In early January 2023 a proposal was submitted for an art-for-architecture competition for the nursery school named Entdeckungskiste (Box of Discovery) in Schifferstadt. An interactive object is to be installed in the outside area of the nursery school, limited to a surface area of 3 by 3 metres and a height of 2 metres.
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in the surroundings
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in the surroundings
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The Entdeckungskiste nursery school gains a counterpart in its outside area: the Entdeckungsgarten (Garden of Discovery).
37 coloured rods point in various diagonal directions, suggesting growth. The colour scheme reinforces the association with a garden. The object not only looks like a garden but can also be used like one. It is possible to go for a walk inside it. There are entrances and exits on all sides. It is a circuit or an open labyrinth in which it is impossible to get lost.
The garden is populated by native animals, which are shown on the rods in a simplified form, somewhat hidden. These animals are there to be discovered.
But there is more to discover: the object is an invitation to play imaginative games to which the children will animate each other. No limits are set to their urge to explore.
The object relates to the architecture of the nursery through its right angles but above all through its colour. The characteristic yellow-green of the façade that makes the building distinctive is taken up in the artistic object. It is used as the dominant colour, but is varied through a range of nuances and rounded off by further shades of green. In this way a bridge is built between the Garden of Discovery and the Box of Discovery.