Horu

The Hansaviertel was built in 1957 as part of the International Building Exhibition (Interbau) under the banner of ‘The City of Tomorrow’ and is regarded as a classic example of modernist architecture and urban planning. Since 1995, the area has been fully listed as a conservation area, thereby preserving these ideas. Architecture enthusiasts from all over the world flock to the Hansaviertel to study and marvel at modernist architecture. Jan Köchermann’s installation Horu adds another attraction to the former city of tomorrow and, for a limited time, complements it with an “Alpine panorama”: The Matterhorn, known as ‘Horu’ in Valais German, will be on display in front of the Hansa Library from August 2020. Although only eight metres high and not rising above 4,000 metres above sea level, it does feature a cave. A small souvenir shop with postcards, where the newspaper Die Höhle and hiking stick stamps are on display, already references and awaits this mountain and tourist attraction. Currently, the mountain, dismantled into its individual parts, is still stored in a cellar, where it awaits its debut as a kit. A surveillance camera provides a round-the-clock live feed of the mountain to the kiosk on Hansaplatz.