Portfolio – “Flow” – Foyer Artwork for newly designed event space Rhein Sieg Forum in Siegburg near Cologne
"The detachment from everyday life, which is also expressed by the architecture, should give people the feeling of being in a special place as soon as they enter the building,"
Frank Baake, director of the RHEIN SIEG FORUM.
The RHEIN SIEG FORUM, designed by Antonino Vultaggio, senior partner at the international HPP architectural firm, opened in 2021, and is one of the most exciting venues in the heart of the Bonn/Rhein-Sieg region in Germany. With over 3.000 sqm comprising concert halls, conference rooms and spacious flexible foyer areas the forum offers the largest event space between Cologne and Bonn.
“On every floor of the RHEIN SIEG FORUM, foyers create the perfect stage for a wide variety of events. It's the ideal space for hosting receptions, offering refreshments and buffets during breaks, or showcasing exhibitions and product presentations. The spacious foyers can be perfectly integrated into any event format. Art by Margareta Hesse and Regina Heinz on levels E1 and E2 add a distinctive flair.”
https://rhein-sieg-forum.de/en/business/our-rooms/foyers
The architecture is characterised by an open and transparent structure that can be used and easily adapted to host a variety of cultural events conferences, receptions and exhibitions.
”The idea behind the new building for the RHEIN SIEG FORUM is to design the newly emerging hall in such a way that it can simultaneously represent the extension of the foyer and, due to its orientation towards the public space, interact more strongly with the city” describes Antonino Vultaggio, senior partner in charge at HPP Architekten.
I was commissioned by the council of Siegburg in 2020 to create a site-specific ceramic artwork for the foyer on the first floor adjacent to the Grand Hall gallery. The brief for the design was to enhance the elongated neutral foyer space, to take into account the cultural history of the town as well as reflect the openness and multi functionality of the building.
I designed an 8 x 1 m wall installation that consists of 240 undulating ceramic wall modules in white matt and high-gloss with shades of blue colour tones and accents in gold and platinum enamel.
The elongated format fits perfectly between the access doors of the hall and is inspired by the local river Sieg as a special “homage” to the town’s identity. From the 14th to the 17th century Siegburg was an important ceramic centre and exported its renowned ceramic stoneware all over the world, using the river Sieg, the namesake of the town, as an important distribution route. The wavy design represents a tribute to Siegburg’s important ceramic past, and is also a metaphor for expansion, flux and flexibility.
Equally, high-gloss glaze surfaces on fluid forms mirror the transparency of the architectural space. Reminiscent of water reflections they react to movement and changes in light and encourage the audience to engage with the artwork, responding to the foyer’s function as a place of communication and dialogue.
