Helmholtz Center for Infection Research - B2

An artistically influenced and productive atmosphere at the Center for Drug Research and Functional Genomics (DRFG) is intended to continue to support the HZI Braunschweig, which was advised in 2013 by Samuelis Baumgarte Art Consulting for the W building, as a global research institution and innovative employer. In addition to the actual function as a laboratory, technology platform and administrative center, the premises of the campus in Braunschweig also serve as a calling card for the internationally networked research of the HZI and are now further emphasized with artistic highlights in their importance in the newly built building B2.

Samuelis Baumgarte Art Consulting organized an artist competition in which two completely different artistic positions were presented. The choice fell on the "organoid" design by Peter Zimmermann. The artist describes his conceptual thoughts on the resulting wall installation in the following:

“The three-dimensional formation, which extends over the walls in the stairwell of the new building of the Helmholz Institute Braunschweig, gives the impression that a peculiar organism has settled there and spread continuously over the wall surfaces. This impression is reinforced by the colored halo that surrounds the spherical objects; just as if the organism had already penetrated the wall itself in order to continue colonization from there.

The objects, about the size of a tennis ball, are dynamically arranged on the wall surfaces. Individual elements condense into groups and disperse again on the walls: like a living organism. Nevertheless, these elude a final decryption. Associations with observations that can be made, for example, in the scientific fields of the Helmholz Institute, are quite intentional.

The wall design should offer employees who are in the relevant areas the opportunity to let their gaze and thoughts wander and, if necessary, to give inspiring suggestions when formulating certain questions. "