For the art-for-architecture competition for the Louise Scheppler Children’s Day Centre in Wörth am Rhein, a climbing sculpture named “Kletter-Igel” (Climbing Hedgehog) was developed in mid-March 2019. The terms of the competition held by the town of Wörth specified a climbing sculpture for the exterior of the day centre.
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as a symbol
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The sculptural aspect
The Climbing Hedgehog is a sculpture for children. Its shape is simple and striking, and can easily be distinguished from its surroundings, especially by children. The semantic meaning of this sculpture – developing, unfolding, the rising sun, optimism, expansion etc. – is a message primarily for the adults and is perceived at best subconsciously by children. The children react all the more to its sculptural and haptic stimuli and to its feast of colours. For the children, the sculpture is an image, moreover. They associate it with something that they know: a hedgehog.
The interactive aspect
The Climbing Hedgehog is an installation for playing and climbing that is clearly distinct from those usually available on the market. Thus the children encounter something in their day centre that they see nowhere else. The Climbing Hedgehog is constructed so that it can take aboard many children at once. It gives the children complete latitude to let their imagination run free. There are no predetermined climbing exercises, but scope for creative action and experiencing their own capabilities. The children will encourage each other and try to surpass each other. Extremely simple and easy climbing exercises, but also more difficult ones, are possible on the Climbing Hedgehog. It therefore represents a challenge for every child and every age group. There is no limit to the variety of activities. This is why the Climbing Hedgehog will not cease to captivate the children. For the child carers, too, there are many opportunities to stimulate the children’s play.
The communicative aspect
The Climbing Hedgehog will be the emblem of the Louise Scheppler Children’s Day Centre. It accentuates the architecture unmistakably. For the children this means there is a fixed point that guides them and makes it easier for them to identify with THEIR day centre. “Our” Climbing Hedgehog and “our” day centre thus become equivalents, which reinforce the feeling of identification. For the employees and also for parents, identification with the Louise Scheppler Children’s Day Centre means added value. For this purpose, the Climbing Hedgehog is suitable as an object, but also for graphic realisation in media communication.