2022

auf Anfrage zugänglich

Haus für Kinder Martha-Näbauer-Platz 14, 80997 München

Fotografie hinterleuchtet, acht Tondi in zwei Stockwerken: Sechs Tondi jeweils ⌀ 90 cm, zwei Tondi jeweils ⌀ 100 cm

Architecture: K+P Architekten und Stadtplaner GmbH, macro Architekten, München

Landscape architecture: CHIMMO Landschaftsarchitektur im Alpenraum, Rosenheim

Photos: Peter Schinzler

Text: Roberta De Righi

Who left their balance bike lying in the grass? Who’s lost their teddy bear? Who took off their elf costume? And why is all of it on the ceiling?

At the daycare center on Martha Näbauer Platz, the Munich-based artist Cornelia Büschbell has attached eight round photographs of toys to the ceiling. “Verkehrtherum” (“upside down”) is the title of her Art in Architecture project, because in it she turns some of the world on its head.

Tondo is the art historical term for a circular picture. The photographic work here is made up of four tondi per story. On the ground floor, they ornament the entrance hall’s ceiling and the ceiling of the central anteroom on the upper story. The photos are printed on fabric and, backlit by LED lights, they are placed in round light boxes and set into the ceiling. On the ground floor, for instance, this makes the green meadow in which the bike lies look especially lush. In contrast, on the upper floor, a radiant sky blue permeates the atmosphere. Here, the artist uses another motif with a long tradition behind it: the circular opening that reveals a view overhead, establishing a relationship with the sky, has been an important element in architecture since antiquity.

And many artists have referred to antiquity ever since. At the same time, the art of trompe-l’oeil was being perfected, so round mural openings in the ceiling were a popular motif during the Renaissance and baroque periods. Cornelia Büschbell’s work on verkehrtherum has in turn been inspired by Andrea Mantegna’s Camera degli Sposi, the bridal chamber in the Duke’s palace in Mantua. She uses contemporary techniques to carry on with the “wow effect” of ceiling mural painting today.

Here, too, the room seems to open up to the sky. And out of each of the false, round windows, children look down at us with interest, as if they were examining rare beetles and butterflies. Above them, clouds pass by. Their gazes are an invitation to change your perspective, exciting curiosity about a world beyond what is obviously visible.