Travel writers and researchers have taught us that the foreign is a mirror of the self. In the other, the differences to our own make it easier to see what actually constitutes it. Another way to understand ourselves is to go through history. By understanding cultural and historical processes, one can better penetrate the present. The historical other therefore also offers […]
Travel writers and researchers have taught us that the foreign is a mirror of the self. In the other, the differences to our own make it easier to see what actually constitutes it. Another way to understand ourselves is to go through history. By understanding cultural and historical processes, we can better penetrate the present. The historical other therefore also offers insight – in a wide variety of areas. One example of this is the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History in Frankfurt am Main.
As the name suggests, the Institute is dedicated to researching the history of European law. Knowledge of history makes it easier to understand and criticize today’s understanding of the law. With many publications and projects, the Frankfurt Institute contributes to the definition of the modern constitutional state. It itself can look back on a history of over 50 years. This could in turn be scrutinized in order to reconstruct the Institute’s respective research interests and to examine the Institute’s self-image. Of course, this would lead us astray.
It is not only the content that is interesting, but also the form. It reflects the content. In this case, the form is the architecture, more precisely the stone architecture of the institute, which was inaugurated in 2013. The façade of the institute building, designed by Berlin-based Staab Architekten GmbH, is made of travertine. The façade panels were grouted with silicone joints sanded on the surface. The slabs and the solid corner formations that characterize all parts of the building, made of Gauinger travertine limestone with a C 60 matt-polished surface, give the building complex a solid and orderly appearance. Law and order! Implemented in the building construction. This beautiful image is also thanks to Lauster Steinbau, the company carrying out the natural stone work.
Instead of installing mitred and bonded façade panels as corner solutions on the long edges of the building, as originally planned, the architect and client decided, at the suggestion of the natural stone company, to install solid stone panels with varying leg heights of 20 to 50 centimetres on the corners of the building. The four-centimetre-thick, conventionally ventilated curtain wall façade appears closed, almost seamless. This impression is reinforced by the precisely executed corners of the building.
The building, which connects its individual parts via a cloister, was designed around an inner courtyard. This offers the viewer a wide variety of perspectives. At the same time, it radiates down-to-earthness and security. If you like, the travertine architecture stands for a legal system that is securely based, but also open and pluralistic – an important goal in Europe’s self-image. The form stands for the content! If you want to take a closer look, you have to consider the history of the material. Travertine has a long tradition. Like natural stone in general, it is a high-quality building material and stands for durability. It was valued in construction because of its low density and easy workability.
Roman Baumeisters, for example, liked to use different types of travertine for the foundation walls of buildings because its open porosity results in a high evaporation surface and thus the base area was permanently drained in a natural way. The columns of St. Peter’s Square are also made of travertine from Tivoli. And once again we have somehow ended up with European law, as Roman law is one of the foundations of today’s legal norms. But admittedly, that is actually a different story, like that of stonemasonry or craftsmanship in general!
