Peter Kulka, Köln und Dresden
Using models, drawings and colourful, large-format images, the exhibition p o e s i e elementar shows 11 current projects from the architectural offices of Peter Kulka and Peter Kulka + Partner, 4 of which are in the construction phase, the others in various planning stages.
The centrepiece of the exhibition is Schinkel's former Schauspielhaus, now a concert hall, on Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin. Konzerthaus Berlin Werner-Otto-Saal and Neues Foyer with box office and café, Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin, completion 2003 The former Schauspielhaus on Gendarmenmarkt by Karl-Friedrich Schinkel, a masterpiece of classicist architecture, was destroyed in the Second World War except for the surrounding walls and rebuilt in the spirit of postmodernism as a concert hall in the GDR. The rehearsal room located in the north wing will be converted into a modern multi-purpose hall. The new Werner-Otto-Saal opens out over the original windows to the Gendarmenmarkt and laterally to the French Cathedral. The design does justice to Schinkel and the new task by incorporating units of measurement and proportions, in conjunction with modern design elements. The variety of functional requirements is met by reducing the details. The richness of Schinkel's architecture finds its counterpart in the changeability and mobility of the details. The new space will be usable for orchestra rehearsals, chamber music, theatre, banquets, etc., and requires variability of floor and ceiling.
Lifting floor elements allow the hall to be aligned lengthwise and crosswise, level or with rising steps. The walls are covered with black-grey acoustic panels. In contrast are chairs, in orange through red-purple to violet. To optimally adjust the acoustics, floor-to-ceiling folding walls are installed. The ceiling is an optical and acoustic membrane that makes the modular system of Schinkel's architecture visible. In addition to the new hall, a further intimate event and meeting place with a café and advance ticket sales will be created, which can be reached directly from the Gendarmenmarkt.
The other projects presented are the Bayerischer Bahnhof S-Bahn station, Leipzig, completion 2007, the building for further education of Robert Bosch GmbH, Stuttgart, completion July 2004, the Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, Düren, start of construction still open, the Multimedia Center II in Hamburg Rotherbaum, completion December 2002, Living and working in Dagobertstrasse, Cologne, the German Hygiene Museum, Dresden, completion 2004, the Agrippa Forum Cologne, Kämmergasse, completion open, the Fire and Rescue Station, Leverkusen-Opladen, completion 2007, and living and working in the Double Tower, Regensburg, completion end 2003.
Speakers at the exhibition opening:
Kristin Feireiss, Berlin,
Mr Berger Bergmann, Administrative Director Konzerthaus Berlin
Dr Jürgen Tietz, journalist, Berlin.
