Chestnutt_Niess Architekten, Berlin
The history of air is not a new topic. Especially in Berlin, where for more than two decades places that had been under the battle cry of Critical Reconstruction have been deconstructed. Admittedly, the orientation towards historical building lines and eaves heights, façade grids and spatial figures produced little more than protective shields between past and present. This was different with the architects Chestnutt_Niess. Since the end of the 1980s, the Americans have been enriching the debate typical of the region. They do not fixate on the otherworldly form of urban space, but use modern means to make their past speak for itself and enrich it with qualities that will enable them to survive in the future. The empty space becomes a teaching space. The history of air becomes readable and - what is even more important - it is continued. The exhibition with the American / German architectural firm Chestnutt_Niess focuses on three projects that have already been completed. They are intended to demonstrate that this strategy works even in places that are generally not perceived as such. With the Bibliothek am Luisenbad, Rebecca Chestnutt and Robert Niess have turned a devastated and forgotten backyard into a cultural force field for Wedding. At the same time, the building measures document the rise and demolition of the fountain of health. With the local court in Bad Liebenwerda you give a construction task a sovereign appearance, as it was last achieved a hundred years ago. The new building transforms the desolate widening of a settlement in the province into a kaleidoscope that reveals its eventful history since the Middle Ages. At Alexanderplatz station, Chestnutt_Niess not only revealed the layers of its hundred-year history. They also opened up the transport structure to an audience not at all keen on travelling, bringing Berlin's most important transfer point closer than ever to its myth. We will probably be able to present the design for the reconstruction of this underground station for the first time. It proves that Berlin's public transport company could do justice to the importance of its buildings both for the preservation of historical monuments and for the customer. Plans, drawings, texts and models illustrate the projects as well as the working methods of the architects Chestnutt_Niess.
Speaking at the opening:
Kristin Feireiss Berlin/Rotterdam
Dr. Manfred Sack Journalist, Hamburg
Hans Wolfgang Hoffmann Journalist, Berlin
An Aedes catalogue will be published (DM 20.-)
