max boehme

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design for the square in spillern

The square between the church and the new community building in Spillern was scheduled to be redesigned. Max Boehme made an analysis of the community's desire for a fountain expressed in connection with the redesign to the extent that he isolated and reinterpreted the communicative function of a fountain within a community and made this the basis for his proposal. He provided a sculptural manifestation of warmth as the basis for contact and exchange by installing five benches for lying on complete with heat convectors – designed to be heated up to a maximum of 35 degrees Celsius by solar-collectors: "Komm her, setze dich" (come here, sit down; Dorothée Berghaus). So in conditions of sunshine the benches would be warmed free of charge (excluding maintenance costs) and, kitted out with a sheet they would look like beds, although cast in concrete, adjustable but spread loosely around the square. Max Boehme is not interested in artistic beautification but in people's needs: "It's nice and warm and it belongs to you. It's your town" (Dorothée Berghaus).
(Susanne Neuburger)