Art on the building: "Glass balloon" artwork inaugurated
Award-winning design realised at Südlicher Sonnenberg primary school
On 9 January 2026, Mayor Thomas Kütter inaugurated the artwork "Glass Balloon" by Nina Schuiki at the Südlicher Sonnenberg primary school at Jakobstraße 20. In 2023, the Berlin-based artist impressed the jury of the Chemnitz "Kunst am Bau" competition with her design and was awarded first prize. The design originally developed for the new building of the cooperation school has now been realised in the Südlicher Sonnenberg primary school, which opened in 2022.
The glazed connecting structure between the school and the sports hall, which serves as a foyer for the gym, is given a special spatial quality by the artwork. The coloured glass foiling shows the motif of a hot air balloon, which gives the room an atmospheric character and at the same time deliberately acts as protection against bird strikes. The artistic idea is continued on the walls and windows of the stairwells in the sports hall.
The preparatory research and design work in 2023 was followed by the adaptation and expansion of the design to the new building - in close coordination with the school, planning participants, contractors and the City of Chemnitz building department. Implementation took place in the summer holidays of 2025.
Art in architecture" competition
Two municipal schools in the city of Chemnitz were visually upgraded through the "Kunst am Bau" competition.
In 2023, the auditorium of the new secondary school on Hartmannplatz was designed with the winning design from the 2019/2020 competition, and in summer 2025, the design from the 2022 competition was realised.
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