Chapel of Reconciliation downtown Berlin   Hrsg. Martin Rauch, Otto Kapfinger Verlag Birkäuser, 2001 / isbn 3-7643-6461-0 Kontakt: LEHM TON ERDE Fon: 0043 – 5524 - 8327 Gestaltung im Stampflehm Gestaltung im Stampflehm Based on plans by Berlin architects Peter Sassenroth and Rudolf Reitermann, a place of prayer and contemplation has been created for the local comnunity and for visitors on the foundations of an old church near the Berlin Wall memorial. The building of the core structure was a pioneering achievernent for Martin Rauch. The 7m high oval of the chapel is the first new construction in pise technique for some one hundred years and at the same time the first rammed earth structure in Berlin. The chapel was created to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The old church, which was on the strip of no man's land, had been inaccessible since the division of the city in 1961. In 1985 it was demolished to keep the firing lines open. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the lot was returned to the community for religious uses. Only the area of the former choir was used for development. The outlined plan of the former church remained open. The niche for the altar painting, which had been preserved, was built above the exposed cellar staircase and the remnants of a doorway that was walied up in 1961. This new "apse" anchors the oval space in the direction of the axis of the historic structure. The principal axis of the new "cella", however, runs east and west, as does the altar designed by Martin Rauch. Ori the Bernauer Street side, wood louvre claddingforms a translucent skin around the corc structure. A separate approval process was required for the rammed earth construction. This was the first time that the municipal authorities and structural engineers in Berlin had encountered the technique. Among the conditions they imposed were structural safety standards seven times higher than for conventional buildings. The required onsite supervision and scientific support was provided by the Technische Universität Berlin. 390t of soil from the environs of the city were processed in three months. Brick rubble from the his-toric structure was blended into the rammed earth mixture as a symbol of remembrance. The horizontal layers and the homogeneous interplay of the earth colours give the interior space an atmosphere of tranquillity, contemplation and seclusion, which is further enhanced by the skylight. The rammed earth floor, treated with natural wax, expresses the connection to the soil. The building materials - untreated wood for roof and building skin, rammed earth for the massive core - are a reflection of the client's conscious rejection of the original plan for a structure of steel and concrete. Pathos was not the goal. This historic site, where profound tragedy, but also perseverance and survival are manifest, was not to be "sealed" either in design er in material. In-stead, the goal was to employ minimal gestures and ephemeral materials to inspire remembrance and contem-plation. At the same time, the building was intended to resonate with the fragility and vulnerability of peace and reconciliation. The modest combination of wood and rammed earth corresponds to the concept of an open "cage" - reinforced only in isolated points -of past and present, of everyday and ritual, city and memorial. The team was composed to a large degree of volunteers from the regional association for architectural preservation and staff members from three rammed earth contracting firms, who gained valuable experience that will enable, them to carry out further rammed earth projects independentiy. The quality of the material and ofthe workmanship are vitally important for projects on this scale. "If the earth dries," Martin Rauch explains, "the wall shrinks and enormous tensile forces result. In the case of the Chapel of Reconciliation, however, we succeeded in building the walls without any fissures."Birkäuser Aus: * Rammed earth Lehm und Architektur Hrsg. Martin Rauch Otto Kapfinger Verlag Birkäuser top ··· back