Fireplace as the central element. Focus project by Ingrid Maria Buron de Preser

Description of project by Ingrid Maria Buron de Preser

The bell has been silent for several years and no mass is celebrated in the church, but the tower is still there. With its massive structure, almost fortified and at the same time elegant and clean, it continues to rise towards distant skies. In disuse, the bell tower, houses only a few birds. But the memory is strong and endures in time. 

"Pass, please", invite us. At the entrance of what was the bell tower of the old Church of St.Elizabeth, in the Zähringen Quarter of Freiburg in Brisgovia (Germany), is Ingrid Maria Buron de Preser, the promoter, rigger and who has developed the project. In fact, this film architect, designer and 'brave fairy' gave a new life to the abandoned church tower, thanks to the touch of her magic wand.

A brutally honest church 

"Seeing the tower I fell in love with it," says Ingrid Buron. It was in 2014 that he discovered it, specifically on Offenburger Street in Freiburg. The project preparation work took two years, so the planning specifically began in 2016 and the works would still begin two years later, in 2018. Rainer Disse, one of the greatest church architects of the South West of postwar Germany, is the author of the construction of the Church of St.Elizabeth and its tower.

This former pupil of Egon Eiermann built the church between 1962 and 1965 in the purest Brutalist style, a style often misunderstood, but which became frequent worldwide since the early 1960s, especially in public buildings. Its representatives were architects who were influenced by war, often by the two world wars. With their bare concrete buildings without cladding, they tried to introduce modern, bold and refined designs in war-torn cities. Thus, these architects rose up against urban reconstruction, as imagined by the petty bourgeoisie who idealized history through the kitsch style. The new buildings should be extremely pragmatic, social and democratic. Basically, brutalist architecture was a political project. Its name, by the way, has nothing to do with "brutality," but comes from the French term 'brut béton' (raw concrete), a raw, uncoated construction material.

Brutalism was seen as an evolution of the heritage of the Bauhaus School. It was in 1919, after a dehumanized world war, that the Staatliche Bauhaus was founded in Weimar. The first director of this school of architecture and applied arts, Walter Gropius, wanted to form a "new man" for a "new society". An important means to achieve this goal was the "construction of the future" as a total work of "honest art" that is freed from the symbolic overload of previous architectural styles. Thirty years later this conception was not honest enough in the eyes of the Brutalists. Modernism had liberated the construction of ornamentation with white plaster facades smoothing the appearance of all things. Brutalism also defined plaster and painting as decoration.

Block effect must be avoided 

This is a typical narrative motif: looking closer, the supposed monster turns out to be a delicate creature. It is also the case of many Brutalist constructions that have been described as "concrete monsters". They reveal their sublime qualities only at the second or third glance. The church of Santa Isabel was an example of this architectural style: "brute", according to the principle of construction transparency; "purified", in the sense of non-elitist, and "modern and intransigent", with a decisive gesture against any historical reference.

The vertical exterior markings of the formwork made of planks give the body of the rough concrete a texture that emphasizes the tower’s upward movement, reminiscent of the Gothic style. Saint Elizabeth was a 'child' of her time, whose attention was focused on the essentials. 

The ship was a cuboid with a flat roof. In addition, it had an independent tower. Everything is very small, almost austere, without any ornamentation. It happened that in 2006, the parish moved permanently to the nearby Church of Saint Conrad and Saint Elizabeth remained deconstructed and remained empty. Several reform projects failed before the nave was transformed into a residential building following a project with the outlandish name of 'Church-Chill'. Two floors were added to the original structure and the west and east facades were largely preserved while large openings were created in the other two.The apartments were sold in 2013 and one was purchased by Gregor Disse, the son of the church architect himself. But what about the tower? No one seemed interested. All they did was move their bell called Cecilia, 600 kg, which today calls believers to prayer in distant Tanzania. 

"Conservation of Beauty"

Shortly after, in 2014, it was when Ingrid Maria Buron from Preser arrived, saw and fell in love with the bell tower. He convinced the municipality and the local authorities, as well as Gregor Disse and the real estate company that rebuilt the ship, how important it was to preserve the historical monuments. The local population was seduced by the idea and the architect set out to plan, not getting carried away by discouragement. With her husband, photographer Gerd Preser (who died in the summer of 2019) explored the tower and studied it for future use, while considering the concept on which she would base the work. The tower had to be rethought in context for a new use, but without betraying its original idea. Rainer Disse’s tower had to "revive". It was about the "conservation of beauty". This was the name given by Ingrid Maria Buron de Preser to her transformation and reform project that began in August 2018.

The monolithic cube of 7x7 meters and 22 meters high had no windows. Just four narrow slits offered to the darkness of the interior of the bell tower (more specifically, what could be called the 'civic tower', at the top) a twilight, with which, it was necessary to expand those slits.

