In early April an entry was submitted to the art-for-architecture competition for the Police Inspectorate in Landstuhl. The proposal, entitled “Schutzfaktor P” (“Protective Factor P”), envisages erecting an eight-metre-high metal sculpture in front of the façade of the new building.
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when walking
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when walking
around the object
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Schutzfaktor P is a design for a sculpture that does not provide architectural decoration, but rather makes a mark. Two levels of meaning can be distinguished.
On one symbolic level, the letter P (for Polizei – Police) is given a minimalistic, abstract rendering. Here a familiar version of the P gets an individual and unusual form that is easily comprehensible to the viewer. The altered appearance of the P is at the same time an identifying feature of the sculpture.
The other symbolic level makes a process visible. A larger formal element bends protectively over a smaller formal element. Protection and safety, the functions of the police in society, are expressed in a clear gesture. The concept of protection is here interpreted according to the way in which the police force sees itself. This means that the gesture avoids anything that is soft or emotionally indulgent, or seeks favour. Instead the formal language emphasises the upright, the straightforward and the strict, in the sense of consistency and reliability. In this gesture, police officers find a close approach to their personal aims and their official tasks.
The sculpture consists of two parts: the element that gives protection, and the element that receives it. The two elements do not touch, but each has its own autonomous life. Formally, however, they are mutually related. The protective element concludes its gesture in a free space and has a floating character. By means of this conscious distance, both respect and readiness are expressed. The protected element grows into a vertical space that offers protection, but at the same time allow broad development. This is an encounter of two movements: one enfolding, and one evolving. The colour contrast reinforces the mutual motion. The shades of blue relate to the police uniform. Red, by contrast, is the colour for making a signal, and simultaneously the colour of life.
The sculpture relates directly to the architecture of the building. Being a vertical sign, it responds to the horizontal rows of windows. With its size, it asserts itself confidently next to the building, which it does not, however, overshadow. The sculpture offers varying views from different angles.