At the end of November 2023 a proposal was submitted to an art-for-architecture competition for the Anne Frank School in Zwickau. This is the second art-for-architecture project at this school in the current year, in this case for the outdoor play area. Here too, the content of the proposal relates to Anne Frank, after whom the school is named.
Anne Frank could be alive today. She was robbed of this presence. But we do not allow ourselves to be robbed of what constitutes her presence: affirmation of life, optimism, belief in the future. All of the things that schoolchildren possess and that we want to reinforce. This is why we bring Anne Frank into the everyday life of the school. We dedicate a climbing wall to her.
The wall consists of 4 individual vertical walls, set at an angle. The structure of a grid of squares covers the walls in a happy, animating and motivating colour scheme. The image of Anne Frank is embedded into this structure. She speaks to us thanks to her special, impressive charisma. Anne Frank is equally embedded into daily activities. She is present when schoolchildren have fun on the climbing wall. She is part of it, and she reflects the joy that is alive here.
In this way, the art object is not a memorial. On the contrary. It is a happy encounter with a role model. The image of this model is reinforced. Whenever the name of Anne Frank is mentioned at the school, this naming is supported by the living perception of her image, which is enhanced by the art object. Schoolchildren meet across the generations. At Anne‘s climbing wall. The colours red and yellow respond to the colouring of the façade.