Valerie Kerz
Pluralistic Religious Centre
Frankfurt has with almost 25% the highest rate of foreigners in Germany. Within the city centre where the project is located it even increases to 39%. In a time of rethinking multi-cultural aspects this proposal addresses the heterogeneity of Frankfurt society and focuses on an integration process by a comparative search of similarities.
The majority of non-Germans in Frankfurt come from countries with a high percentage of religiousness, like Turkey, Italy, Croatia, Serbia and Poland. Hence the project bonds worshippers of diverse religious background to one centre. It is important to understand the proposal from a sociologist’s point of view: Turner and also Durkheim understand religion as a system of clustering humans building up communities and later societies. Can we - by overlying different religions at one place - form a new community, a new society and finally a new religion?
The organisation of the building bases on two studies: The system of the yarn shift and a comparative study of the typology of religious buildings in post-sacred era. Hence every space of the building is connected to the cores either by direct view or geometry. A heterogeneous continuity is achieved in both infrastructure and vista, shifting around the cores.
The relatively low height of the high-rise gives the opportunity to experiment with the construction. Based on the study of the yarn shift the structure consists of bonded shells. The shells of the storeys are hanged in. Even though they are not rotation-symmetrically constructed a minimum wall-thickness can be achieved. The building is a “light-weight” high-rise and treats natural resources with care.