2019

auf Anfrage zugänglich

Grundschule Hochstraße 29, 81669 München

Terrazzo, Kartenspiele, Memory

Terrazzo 22.75 x 6.2 m; two card games: star constellation memory, star constellation trump

Architecture: bof architekten, Hamburg

Landscape architecture: EGL (Entwicklung und Gestaltung von Landschaft,) Landshut

Photos: Peter Schinzler und Dominik Parzinger

Text: Bernhart Schwenk

After the end of the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, the Bavarian capital planned to hold a three-day victory celebration, which would include spectacular fireworks. However, concerned citizens and city council members advocated for using the immense amount of money needed for this in a better, different way—namely, for the construction of an orphanage. And, in fact, the money was not fired off into the sky, but instead created a “heaven on earth” for orphaned children.

Today, in the building known as the “Munich Children’s Home,” there is now an elementary and a middle school. In 2019 a second building was constructed directly adjacent to it. The old and new buildings are now connected by a three-story atrium, which both schools use as an entrance hall and a cafeteria.

For the surface of the atrium floor, Julie Hayward designed a panorama of the starry night sky as it looks over Munich throughout the year. The ground for the sky is made of gray terrazzo, while the stars and lines connecting them are inlaid in white terrazzo. An integral part of fairy tales and myths, constellations have been inspiring imaginations—and not just those of children—since time immemorial. In their abstract realization, they look like an ornamental pattern and are reminiscent of hopscotch boards drawn on the ground with chalk.

Heaven on Earth invites viewers to learn more about the universe and planetary systems, and perhaps even think more about distances and the limited human imagination. In addition, specially developed card games about constellations, along with star charts, books, and planetarium visits inspire students to deepen their knowledge of astronomy.