Correct Scale for Public Sculpture
Berlin Sculpture the Right Height
Visitor Submittal: I really like this large sculpture in the median in Berlin near the famous and huge KaDeWe department store (Kaufhaus des Westens). This is on Tauentzienstrasse, writing the street name in English. The department store is about five stories tall, although the stories are different heights so it is somewhat hard to figure out.
The point is that unlike many, many sculptures, especially the shiny abstract and geometric pieces, this one is on a large enough scale to hold up to the surrounding buildings and outsized advertising nearby. The shopping attractions understandably all are making a bit for my attention, but this sculpture is large enough to feel appropriate to its setting and to command a viewing.
The sculptors were Brigitte Matschinsky-Denninghoff and Martin Maschinsky. This was installed in the late 1980s. It was ironic because it was sculpted before the fall of the Berlin wall and supposedly is about the brokenness of Berlin into West and East. Regardless, this location in the former West Berlin, also near the Kaiser Wilhelm church that was bombed in the last world war, is really enhanced by something large enough to make sense.
I just wish that other cities would be as insightful when they are commissioning or purchasing these dinky little bright yellow, red, or purple sculptures that don't have any particular idea behind them and that can't stand up to the scale of the buildings where they are placed. The right scale for a public sculpture is the difference between something that is eye-catching and something that is just taking up space.
Editors Comment: We wholeheartedly agree with your point about the appropriate scale for a public sculpture that purports to relate to the surrounding buildings.
An additional point to make for our readers is that not all public sculptures are designed to relate to a wide boulevard and surrounding tall buildings, not to mention larger-than-life advertising banners that you mention.
We just point this out so that folks dealing with smaller scale environments, especially in small towns and cities, are not intimidated into thinking that they have to have a huge sculpture to make an impact.
For instance, a heroic-man-on-the-horse monument, which was popular from the Renaissance through the first half of the twentieth century, would just be grotesque at this height.
But yes, for these contemporary abstract sculptures, which sometimes seem designed to add no more than a pop of color and a suggestion of motion, doing something at a large enough scale to be important in the setting is a key to success.
Thanks for sharing what we agree is a positive example. What is even better is that although abstract, the Berlin sculpture actually has some meaning attached.
Readers, please continue to share your favorite public art with us and tell us why you think so.
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