Memory of space - integration into public space

In the context of a public competition to design underground stations for the "Wehrhahn" train line in Düsseldorf this first draft of the project "memory of space" was developed. After a number of selection rounds this project was chosen for the planned underground station at Jan-Wellem-Platz. This is the version which was originally planned for another site: Graf-Adolf-Platz. A camera monitors the space.

The surveillance situation at the square is resolved in such a way that the "actors", standing at the edge of the square, can observe themselves in the virtual image. On the one hand the underground station prepares the arriving passengers for the square they are about to enter, on the other hand the floor projection on the mezzanine level lures those visiting the square down into the underground.

The floor projection is achieved by running a video projector over a diversion mirror from below. All that is visible is an illuminated floor panel made of glass onto which the virtual image is projected from below. In this way the projection reproduces the image of the square one level below the reality Ð the descent into the underground could be equated with entering a world of ideas in which public places could be interpreted as societal constructs generated by their numerous participants.

The installation in the form of a floor projection is to be visible from both the square above and the underground station below. The following images show a second version of the concept, which became necessary due to the path of the planned tracks being modified. In this version a club-shaped shaft is built through which the installation is visible from above both through a circular opening and from an elevator