World place

The Envelope Sculpture was designed by artist Frank Sciarone. His sculpture consists of a large steel surface on which a smaller surface has been placed at right angles. One side of the large steel surface is covered with corrugated material as a reference to the water of the Damsterdiep and the Eemskanaal canals between which the neighbourhood is wedged. One building plot was reserved for the sculpture, which is emphasised by its measurements that can be compared with the adjacent houses: 9 metres high, 12 metres long and 4.5 metres at its broadest point.

In 1990 the city of Groningen celebrated its 950 th anniversary and a contemporary city gate was placed at each main entrance road of the city to mark this. Architect Daniel Libeskind developed these city gates. By the Noorddijkerweg is a four hundred metre-long row of willows, all of which have been planted on one side of the canal and all of them are crooked because columns with metal wires in the canal warp their growth. This city gate was designed by choreographer William Forsythe, the trees of which symbolise dancing bodies that are shaped and changed. 

There is no way you can miss this work of art at the Universitair Medisch Centrum hospital square which comprises nine rough broken fragments surrounding a smoothly polished granite sculpture. The polished sculpture slightly resembles a head and consists of ninety stacked blocks of red granite. The stack results in a pattern of lines that seem to refer to the thinking process of human beings and the complex network of the brain. According to artist Sigurdur Gudmundsson, the Swedish red granite used to create the work is in keeping with the colour of Groningen. In the 1960s the artist lived in Zandeweer, a small village in the north of the province of Groningen, and Gudmondsson’s colour experience is based on the typical redness of the older buildings in the Groningen villages and cities. The bricks received their characteristic red colour because the fatty sea clay – the raw material for the Groningen brick manufacturing – is ferriferous.

These four reed stems were designed by René de Boer, who used an existing well at the location of his design as a starting point: the ENT clinic of the Academisch Ziekenhuis Groningen hospital. The transformed the well into a square pond with a moving reed stem at each side. The four reed stems were made from welded brass. Their exterior is smooth and round while their interior has irregular and organic shapes. The whimsical transition from the round and austere exterior to the organic interior suggests a rupture in the stems. The stalks balance on weathering steel ‘holders’ with two points and move in the wind. In 1987 the ENT clinic was demolished after which the sculpture went into storage for a long time. Since then it has received a new location at the Oostersingel on the UMCG hospital grounds.

In 1990 the city of Groningen celebrated its 950 th anniversary and a contemporary city gate was placed at each main entrance road of the city to mark this. Architect Daniel Libeskind developed these city gates. The S08 city marking is located at the Euvelgunnerweg by the A7 and consists of three towers: a tower of cards, a tower of letters and the joker’s perch. The towers, which were created by artist John Hejduk, symbolise time that tells stories. The four series of thirteen maps represent the 52 weeks of the year and the card game and joker refer to the Middle Ages, when games of chance were very popular. They also refer to the 950 th anniversary of Groningen in 1990, the black tower representing the connection with the present.

The Werkman is a monument for Groningen printer and artist Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman, who was killed on 10 April 1945 by accomplices of the SD (German Security Service) shortly before the liberation. The work of art has the shape of a suspension bridge and consists of sixteen stainless steel plates from which figures have been punched. The shapes refer to the templates Werkman often worked with. The row of punched plates that form a bridge was inspired by the rows of newspapers that come from the printing presses. The sculpture is a homage to the artist and printer Werkman. Hans Rikken created ‘De Werkmanbrug’ for the Gallery Art Show in 1995, the year that was proclaimed the ‘Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman year’ by the municipality of Groningen.

The more than life-sized sculpture by Henk Visch is a bronze figure of a man who stretches forward while resting on his fingertips, providing the pose with tension. Visch’s sculptures are not easy to interpret. They have poetic beauty and invite personal interpretations. His works are mainly characterised by mysteriousness, which is enhanced even more by the titles, as in this case.  Secret Life in a Public Body  refers to ‘a secret life’, but does Visch’s public body refer to his sculpture or its location? And what exactly are these secrets? The work of art was in the Westerhaven underground car park for five years where it took the place of exactly one parking space. It was in striking contrast with the glossy vehicles. On 31 March 2009 it was relocated to the square of the Voormalig Klein Poortje at the Oosterhaven.

In the 1970s the narrowing of the gap between art and the public was among artist René de Boer’s main themes. This encouraged him to make appliances of his sculptures instead of merely objects to look at, and these sitting lumps are an example of this. Below the sculpture are swivel casters and nylon slide plates that allow the work to be moved, and because the sculpture hinges in the centre its shape can change. The work of art is therefore also an object to look at, lie on and play with. In 1975 Zitknobbels (Sitting Lumps) was at the Grote Markt for a month after which the municipality of purchased it and placed it in the Paddepoel shopping centre. In the late 1990s the sculpture was moved to the Selwerd shopping centre, and since 2011, the bronze bench is located on the Beren shopping square.

It can hardly be seen on the ground floor, but if you look up the façade you will see an impressive mansion. The presumed year of construction can be read at the top of the richly adorned façade: 1661. Originally the building stretched far into the Jacobijnerstraat and the residents used to house their coaches and horses in the back part of the complex (which no longer exists). Until a major renovation in 1923 it also had distinctive steps by the front door. Before councillor Andreas Ludolphi had the house built, the ground was owned by the Dominicans, who founded the city’s largest monastery complex between the Jacobijnerstraat and the Hofstraat. In 1308, thanks to a gift from the Groningen prefect the ground on which this house was built had belonged to the Dominicans, who were also referred to as Jacobins after their first church in Paris. Their order founded the largest monastery complex in the city between the Jacobijnerstraat and the Hofstraat.

It is hardly visible from the outside, but today this municipal monument forms a whole with the adjacent former bank building. They are connected via a spaciously laid out glass stairwell. The monumental part was built around 1829, and was expanded in 1924. A new part was added in 1993, and the buildings have been combined to make room for the Protestant Theological University. 

Bus stops involve people waiting, which makes them a perfect location for a work of art. In the Oosterstraat a news ticker has been installed between two stainless steel columns. Instead of passenger information, texts are displayed about travelling, buses, and heart and lungs. The texts were written by author Jacques Brooijmans and most of them are poetic or philosophical.  In the Oosterstraat is a transparent synthetic heart in neon light above the columns. In the Gelkingestraat, that runs parallel to the Oosterstraat, lungs are placed above the columns. The organs refer to the centre and periphery of the city. When you enter the city by bus, you first pass the red heart, a symbol for the centre and the dynamic liveliness surrounding it. When leaving the city via the Gelkingestraat, buses pass the green lungs that refer to the tranquillity and space in the suburbs.