The other four floors were also supposed to have windows. The widening of the slits of light to obtain windows 40 centimeters wide that extended to the ground was a huge challenge. To do so, they turned to the nearby specialist company Karlheinz Hug in Simonswald. Diamond saw blades guided by rails or laptops were used, and the feat of cutting stelae 7.5 meters high, in a single piece, was achieved in the raw concrete walls, and then remove them through the small skylight of the roof of the civic tower.

Thanks to a virtually vibration-free technique, the cuts could be made with a wall thickness of 65 centimeters without tolerance. The neighborhood was also tolerant during the many days dedicated to concrete cuts. Residents of the area were personally informed, who were delighted that the tower was to be preserved, and patiently tolerated the noise, dust and obstacles of the alley. Even the nursery school next to the building site and the other neighbouring schools were involved in the idea they wanted to convey: the construction was a great event, also for the children.

Other specialized industrialists placed windows (in some rooms they made the interior insulation), sanded floors, installed electrical and sanitary equipment, etc. The situation was complicated when installing the stairs, whose hollow altered the static characteristics of the tower and required compensatory measures in other spaces. 

Architecture as a regenerating force

On the ground floor is the chapel. This space, the only one that was used regularly in the past, is still dominated by the stone of the altar, monolithic and without ornament. Today, the room also consists of a cozy table, a small open kitchen, a sink, access to the stairs and, at a height of about three meters, there is a room furnished as a niche, as if it were a theater set. All this contrasts sharply with the rugged appearance of the rough concrete walls and the 1.5x1.5 meter marble floor tiles.

Each of the three floors that follow, include a guest bedroom of 40m2 'high'. This means that the church bell tower, to the south and east, is surrounded by very tall old trees and the windows of this bedroom overlook them, so one feels like in a hut nestled in a tree.

The equipment and design of these spaces further increase this sensation. The walls are painted, some by artists and the rooms consist of a few carefully selected furniture, paying great attention to the "visual axes" that tend towards vegetation, because these rooms pretend to be places full of strength and energy, as shelters for those who want to rest or regenerate. They are considered temporary living and working spaces. In addition, Ingrid Maria Buron de Preser plans to open the tower to all people interested in architecture and art, in short, in beauty. The massive concrete cube must thus become a lightweight place.For its part, the old chapel and the civic tower will be dedicated to holding exhibitions, readings and receptions. 

The civic tower with the chimney Gyrofocus

The ascent of 63 steps from the old church bell tower looks like a rite of passage. From the chapel, located on the ground floor, one climbs the stairs through natural spaces lined with leafy trees, until reaching the top where the bell tower room is located, next to the sky. This room of elongated dimensions has a surface of 6.5x6.5 meters and, from its floor of waxed concrete to the ceiling there are another eight meters, enhanced if possible by the conduit of the central suspended and open chimney (Gyrofocus) that is shown infinitely long. The room has maintained its sacred atmosphere and, instinctively, one speaks quietly when one is there.Although located on the south wall, the fireplace gives the room a central focus. Like the fiery chalices of ancient temples or the eternal light in a cathedral, the staging recalls the relationship between fire and the sacred.

Ingrid Maria Buron of Preser has very consciously staged this relationship with the divine flame.
 

"I think having an open fire at home is the essence, is the beginning of everything." 

declares the architect.

For his acquisition, he went to Ohlsbach’s Benz Ofenbau, which turned out to be a supplier with technical expertise who understood his wishes perfectly.

Thus, the enigmatic Gyrofocus model is a central chimney with open and pivoting fire that was suspended from the ceiling with a 7.5 meter high conduit. The sensual and curved shapes of the Focus fireplace contrast with the austere cubic architecture. And the strict use of pure steel responds to the presence of raw concrete. Both interactions clearly demonstrate that the masterful use of forms complements the skilful use of spaces. In former times, although the bell was a central element of the sacred use of the church bell tower, today, the chimney is the center of the profane building. A Gyrofocus chimney was already in the mind of Ingrid Maria Buron of Preser when she first climbed up that ladder covered with bird droppings to reach the civic tower. The architect has always loved the creations of chimney designer Dominique Imbert, who lives true to "his vision and his passion", combining craftsmanship, art and design. When she finally settled down and lit the first fire of the Gyrofocus, she saw her idea confirmed: "No other chimney would have served as God intended".

The remodelling of the bell tower pays an impressive tribute to the rough concrete. And now, everything is ready to welcome the friends of art and architecture, as well as the guests, even if they have not yet completed all the works. Indeed, on the flat roof will be built a terrace with vegetation, open to the public, and you can practice urban gardening in Freiburg, an idea in project phase.

The truth is that, today, the tranquility prevails that the transformation of the tower has been a success and maybe it is also the right time to think, not only in saving these "concrete monsters" but also to rediscover the philosophy from which they come: honesty, solidarity, orientation towards a better future... And perhaps it is in Freiburg the appropriate symbol for this change of thought, because the card number 16 in the tarot is called "The tower" and this symbolizes "a change and a new beginning that goes hand in hand with knowledge".