Sirius (fountain)
Sirius is a fountain by Annemie Fontana . It is one of the artist's most famous works. The fountain stood on Escher-Wyss-Platz in Zurich and was designed by her for this square. On March 18, 2009 the fountain sculpture was dismantled. Between October and December 2012 the fountain in front of the Hallenstadion was rebuilt.
concept
The fountain sculpture is made of bright orange polyester, has a diameter of six meters and represents two spiral staircases that are twisted into one another. The sculpture stood in a few centimeters high basin with a green inside on Escher-Wyss-Platz. At the new location, the pool now has a diameter of around 10 meters and the sculpture is completely in the water. The inspiration for the dynamics of the fountain gave Annemie Fontana the rising and closing of bindweed flowers , which she filmed in fast motion .
In 1974 Annemie Fontana created the sculpture «Sunrise» from the negative forms of the fountain sculpture «Sirius». The work of art is formed from two independent stair-like wings made of a rich and dark cyan polyester with a total width of six meters. Due to the negative shape and the contrasting color scheme, the figure is referred to as a "counter-sculpture" to the fountain sculpture. The sculpture was set up next to the tennis courts of the Hardhof sports field in Zurich. ( 680101 / 249976 ) One wing has been arranged on the ground, the other is next placed upright.
history
The sculpture was made between 1969 and 1972. The assembly of the fountain was controversial as there were reservations about the material (polyester). The authorities worried about the durability and disposability of the sculpture. It was also feared that the weather would make the colors unsightly. This led to the relatively long delay from planning in 1969 to installation in 1972.
The original concept of the fountain has been changed twice. First there should be closed “water curtains” through the overflow edges of half-open pipes that were let into the joints on the underside of the wings. In the bottom of the pool there were two lamps that illuminated the underside of the sculpture through the water. However, the water curtains could not be created satisfactorily and so, in consultation with the artist, an attempt was made to create a "water comb" instead by drilling the pipes 20 to 30 mm apart to create 4 mm holes. The construction remained prone to failure, however, as the supply lines were often blocked. The cleaning processes were time-consuming and the water splashed over the edge of the pool, which in turn led to a complete renovation in consultation with Annemie Fontana. In 1995 the pipes were dismantled and instead of the curtains there was a small, approximately thirty centimeter high water fountain in the basin on one side, which was also illuminated from above by lamps in the sculpture. The well was turned off at night.
As part of the new Zurich West tram, Escher-Wyss-Platz was rebuilt from 9 September 2008. Therefore the well had to give way. The sculpture was dismantled on March 18, 2009 and stored in a water supply works building. The fountain was no longer planned on the re-planned site, so a new location was sought. For a long time it was unclear where Sirius would be in the future. The converted space at Zurich Wiedikon train station was the new location for evaluation.
The fate of the sculpture interested some people. They kept reporting to the civil engineering office and inquiring about the future of the well. The civil engineering department judged this to be of considerable public interest and so it worked with the Art in Public Space working group and the Fontana-Gränacher Foundation . The parties were intensely looking for a spacious place in a prominent location. On October 18, 2012, the city announced that the fountain will definitely be rebuilt in front of the Hallenstadion . The costs for the postponement amounted to CHF 533,000. Construction work on the new pool began on October 29, 2012. The sculpture was then installed in the pool in mid-November. It was completely finished after the last work in December. The fountain basin has a diameter of about 10 meters, so that the water curtains originally intended by the artist could be realized. The pool was provided with radially arranged spots that cast light on the sculpture in the evening and night hours.
reception
The reception was very different. Back then, Max Bill allegedly praised the fountain as the best art object in public space. For the civil engineering department, the well is "an important contemporary witness and an important, idiosyncratic work". For many passers-by, however, it is a “desolate sculpture” and a “strange 1970s design”.
gallery
- On the Escher-Wyss-Platz
The fountain on Escher-Wyss-Platz taken from another side.
The night effect of the fountain on Escher-Wyss-Platz.
fountain
Scenery on the square
- At the Hallenstadion in Oerlikon
Entire well (effect per day)
Night effect
Water combs
In the twilight
Web links
- Website of the City of Zurich, Civil Engineering and Waste Management Department: "Sirius": New location at the Hallenstadion
Individual evidence
- ↑ Portrait on the foundation website ( Memento of the original from July 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed August 24, 2008.
- ^ A b Fritz Billeter, Annemie Fontana , ABC-Verlag, Zurich, 1996, ISBN 3-8550-4160-1
- ^ Mail from the civil engineering office in Zurich dated September 2, 2008
- ↑ Information page of the City of Zurich about the renovation on Pfingstweidstrasse ( memento of October 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), accessed August 25, 2008
- ^ A b Neue Zürcher Zeitung : Wells moved for a lot of money . 19th October 2012
- ↑ Jürg Rohrer in Tages-Anzeiger: The Sirius fountain should go to Wiedikon (PDF; 1.3 MB), June 11, 2009
- ^ "Sirius": definitely new location at the Hallenstadion ( memento from July 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), Civil Engineering and Waste Management Department, October 18, 2012
- ↑ a b Beat Metzler, District 5 loses its secret landmark , in: Tages-Anzeiger , May 29, 2008
Coordinates: 47 ° 24 '39.6 " N , 8 ° 33' 2.5" E ; CH1903: 683,930 / 251726