Buchstation (Bookstation), 2001-2002

Time-based installation, glass pavilion, metal shelves, books, photographs, ca. 7 x 4 x 3 m, Markt Indersdorf Grammar School. Architects: Allmann Sattler Wappner.

A metal bookcase (7m x 4m x 3m) filled with books, is situated at the rear of a glass-walled room. Each book is identical with the phrase, “Non scolae, sed vitae discimus” from Seneca, printed on the spine, filling the whole wall with the same phrase repeated over and over again. At the start of each school year, the room is opened and every new pupil is given one of the books, for the rest of the year the room remains locked. A large photograph of a location near the school is placed behind the books and as the years pass, with the removal of the books, the photograph will be revealed. As soon as the last book has been handed out, which will take about nine years, the bookcase will be re-stocked. Some pages over the books contain designs(?), however most of the pages will be blank, allowing the students to write down their experiences and impressions of their time at the school. The completed book will act as examples of students writings, compositions, thoughts, ideas and doodles, but it will also form part of the pupils’ “collective memory” of the school, as every pupil will be taking part in the “Bookstation”. The architecture of the “Bookstation” is designed to closely reflect the architecture of the school, and its location, above the stairs of the recreation hall, will provide maximum impact. The theme of transparency exists throughout the framework of the school`s architecture and is an expression of the constant exchange between life inside and outside the school.

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