German-Brazilian embrace

Factories tend to be built in a functional way, rather than in an aesthetically pleasing way. Until now, this was also true of the angular brick halls of Kirow Werke in Leipzig, a specialist in railroad cranes and slag transporters. Now, however, a futuristic spherical extension is being built there by Brazilian star architect Oscar Niemeyer – an extraordinarily round surprise for the angular industrial architecture of the 20th century.

But how did Oscar Niemeyer, Baumeister of the Brazilian capital Brasilia, end up in Leipzig? Another indication of the up-and-coming city in the east, now known as “Hypzig”? The managing director of Kirow-Werke, Ludwig Koehne – a lover of art and architecture – wrote a letter to the architect in 2011: He wanted an extension for the canteen at his factory. Niemeyer, at the ripe old age of 103, set to work shortly afterwards and sketched a white sphere with the characteristic Niemeyer curves that lovingly embrace the listed brick building. It was to be one of the last works to be realized by Niemeyer. The Brazilian architect died in 2012.

Jair Valera, Niemeyer’s right-hand man and best man, is now carrying on the creative legacy of his best friend.* “We wondered what could motivate a company of this size, which manufactures such enormous machines, to ask an architect who is known for delivering architecture that is far removed from pure functionality and develops new forms … Normally, such companies only care about functionality and not about the new and the possible beauty in architecture … Oscar always said that beauty lies in the new, in diversity, in surprise and in the unexpected,” said Valera at the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Kugel in Leipzig at the end of April 2017.

Sphere embraces brick

“Architecture is the best advertising. Because that’s an impression that lasts,” says Managing Director Ludwig Koehne. The sphere will indeed be an eye-catcher, perhaps even a crowd-puller: It measures twelve meters in diameter, with the center point sitting on the corner of the brick building. The round extension is made of white concrete with internal insulation and two large window openings made of geodesic domes with switchable liquid crystal window modules as light protection. All of this rests on a cuboid shaft made of concrete, the color of which was matched to the existing brick façade.

The sphere will have three floors: a lower “facility” floor, where the building services are essentially hidden, a middle café and bar level and an upper “lounge area”, the floor of which is at the level of the sphere’s equator. In the lounge, there will be a tiled partition wall in the style of Portuguese azulejos, adorned with an Oscar Niemeyer drawing.

“The outer exposed concrete surfaces were recently completed. The project should be completed in spring 2019,” says architect Harald Kern, who is supervising the construction site. It is hoped that the futuristic sphere will not only be an extension to the canteen with a view, but also a creative meeting place for the neighboring artists, who are revitalizing a former cotton mill right next door with their studios. Incidentally, they have already proven that it is possible: factories can very well be a stage for modern art.

* Today, the office operates under the name Ana Niemeyer Arquitetura. Ana Elisa Niemeyer is a granddaughter of Oscar Niemeyer. Jair Valera is the director.