Philipp Maaß

Documenta Kassel is looking for a building where on one hand art can be archived and on the other it can be a focal point in the documenta free time. (An archive, a library, offices, areas for events and exhibitions and the „artists in residence“, artist apartments and studios for scholarship holders). 

My result is a concept called „silo“. In a silo material is converted – the silo is filled from the top, at the bottom something transformed can be obtained. Therefore the documenta archive is organised from top to bottom: Archives – Library – Offices – Lobby – events and exhibition are in the basement. Here are also the artist apartments and studios.

The knowledge of the art, the archived art, catalogues and literature fill the documenta archive from above. The knowledge slowly seeps downward and is accessible in the library. The administration on the 1st floor is a contact point for interested visitors as well as the library’s reception. The floor also provides space for meetings. The vertical building core guides you directly from floor to floor. The square based floor plan underlines the non-deterministic structure.

The basement is accessible via two flights of stairs, a staircase in the lobby and one staircase from the outside, which serves the artist’s apartments and studios separate from the rest of the building – but is also an exciting, different way into the building, for example, during a vernissage.

The construction is consistent. The structure is external, columns and beams are prefabricated elements of reinforced concrete. The ceiling and the stiffening core are made of site concrete.

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