A sculpture in front of BESSY II: The neuron accelerator
The first prize went to Peter Sandhaus, an artist based in Berlin, for his "Neuron Accelerator": a curvy, ring-shaped sculpture that invites people to sit down and exchange ideas. The sculpture, made of white, matt-finished concrete, will be placed in front of the entrance to BESSY II. © Peter Sandhaus
An art installation will be erected in front of the entrance to the BESSY building. The sculpture was chosen in a competion. It invites people to sit down and exchange ideas.
Art on buildings is one of the requirements for publicly funded construction projects. HZB is also bound by this requirement. For the three construction projects EMIL, BERLinPro and the testing hall, the HZB department "Planning and Construction" has now decided to realise one large project in front of BESSY II instead of three smaller works of art.
Together with external consultants from Phase 1, the experts organised a competition. The artwork had to be related to HZB's research and enhance the quality of the square. "We had 62 ideas in total. From these, the jury selected ten designs in the first session," says HZB architect Heike Kampherm.
The first prize went to Peter Sandhaus, an artist based in Berlin, for his "Neuron Accelerator": a curvy, ring-shaped sculpture that invites people to sit down and exchange ideas. The sculpture, made of white, matt-finished concrete, will be placed in front of the entrance to BESSY II.
"The jury of top-class art experts was surprisingly unanimous," says Kampherm, "and the winning design also impressed the representatives of the HZB". The name "Neuron Accelerator", which may be confusing at first, refers to the accelerator inside BESSY II, but also to the nerve cells in our brains.
"We will now make the necessary arrangements with the fire brigade so that the artwork can be realised as soon as possible," says Heike Kampherm.