Holy Temple of Siegen

The Hüttentalstraße (abbrev. HTS) is a city highway that was built in the 1970’s and has had a decisive influence on the surrounding cityscape. Due to its topographical location, the HTS was built on massive, concrete stilts and extends over the entire city area. A large part of Siegen’s population lives in the immediate vicinity of the HTS. The Kunstverein Siegen has invited the collective “raumlaborberlin” to realize a project in the public space. With "Holy Temple of Siegen" raumlaborberlin dedicated themselves to the redesign of a portion of land under the HTS, between the train station, the shopping center and the street, and creating an installation that adapts to the architectural environment: Twelve construction supports were placed between the ground and the underside of the bridge and wrapped with self-dyed fabrics painted in different colors. These newly constructed columns imitate the ground plan of an ancient temple and stand out in contrast to the brutalist and barbaric structure of the HTS. At night, the combined lighting creates a special atmosphere. Small tables and stools made of lacquered bamboo provide seating and invite visitors to linger. During events, the corresponding bar is used. We enlivened the place together with different events such as: films, sound installations, lectures and exhibitions, and to create a new community space in the middle of Siegen's city center. Raumlaborberlin chooses interdisciplinary approaches that combine architecture, urban planning and art and puts them in a new light. For this reason, they select places that can be found in the middle of the urban landscape, but draw little attention or have been abandoned. Through “interventions” in public spaces, the architects, who have an affinity for the creative and visual arts, create new community meeting spaces and places for experimentation. Location: Morleystraße, open space beneath the HTS, next to the City-Galerie parking garage and across from the SVB; coordinates: 50.873320,8.013550