Federal Ministry of Health Berlin 2022

coelestis

Cafeteria in the Federal Ministry of Health, Mauerstrasse, Berlin

• A crystalline structure beneath the cafeteria's glass roof.
• 580 equilateral triangles made of Plexiglas form 30 polyhedra
• Reverse glass painting with pigment ink
• 206 x 1150 x 158 cm

Our idea was to poetically connect the formal with the content. The formal starting point is the architecture. Beneath the glass dome roof, which is composed of triangles, there is a 170 cm high surround. There, on the wall opposite the counter, we applied a large crystalline structure reminiscent of a gemstone cluster. The relief, formed from Platonic solids and polyhedra, creates an organic response to the triangular glass roof. Symbolically, it's as if the triangles of the roof coalesce into a crystal—a cluster—and blossom into a crystalline structure. The shadows of the forms on the wall are colored in the changing daylight.

The crystal is made of 2 mm thin Makrolon, which is painted internally with pigment ink. Each triangle has its own unique paint job and is a different color than its neighbors. The gestural touch—the "human touch"—is a welcome addition to the perfectly styled cafeteria. The sculpture could also be understood as painting given form, since it follows the same principles.

The polyhedra create blended tones through their colored transparency. They appear light and airy. Light penetrates them, forming radiant reflections and casting colored shadows on the wall.

The cluster is intended to evoke the image of a gemstone structure. On the one hand, despite its playfully light appearance, it symbolizes something valuable—associatively related to the history of the building and the space as the former securities depository of the founding branch of Deutsche Bank—and on the other hand, gemstones are associated with healing properties, forming a poetic metaphor for the building's occupant, the Ministry of Health.
Celestine grows in a similar structure and is one of the most important healing stones.

The name derives from the Greek "coelestis," meaning "heavenly" or "sky blue," symbolically bringing the sky (the light from the glass ceiling) into the room. The glass ceiling playfully clusters itself into the room in the form of a gemstone, appearing sky blue.

Heike Weber and Walter Eul, 2022