Sky Gates, Center

Under the motto "You shall be a blessing", over 600,000 believers from all Christian denominations met from 28.05. to 01.06.2003 to celebrate the 1st Ecumenical Kirchentag in Berlin.

On the occasion of this historic event, D:4 developed the "Himmelstore" in cooperation with the engineering office schlaich bergermann partner. A large "halo" on the Pariser Platz at the Brandenburg Gate symbolised the Kirchentag motto and upgraded the urban space for these special days and became one of the most photographed motifs of the Kirchentag.

In addition, free-floating smaller rings at changing locations in the townscape marked the most important events of the Kirchentag.

Project

The large heavenly gate with a diameter of 25 m and a height of 13 m was built in front of the Brandenburg Gate. An orange-coloured ring of nylon fabric was attached to a filigree steel construction, which was constantly kept at a cross-section of two metres by an integrated fan.

Heaven's Gate was realized as an independent, free-standing structure that could be erected on Pariser Platz in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate without foundations embedded in the ground. The six steel columns are connected by a thrust ring while four traction cable systems stiffen the structure.

Helium-filled membranes with a diameter of six metres were developed for the 12 small heavenly gates, which floated as stylised halos at a height of 10-12 metres above the central venues and marked these in the urban space. They were located on the west side of the Brandenburg Gate, on the central reservation of Unter den Linden at the intersection with Friedrichstraße and in front of the Humboldt University, in the Lustgarten, on Bebelplatz, on Schlossplatz, in front of the Rotes Rathaus, next to the Foreign Office, on Gendarmenmarkt, at Anhalter Bahnhof, on Breitscheidplatz, and on Platz der Republik.

The architecture alludes to the elementary form of a sacred building and places the viewer in a new context of perception. The Heavenly Gates became one of the most frequently used event meeting points and in the media they became the symbol of the Ecumenical Kirchentag.