Portikus

The New Portico in Frankfurt am Main, is a building designed by Christoph Mackler and funded by the Foundation Giersch building that serves the institution portico as an exhibition hall for contemporary art. He is the State Academy of Fine Arts - Staedelschule connected and is headed by the vice chancellor.

Location

It stands on the main island to the west of the old bridge. On 5 May 2006, he was consecrated by the Lord Mayor Petra Roth ( CDU) together with Daniel Birnbaum, the former rector of the Städel School, and the builder Carlo Giersch.

Function

The construction takes over the function of the former exhibition hall, which was built on the ruins of the old city library behind the preserved portico, the portico, built in 1987. The existing Kunsthalle had to give way, which houses the Literature House Frankfurt since 2005, the reconstruction of the old city library. During the construction period from 2002 to 2006, the Kunsthalle had found her place temporarily in the screen house Weckmarkt in the old town opposite the cathedral.

Controversies surrounding the construction

The construction of the new portico was adopted on 7 November 2002 by the Frankfurt city council with a large majority. Residents and environmentalists protested against the construction and complained in court about it. However, the Administrative Court of Frankfurt as well as the Hessian Administrative Court confirmed the legal opinion of the magistrate and dismissed the complaint directed against the building permit.

The new building was in the art world first not without controversy, as he was in the architectural criticism (among Dieter Bartetzko in FAZ ) received.

Exhibitions

After exhibitions of Marjetica Potrc, Tomas Saraceno, Dan Perjovschi and Francis Alÿs the functionality of the building has now been proven. In partially glazed top floor is the light installation LightLab of Olafur Eliasson, which can be seen from the Frankfurt side of the River Main.

2011 lit another inscription with the title of the current exhibition TIME BANK Frankfurt to side across. That same year, the portico, the exhibition 172 Flaca / Tom Humphreys works with some Städel students. Adrian Williams and Michael Pfrommer showed to November 2011 in the exhibition 173 their joint performance.

• 2012: No. 177: Michael Stevenson: A Life of crudity, vulgarity, and Blindness, installation.

Architecture

Mäckler would be oriented with the very sober especially in the interior design on the one hand strictly at the purpose of the work. On the other hand, he wanted to practice with the construction criticism of the unkept promises from his point of view of modern architecture and build a bridge between the historical development of both the main island and the Old Bridge.