"LANDSCHAFT/AUFLÖSUNG" - Registry of Deeds, Ravensburg, Germany

Client: State of Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Artist: Angelika Weingardt
Architect: Hildebrand + Schwarz Architekten
Photo credits: Annette Cardinale, ©Angelika Weingardt, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2021

Technique: Laser treatment and airbrush on laminated safety glass

DESCRIPTION: In 2008, a fundamental reform of the land registry-system was decided out of more than 660 smaller offices, in a total of 13 centralised units were to be set up f within 10 years. In addition, the conversion from analog to digital archiving was virtually completed du ring this period. Due to its structure, the state-owned building was ideally suited for the accommodation of the "new" land registry and was inaugurated in September 2017 after a planning and construction period of around five years.

The artistic design of the 9.0 m x 5.0 m glass facade in front of the staircase was the winning design from an art competition sponsored by "Baden­Württemberg asset and construction".Despite the onset of the digital era, Land registries are still connoted with the analog storage medium: paper. Considerations on the process of digitisation and my personal appreciation of paper were determin­ing aspects in the design process. They are reflected in the artistic concept: A crumpled piece of paper, which looks like a view from obove onto a topogra­phically varied landscape, covers the entire glass surface. In order to make the reproduction of paper on glass true to detail, a digital process has to be set in motion.

The draft is prepared as a file with appropriate resolution and framework so that it can be faith­fully transferred to the individual windowpanes by computer-controlled loser scanning. The time to loser a single windowpane (1.7 m x 3.0 m) takes 22 hours. In addition, to define the dark areas, a translucent gray-blue layer of ceramic enamel paint is digitally applied and burned into the underlying layer. The loser is located on the outer surface of the windowpanes. lt creates a subtle satin-like look that conveys the aspect of longevity and reliability.

Three coloured circles positioned at the upper edge of the glass create the formal connection to the round windows in the basement and are somehow reminiscent of opening a computer program. The chosen colours refer to different qualities af land­scape: soil, water and vegetation. This reduced colour scheme sufficiently connects the building with the iridescent colours of the tree that stands directly in front of it. The triad of architecture, art and vegetation creates a clear presence and posi­tions the land registry office clearly in the urban context of Gartenstraße.