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Article from issue 6/2009 »Stairs, Ramps«

Landmark in the Lusatian Lakeland

documentation p. 584 - 586
Architect Stefan Giers, Susanne Gabriel | Structural Engineer Seeberger, Friedl und Partner |

Drafts
1:20 Sectional details
1:250 Floor plans

By 2010, as part of an international building exhibition, the largest lakeland landscape in Europe is to be created in eastern Germany, using former lignite mining excavations. Built to a triangular plan, this 30-metre-high steel viewing tower has been erected as a symbol of the transformation of the region. The two closed faces of the structure consist of hollow walls with cross bracing. The open third side reveals a staircase sculpture – with nine offset flights of stairs and eight landings – leading up to a viewing platform at the top. Visitors pass through different spatial situations as they ascend. All elements have a load-bearing function, and the weatherproof steel will gradually assume a reddish-brown patina.