REACHING HIGHER

The Prinz-Carl-Anlage is a place of clear order. Long buildings, uniform façades and enclosed courtyards characterize the image of the former barracks site. The new daycare center adopts this restraint: horizontal, calm, controlled. For this very reason, the arrival of the children needs a counterpoint - a point at which the austerity of the site transitions into movement. Hoch hinaus starts right here: on the green apron with meadow and flowers, where paths cross and the daycare center's everyday life begins.

Children come from different directions, stop, look, walk on. The sculpture is positioned in such a way that it meets these movements: clearly visible in front of the entrance, in the center of the forecourt, without blocking any paths. It stands exactly where the paths from the parking lot and the courtyard meet - at the point of arrival. It does not force anyone to stop, but it offers a place to do so - to wait, to find each other again, to say goodbye. The forecourt is no longer a passageway, but is given its own character by the sculpture. Those who pass through the entrance do not leave the sculpture behind them. Through the large windows, it also remains present from the inside - always in view from the group rooms, while playing, eating or tidying up. In this way, Hoch inaus becomes a permanent fixture in the daily routine.

Four abstract children's figures grow out of the ground. No figure stands on its own. Each emerges from the other, each supports and carries the next. Bodies interlock, overlap and shift. The sculpture is not stacked, but constructed as a continuous supporting chain. The movement runs upwards, not in a straight line, but in slight shifts and turns - like climbing together, like balancing in a group. No single body could reach this height; only the interlocking makes the ascent possible. The uppermost figure opens upwards, the arms reach into the space as if it would pull itself further up in the next moment. This open impulse mentally continues the movement.

Children recognize figures helping each other up. At the same time, the form allows for other images: a growing body, branching twigs, something spreading upwards. The sculpture does not specify a fixed interpretation. It remains open to changing ideas and conversations. For adults, it can reveal a structure in which each movement depends on the next; for children, it remains a physically tangible image of upward movement and interplay.

At four meters high, the sculpture stands clearly in the room without towering over the architecture. It can be perceived from a distance as a soaring form and can be experienced up close at children's eye level. The shifts, overlaps and spaces in between lie precisely in the area in which children experience the outdoor space. The four figures - corresponding to the four daycare groups - are painted in different colors.

The matte colors in green, red, yellow and blue set a lively accent against the calm façade and the green of the meadow. Each figure remains recognizable as an individual, while at the same time the colors combine from a distance to form a common, upright shape. Children can identify "their" figure, find it again and orient themselves by it.

The figures and their relationships to each other change as you walk around them. Sometimes one figure becomes more prominent, sometimes it overlaps another; spaces open and close. The sculpture has no front - it is made for movement.

This gives the forecourt a clear spatial center. The free, asymmetrical form contrasts with the strict order of the façade and makes the outdoor space legible as a place to spend time. Standing tall becomes a natural point of reference in everyday life - "by the colorful figure".

The clear structure of the Prinz Carl complex remains visible, but is given a new addition. The sculpture adds an upright, connected movement to the horizontal order. Not as a break, but as a continuation under different auspices. Where discipline and subordination used to apply, the focus is now on growing together.

Aiming high is part of the daily journey - visible on arrival, present on departure. The sculpture stands where children arrive and remains there while they continue on their way. It marks a transition without defining it - and remains open to what children see in it. As a fixed, recurring presence, it anchors the entrance in everyday life and gives the place a face.