Artworks in Their Own RightExtraordinary Buildings in Baden-Württemberg

An architect with cult status. Before this project, the New Yorker Richard Meier had already designed the Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona. He described this severe white building on Baden-Baden’s Lichtentaler Allee as a "translucent villa". There was fierce criticism of this Private Public Partnership (PPP), with its funding provided by a combination of private and state money. Even the glass bridge between the art gallery and the Frieder Burda Museum was regarded as a symbol of the opposing opinions. Today, the museum has world-wide appeal. Visitors come to see the art, but also to see the architecture: generous, unpretentious and welcoming.

This project is spectacular. In the middle of Heidelberg, apartments and jobs are being created for more than 10,000 people. As the world’s largest “passive house” estate, the Bahnstadt offers a model for sustainable living far beyond Germany. On what was once a freight yard, Bahnstadt offers both a variety of living spaces and a variety of solutions to modern problems. Take ventilation and energy use. With their complex ventilation systems, the houses don’t need traditional heating. They use 50 to 80 percent less energy than conventional buildings. So, they comply with the strict “passive house” standard of energy efficiency.

On the Platz der Grundrechte, Karlsruhe’s Fundamental Rights Square, artist Jochen Gerz has installed 48 signs. Each has its own statement; all reflect the overall theme of rights and justice for the individual in a democracy. Yes, there has been criticism, though not about the artist’s work, but rather its location. Some, such as the Karlsruhe Cityscape group, complain that the signs ruin the view from the marketplace to the castle. Others, such as the Green Party, say that the installation gets in the way of cyclists. This unusual art installation is a gift to mark the 50th anniversary of the Federal Constitutional Court. The signs will continue to put across serious ideas for the general public to think about.

In World War Two, 80 percent of the city of Pforzheim was destroyed. The Technisches Rathaus, designed in 1957 by architect Hans Schürrle, exemplifies the 1950s, a reminder of the era when the city was rebuilt. Now listed, this is considered one of the city’s best buildings. But it was not always valued so highly. Some members of the city council thought that it should be redeveloped as a shopping centre and that the cost of renovation was too high; still others suggested demolition. It was saved when citizens protested, accusing the council of “selling off the family silver”.

Juxtaposed with the soaring late-Gothic Ulm Minster is the immaculate three-storey, geometric, white "Stadthaus". It’s a meeting place for visitors from all over the world. For more than 100 years, Ulm struggled with designs for the Minster Square. The site was considered "one of the most sensitive ones in the Federal Republic". In 1986, when the city fathers chose a design by New York architect Richard Meier, a storm of indignation broke out. Many believed that the cathedral should be the only building on the square. Now, after 25 years, the town house has become an international landmark of modern architecture and an integral part of the cityscape. The construction of this hall and exhibition space was the catalyst for the transformation of the city’s revitalised heart.