transparent glass panel – SCIENTIA AGITUR – 450 x 200 cm, placed opposite the foyer entrance. Lighting is discreetly from the frame below behind the image. The concrete surface behind the glass panel remains largely visible.
SCIENTIA AGITUR should not dominate, but gently support the space architecturally. The motif features an abstract machine with interlocking gears, like a clockwork mechanism – a symbol for the working principle of research and teaching. It illustrates that innovations only arise through collaboration: cooperation, exchange of diverse resources and skills, transparency for teachers and students, and creativity.
The color choice for the glass panel remains restrained and logically embedded. A contour of milk glass defines the surface. The depth-etching shapes the gears plastically and emphasizes the depth of the image in the shadow form. As you move with the light, the shadows on the underlying concrete wall seem to set the gears in motion. Inside, there is a light color application in black and brown. The warm brown echoes and accents the wooden tones of the building.