Glass ball house Dresden
The Glaskugelhaus Dresden is located on Wiener Platz / Prager Straße in the suburb of Dresden , opposite the main train station . The building is a spherical house, embedded in two adjacent rectangular buildings.
history
The glass ball house goes back to an urban development competition for Wiener Platz in 1993. The first place in the competition was won by the Cologne architects Mronz und Kottmaier, who designed six cubic houses in a row that are parallel to the tracks of Dresden Central Station.
This design was later revised by the architects at Körnerweg - Siegbert L. Hatzfeldt, Dresden and wmb Architekten, which took up the client's idea of a sphere. The architects Siegbert Langner von Hatzfeldt oriented themselves on the idea of the spherical house from 1929 on the Great Garden and implemented it in glass. The building, which was designed as a free-standing sphere, did not become a free-standing sphere when it was realized: The spherical structure is flanked by two cubes on the right and left. Only the upper floor of the glass ball is recognizable as a free, clear form.
On September 13, 2004, the new building of the Kugelhaus began. Originally planned as a science center that was supposed to bring this closer to a broad public, it was already clear at the beginning of the 16 million building that it would be used mainly commercially. The ball alone meant an investment of 2.5 million euros. The building opened on May 30, 2005.
description
From an architectural point of view, the new spherical house has only to a limited extent to do with its predecessor, because in the new building the six-story high sphere is framed by two four-story main buildings that are connected on the fourth floor by a free-floating concrete band.
The sphere could only be realized through a steel frame made of double-bent special tubes in which mostly flat glass panes were applied. An appropriate coating ensures that the room does not overheat when exposed to sunlight.
In contrast to the designs submitted, according to Bahr, the spherical structure lacks transparency and presence, since it is hidden. To ensure that there is enough space available for commercial use, the ceilings in the interior have also been extended to the glass surfaces, so that the spherical space inside is practically no longer tangible except for the restaurant area on the upper floor.
criticism
Falk Jaeger was of the opinion in the Sächsische Zeitung that the spherical shape was “rightly a rare type of building”, while Bahr complained: “the entire ensemble ... does not get beyond the impression of commercial showmanship”.
photos
The new Dresdner Kugelhaus at night
Glass ball house
Glass ball house at night
See also
literature
- Christian Bahr: Architecture guide - the 100 most important Dresden buildings. Jaron, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-89773-920-8 , pp. 206-207.
Web links
- http://langner-von-hatzfeldt.de/portfolio/kugelhaus/ - The Kugelhaus on the website of the architectural office
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sphere and Cube: New building inaugurated on Prager Strasse in Dresden. In: BauNetz. May 31, 2005, accessed February 7, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Bahr, p. 207.
- ↑ a b Falk Jaeger: Jumped too short. Dresden has another ball house opposite the main train station, but what a ball! In: Sächsische Zeitung , from June 20, 2005. online. In: das-neue-dresden.de. Retrieved May 6, 2018 .
Coordinates: 51 ° 2 ′ 29.8 " N , 13 ° 43 ′ 57.9" E