According to Leon Battista Alberti, the creation of a graceful, sacred place is a tremendous and divine work for an architect, the execution of which requires the exertion of all artistic and spiritual forces. And even nature rarely succeeds in producing something that is absolutely perfect in every way. In the spring of 2021, a group of 22 students from the University of Stuttgart's Institute Sustainability, Building Construction and Design [de] devoted themselves to this seemingly small yet extraordinary task on a plot of land at the foot of the Kappelberg above the town of Fellbach.
The Kappelberg is a wine region in the foothills of a striking and wooded range of hills. It is named after a small chapel that was demolished at the beginning of the 19th century and not rebuilt. According to legend, a poor boy, who cared for his sick mother at home, herded goats on the mountain during the cherry-picking season. A deep sadness about his mother's illness and their poverty overcame him and he wept bitterly. Suddenly the Virgin Mary appeared to him and told him to give his mother some cherries to eat from a special tree and that if she did so, she would regain her health. A chapel was built in place of the tree and welcomed visitors from all over the region. Apparently, however, this pilgrimage did not last long. In the 15th century it is written that it "soon dwindled". However, the chapel itself remained for several centuries and served as a dwelling for a forest ranger. It was finally demolished in 1819.
Not far from the original site, a new place of transcendence is now to be created, thanks to the initiative of committed Fellbach residents, free of the profane and the mundane; a place for reflection and for meeting people. A space open to everyone, Christian in character, but without denominational ties. The intensive examination of the extraordinary landscape context and the consideration of the effect of sacred places characterize the designs and express the individual approaches of the designers to the task. Through exchanges with structural engineering students, discussions with experts and civil engineers from the university and the vocational school, the careful consideration of the materials used and their sustainability, as well as detailed considerations of construction and joining options were incorporated into the design process at an early stage. Those involved have expressed a strong desire for the elaborate designs to be considered for realization and for the next steps towards implementation to be taken together with the city of Fellbach.
The design projects can be viewed in the foyer of K1, Keplerstraße 11until December 19. The work will then be posted on the Institute's web pages in a timely manner.
