We were invited by the Springhornhof Foundation to design a shelter with, and for, the students of the Grund- und Oberschule (Elementary and High School) in Neuenkirchen. The school is caretaker of the School Forest in the rural area south of the village. Over the course of a year, we organized several workshops with the students of Class 6a both at the school itself and in the forest.
Halfway through the project, we replaced the initial design idea for a roof structure for protection against rain and wind with an open design that creates a transfer of energy from a biomeiler, a large pile of compost that creates heat from the accumulated biomass, to a “Warm Place”, a circular concrete form with a surface that radiates the warmth harvested from the biomeiler. In addition, the biomeiler provides warm water for washing hands.
Next to the biomeiler and the Warm Place there is a newly constructed pond, a man-made biotope that is a community-based initiative. These three objects – the biomeiler, the Warm Place and the pond – are located on the edge of the School Forest. Together, they create an “open shelter” with no walls. This is a place to pass the time, a place where schoolchildren can relax and open their minds to the processes of nature that are taking place around them.
The Open Shelter forms an integral part of the School Forest; it is an open school in the forest. It has been constructed with the participation of the schoolchildren and local residents.
Photo above: Installation of biomeiler and the warm hill, March23-24, 2015
Photo at the top of the page: Location of the School Forest, South of Neuenkirchen
Title: Neuenkirchen – The Open Shelter (Der offene Ort im Wald)
A participatory project by the Design for the Living World class, University of Fine Arts/Hochschule für bildende Künste (HFBK) Hamburg, by the invitation of the Springhornhof Foundation.
Date: June 2014 – April 2015.
Location: The School Forest, Neuenkirchen.
Students: Finn Brüggemann, Maria Christou, Francisca Concha, Bernhard Niklaas Karger, Torben Koerschkes, Maja Leo, Johanna Padge, Anastasia Reschke, Amalia Ruiz-Larrea, Konouz Saeed, Nuriye Tohermes, and guests of the class Fabian Dehi (Conceptual Design, HFBK Hamburg), Barbara Niklas (psychologist) and Till Richter (bauer + planer).
The Class of the Design for the Living World in collaboration with: students of the Grund- und Oberschule Neuenkirchen (Elementary and High School in Neuenkirchen), Native Power Hannover, and Neuenkirchen residents.
Special thanks to: Schoolchildren of Class 6a 2014/15 (Grund- und Oberschule in Neuenkirchen) and Bettina Dziembowski and Monika Zimmerman (Springhornhof Foundation), mayor Carlos Brunkhorst, Heiner Cuhls and Ralf Suhr (Native Power), Lena Kohrsmeier (art teacher, Grund- und Oberschule in Neuenkirchen), Sascha Komoll and Markus Grubbe (Klimawerk), Friedrich Lange (Lange), Wilhelm and Torsten Lindenberg (Lindenberg Bauunternehmen), forester Heinz Meier, Joachim Reinicke Marienhagen (Wald AG, Grund- und Oberschule in Neuenkirchen), Svenja Stelse-Heine (Landkreis in Soltau), farmer who supplied water Joachim Vorwerk, Mathias Zimmermann (Verein Naturschutzgebiet Park Lüneburger Heide) and Stiftung Zukunft Wald.
Supported by: Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, Stiftung Niedersachsen, the EU-Gemeinschaftsinitiative LEADER+ and Lüneburgischer Landschaftsverband.
Publication Der Offene Ort im Wald (pdf)
Published by Kunstverein & Springhornhof Stiftung, 2015
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Carina Herring:
Die Welt pulsiert jenseits der Türen
Der offene Ort im Wald/The open shelter (pdf)
in the publication
Offenland – Ökologische Strategien in der zeitgenössischen Kunst
Published by Kunstverein & Springhornhof Stiftung, 2015
Opening of The Open Shelter, May 8 2015
On May 8 2015, the Neuenkirchen community celebrated the inaguration of The Open Shelter at the School Forest.
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Workshops, November 2014 – March 2015
In fall of 2014 and spring 2015, as part of an art class, we organized several workshops with the students of Class 6a, which took place both at the school itself and in the School Forest.
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Drawings of The Open Shelter design
Drawings of The Open Shelter design by students of the art class at the Grund- und Oberschule (Elementary and High School) in Neuenkirchen
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FAQs – The Open Shelter Project
Workshops, June and July 2014
In June and July 2014, as part of an art class, we organized several workshops with the students of Class 6a, which took place both at the school itself and in the forest.
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HISTORY OF THE PROJECT
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The Warm Place oder Die Warme Insel
Project description, February 2015
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The Open Shelter
Project description, January 2015
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Forest Shelter
Project description, July 2014
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Exhibition at Kunstverein Springhornhof, Neuenkirchen, Oct.18–Dec.21, 2014
The diagram is a visual narrative that explains the path taken by our two classes – Class 6a at the Neuenkirchen school and Design for the Living World – as we moved from thinking of a shelter as an architectural structure to thinking of it as a warm place.
LINKS AND REFERENCES
Design for the Living World, HFBK 
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