Ladies and gentlemen, dear culture lovers, welcome to the Modelhof!
The land on which the Modelhof stands is called Urweide because it was acquired by the Urweider family in a beautiful coincidence of time. This name fits what is intended here. It is not only 'the green meadow' where new beginnings can be made, but also where the original, innocent, unspent and timeless can prevail. This is also where what will take its place with the name AVALON will manifest itself, which will be freed up by the disintegration of institutions that are not built according to the laws of nature.
The assignemnt of builder owner Daniel Model to architect Urs Strähl for the construction of Modelhof was namely:
"Combine the round with the straight".
Looking at the human being as a model for the language of form, the sculptor realized that the round would be at the top and the straight at the bottom. The light in the inner courtyard could not come from above, but from the side, as if through the eyes. Heights and depths had to be reached gently via steps 13 cm high, colors were to fill rooms and people were to move on the ground, where the dark is below and the light is above. The supporting element in perception should also be the supporting element in reality - the pillars really do carry. Fire-police nightmares must not be woven into the architecture and must remain outside. The beautiful, the good and the true prevail here.
The sculptor created a model in 9 months. It became the model for the building. The model courtyard is intended to last a long time. The vulnerable sandstone is flanked by strong materials: granite in the base and concrete in the cornice. The double-domed building is also home to music. The acoustics are not calculated, but arise from the shapes and materials like a gift from the building to its people. The rooms are high, the upright forces great, the back straight, the view upwards. The building stands on an east-west or north-south axis. The gargoyles represent the four temperaments in the four cardinal directions: In the north, bird-like creatures as sanguine, in the east, horned creatures as melancholic, in the south, the lion as phlegmatic and in the west, human-like creatures as choleric. Enthroned in the middle, Archangel Michael spreads his wings.
Here you are full of interest in people, here you work towards the great goal of understanding human nature.
The first entrance can only be made from the right or left, the second entrance is through the heavy central entrance portal. It bears the Solomonic key, which shows the wonders of the encounter in the geometric design language. Both parties are changed towards each other when they leave again.
And so the private and the public meet in the Modelhof. Even if the public is always at odds with the private, it has to face up to the public every day in order to grow stronger. The first public event was the opening event on June 2, 2012, at which the specially rehearsed Mass in B minor by Johann Sebastian Bach was performed.
The following poem was recited that day (originally in German):
What has shaped this building in this way
As it now stands around us and is even already talking to us?
Did it say “now I will come” or was it just a bold mind spinning?
Is a special spirit the hero here or is it just plain money?
Did the stone want to be hewn or did something grow from Urweid's earth?
Has a neighbor shouted “now you must come” or has a will scaled new heights?
Has a private individual ordered a villa here or has this part of the earth demanded an opera?
Is a dream being realized here or are colors and sounds seeking their space?
Is it the result of a strange impulse or a memorable encounter?
Has something special been negotiated here or has a subject been transformed into an object?
The mystery cannot be solved just like that, everyone has to make up their own mind.
Yes, it is now time for everyone to make their own decision.
Too many want to think for others, too few want to steer their own wagon.
Don't stare at the others, create your own orientation!
That's why we were given the deep insights to fathom and create our own destinies!
Illusion and redistribution outside, thinking and sharing joy inside.
On the outside the veiled thief in dishonor, on the inside man in multiplication through sharing.
Outside is guilt and waste, inside is creation and the use of everything.
But outside we fetch the order, the fulfillment of which we may succeed here inside!
The Mass in B minor was performed three more times that month to tune the Modelhof as a sounding board.
The public events are divided into lectures - to be found under Academy and musical performances - to be found under Music.
Academy 2024
Date |
Topic |
Information + registration |
9. December - 7.30 p.m. |
Vortrag mit Andreas Thiel: Liebe, Lust und Logik – Platons verlorengegangene Schlusspointe |
|
10. December - 7.30 p.m. |
Vortrag mit Christian Oesch: Das digitale Dilemma – Impulsreferat |
Music 2025
Date |
Performance |
Information + Tickets |
4. April – 8 p.m |
Opera - Tosca |
|
6. April – 6 p.m. |
Opera - Manon Lescaut |
Modelhof - Hofstrasse 1 - 8555 Müllheim