MAßSTAB: ART INSTALLATION AND PLAY AREA FOR BERLIN’S KINDERGARTEN
1st Prize Winner, Art in Architecture Competition Modular Kita Buildings for Berlin (MOKIB) sponsored by the State of Berlin, Germany.
Authors: Authors: Ulrich Vogl and Ana Rolim
“Maßstab” means “scale” in German and it is an art installation and play area adjacent to a Kindergarten, inspired by a photo capturing the construction of a Mokib-3G unit, one of the public kindergarten typologies in Berlin, Germany.
Scaled at 1:12 to match toy cars like excavators, it features doorways tall enough for Barbie dolls. Detailed mini glazing-less windows serve as a ballroom for Playmobil figures. The model includes a child-sized wall for play and hide-and-seek. Its design mimics construction materials and it freezes and frames a moment of the building construction.
A central body resembles an oven or factory chimney. Robinia wood boards form a roof and seating area. “Maßstab” complements its location, providing a focal point in an otherwise overlooked space. It could be adapted for other Kindergarten locations, maintaining consistency with neighboring structures and urban development.
The walls are spruce laminated veneer lumber placed on Corten steel U-rails atop concrete footings. The fireplace consists of self-fired clay bricks with a painted steel flue. Larger window frames and wall caps are solid robinia wood, while shutters are brightly painted over the walls. Miniature window frames are corten steel.
 Art installation and play area in a kindergarten, inspired by a photo of the building during construction. |  Photo capturing the construction of a kindergarten that inspired the project |  “Maßstab” complements its location, providing a focal point in an otherwise overlooked space |
|---|---|---|
 Scaled at 1:12 to match toy cars like excavators, the installation features doorways tall enough for Barbie or Playmobil dolls. |  The maze-like floor plan mimics layout of the building but in a much smaller scale |  Maßstab alters the building scale it was inspired turning into a child-sized play space. |
 The design mimics real materials as it freezes and frames a moment of the building construction. |  Spruce laminated veneer lumber rests on corten steel rails atop concrete footings, with miniature window frames also made from this material. Larger window frames and wall caps feature solid robinia wood. |