Der Elbgeist

Location: Laubegast Werft, Dresden

Investor: Private

Imagine the following: It is late afternoon, the end of summer. The merciless August sun is slowly sinking towards the horizon. The steam boat on which you and your loved ones are sitting is heading for the centre of Dresden. The landscape around the river is still green. Houses are appearing more and more often among the trees. A family villa, a church, a water station, a school. So far, everything is as you'd expect. Suddenly a small child gets up from the bench and runs over to the railing of the boat. "What's that, over there?" He asks the older man, perhaps his grandfather, in puzzlement, but he just shakes his head. "I don't know." You turn your gaze to the left bank and indeed, what you see is not easy to name.

A large cube of water glistens in the light of the setting sun. After a moment, you realise that it is a million drops, falling around a strange building that is hidden inside, as if behind a veil. As if it's raining really heavily only above the building. From behind the veil, you can make out the heavy structure of large concrete beams. For a moment you think you recognise a human figure on one of the galleries, but you can't be sure. The scene lasts about two minutes, then the steam boat moves along and the building disappears behind the trees. At the last moment, before it disappears completely, you see the colour of a rainbow in the misty haze between the drops. The experience ends, you travel on. What remains is amazement. What did you see?

We see the Laubegast Werft complex as a magical and, above all, surprising place. Behind the inconspicuous linear mass of the historic building is a place where the atmosphere of the industrial periphery meets a strong natural element. It overlooks the corrugated horizon of the countryside; the tracks, machines and lighting towers are reminiscent of the original purpose of the place, and all this is dominated by the water element that formed the whole area - the Elbe River. In essence, Laubegast Werft is a unique place where ships - things we only know on water - come ashore. So the poetics of the place are that the normal rules do not apply here. Our proposal is to strengthen this surprising nature of the place. The seemingly paradoxical manifestation of the Elbe; A river that rises to the shore.

Beauty lies in tension. In our case, it is the tension between the abstract form of the cube from the outside, and the spatially rich structure inside. So the visitor experiences a surprise. A simple form hides complexity. At the same time, it is the tension between the light, ephemerous façade of falling water and the heavy structures inside. Thus, the building has two faces: structural - construction and natural - water. In the case of nature, it is not about imitating or competing with the natural form. The only natural aspect - water - is taken from its normal context and exhibited in abstract form. Nature organized by man. At the same time, the envelope of the building changes over time. Sometimes it's a strong stream of water, sometimes it's a drop, and in the intense sun, a misty haze rises around the house...

In one of his works, Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto talks about two concepts of buildings - "nest" and "cave". The "nest" is always built with a predetermined purpose in mind, and this intention clearly defines it. In terms of flexibility, expressing a nest would mean an open structure that, while possible to divide, is never more than a compromise. In contrast, the "cave" offers a richness of spatial qualities, niches, corners and vistas, which is then "creatively inhabited" by man. When looking at individual spaces, a number of associations and possibilities arise in the mind to fill it. In other words, space inspires its content. In our proposal, we go the other way - the motif of the "cave". We believe that distinctive spaces with different heights, openness, light and views will find their filling better than the traditional open form typical of most concepts of variability.

The industrial heritage of the complex is written into the design in several principles. A literal quote of historical aesthetics makes no sense, it would be a caricature of the past. Instead, we are looking for contemporary expression of industrial qualities. The main themes are therefore readable construction logic - placing large concrete beams on each other in the formation of quasi-symmetrical mass of the house, which expands upwards. In the mass of the house alternates a full wall and a hole. On the sides of the beams there are gallery offering views of the Werft area, the river and the landscape around it. Two vertical cores connect the house, they are a constant element between alternating beams.

The house therefore has two facades in the basic sense - the first abstract, consisting of falling water and the second structural consisting of concrete beams. Among them, however, there is a spectrum of situations. Rainwater is collected on the roof area from where it is released down along the façade in various modes into the water element around the building and continuously supplemented by a pump with water from the river. Falling water or gentle watering cools the air around the building. Visually, the impression of the building changes over time. Sometimes the form is pure - abstract, other times the structure hides in a misty haze, and in winter, controlled water drainage forms an ice coat of the building.

Karl rises from the computer, the day of hard work is almost behind him. In the elevated space next door, the hand of a 3D robot moves, which slowly but surely gives rise to a segment of a huge sculpture. One of the artists stands on the footbridge across the space and checks the quality of the work. Like every day, Karl walks out of his office into the gallery of the building. The falling water separates the building from the outside world, it is pleasantly cold. Karl lights a cigarette and recognizes the horizon of the landscape through drops of water. The intensity of the falling water gradually decreases, and Karl observes the departing steamer through the rainbow quarry of light.

Der Elbgeist

Location: Laubegast Werft, Dresden

Investor: Private

Visualization: Lumion 11.0.2.