Intervention

Finalist Kunst am Bau – Nouvelle Bibliothèque de Neuchâtel

Donald Jacob war mit dem Beitrag «2 troncs / Deux troncs de la connaissance» Finalist im Kunst-am-Bau-Verfahren für die neue Bibliothek in Neuchâtel im Rahmen des pourcent culturel.

Der Entwurf schlug zwei korrespondierende vertikale Setzungen vor: einen verkohlten Eichenstamm im Inneren des Lesesaals und einen hochglanzpolierten Edelstahlstamm im Aussenraum auf der Place Agota Kristof. Zusammen sollten sie eine unsichtbare Achse durch das Gebäude bilden.

Der innere Stamm bezog sich auf den Ursprung des Wissens: Baum, Feuer, Papier, Buch, Erinnerung. Der äussere Stamm spiegelte Stadt, Himmel, Wasser und Passanten und überführte diese historische Tiefenschicht in die Gegenwart des öffentlichen Raums.

Das Projekt verstand die Bibliothek nicht nur als Ort der Sammlung, sondern als räumliche Verbindung zwischen Natur, Kultur und Öffentlichkeit. Der Beitrag zielte auf eine stille, dauerhafte Präsenz: keine dekorative Geste, sondern ein materielles Zeichen für die Beziehung zwischen Wissen und lebendiger Welt.

Den Wettbewerb gewonnen hat ein leuchtender Kronleuchter im Treppenhaus. Die Jury würdigte insbesondere dessen historische Referenz, plastische Dimension und Lichtwirkung. Donald Jacobs Beitrag bleibt als Finalistenprojekt ein eigenständiger Vorschlag für eine Kunst am Bau, die Erinnerung, Material und Ort in eine präzise räumliche Beziehung setzt.

into the silence installation water, natural stone, concrete, light 1999, LISTE, WARTECK PP, BASEL Into the silence is a path, a conversation, an encounter with the self Credits: Karin Wagner felt-installation \| video: Beat Toniolo	Apertures of Perspective 2007 \| private Birsfelden, Switzerland A concrete wall hard and opaque, pierced with leaves - play of light - views - constantly transforms with the course of the sun and the weather.	Rememberance of the Earth 2014 \| Museum, anywhere It was a blue planet, fertile and richly filled with a living biosphere. There was life in great diversity.
Resonanz 2024 \| hochpolierter Edelstahl, Metall Campus Spiegelfeld, Binningen, Schweiz verkauft	Stone Waves Stone waves 2014 \| Riehenring Basel, Switzerland The park is laid out like a river that meanders through the urban structure and shows the users a permanently changing image from above at any time of the year	Lebensweg 2019 private \| Basel, Switzerland In Japan it was the custom to lay out the gardens like a poem. Each garden has its own special meaning and lets its own intention shine. This work represents the path of life
Lightforest 2006-08 \| Airport Hotel Basel, Switzerland lightforest — 201 polymer light rods A site-specific nightscape composed of 201 slender, translucent polymer rods set directly into the ground.	Changes 2005 \| Basel, Switzerland \| corten steel, water	Tears 2022 \| Tar on Tar
Inside-Out 1 1999 \| Warteck pp, Basel, Switzerland Granit sliced, Light verkauft	Infinity 2018 \| Baltic Sea, anywhere \| woman and men Duality - unity - one and yet separate.	Monolithes of Progress 2022 \| Basel, Switzerland \| Mirror of time.
Delicate Balance Art Festival Kyoto Japan Winter 2012 \| Glass tubes, hammer Glass breaks, fragility, the walk on the edge, how much can it take until it breaks? Violent hardness meets fragility, the heavy - dark mass - opaque meets the light - light transparency. Link to video https://vimeo.com/376122645 https://vimeo.com/376134141	Monolith of Life Riehen, Switzerland Summer 2006 \| Natural Stone, water The cube an eight-sided body - a primal form.	Forest forest Kunst Museum Basel, Switzerland concept, not yet realised Summer 2014 A forest planted in the atrium of the museum. Nature in built space. Fog, glistening light, living green and sounds so dense that you can't see through it,
Into the Silence lll Basel, Switzerland Summer 2010 \| purpur fabric Kinetic Sculpture, surreal landscape, moving wall with the wind, creating hyperrealistic moments in the perception of the visitors Link to video https://vimeo.com/395388127	into the silence ll Art Festival Strasbourg Jardins de Gaia, Wittisheim, France summer 2008 A landscape shrouded in purple In a narrower sense, purple refers to a very saturated reddish-purple or violet-red hue of "splendid" effect, associated with "supreme glory" long before antiquity, as early as 1600 B.C., but also compared by Homer to (coagulated) blood. In the installation into the silence ll, the landscape, and thus the perception, is manipulated and interwoven so skillfully that a constant change	Into the Silence lV 2010 \| private, Basel, Switzerland purple wall and 21 birches, kinetic moving fabric
Green Waves 2008 \| public park Basel, Switzerland	Inside-Out 2021 \| Garten zur Sandgrube \| Basel, Switzerland Natural stone and high polished Steel INSIDE-OUT, hidden things are made visible and audible. Credits: dars collective, Ramon de Marco, Simon Luk, ideeundklang	Cube Kaiseraugst, Switzerland Summer 2002 \| Natural Stones
nature's looking glass 2008 London, UK Sky mirror A circular water mirror reflects the sky and brings the sky down to earth.	White Sheep 2012 \| 20 V masks Temporary intervention étagère Museum, Paris, France	Squared Basel, Switzerland not yet built A house consisting of 2 cubes that intertwine and generate a new interacting spatial experience. A walkable art space work.
7 Tore Art Festival Jardins de Gaia, Wittisheim, France Winter 2019 \| 7 wooden columns 200- 400cm 20x20cm painted The installation consists of 7 Torii columns. The pillars are gates.	wolke 2021 Berlin, Germany Berlin is not an island, Berlin is a cloud. It lets you dive in, edgy soft, symbolic of diversity, symbolic of Berlin. The cloud does not fly around the tower in the sky, it hovers lower, directly overhead, combining the activating power of dawn red with the soothing pastel colors of the evening sun. Fluid as a sea of waves, it breaks the straight lines of the facade and creates a place for optimism that awakens a healthy recklessness Credits: Co work with Ramon de Marco,	Innocence in repose 2020 \| Intervention

into the silence installation water, natural stone, concrete, light 1999, LISTE, WARTECK PP, BASEL Into the silence is a path, a conversation, an encounter with the self Credits: Karin Wagner felt-installation \| video: Beat Toniolo	Apertures of Perspective 2007 \| private Birsfelden, Switzerland A concrete wall hard and opaque, pierced with leaves - play of light - views - constantly transforms with the course of the sun and the weather.	Rememberance of the Earth 2014 \| Museum, anywhere It was a blue planet, fertile and richly filled with a living biosphere. There was life in great diversity.
Resonanz 2024 \| hochpolierter Edelstahl, Metall Campus Spiegelfeld, Binningen, Schweiz verkauft	Stone Waves Stone waves 2014 \| Riehenring Basel, Switzerland The park is laid out like a river that meanders through the urban structure and shows the users a permanently changing image from above at any time of the year	Lebensweg 2019 private \| Basel, Switzerland In Japan it was the custom to lay out the gardens like a poem. Each garden has its own special meaning and lets its own intention shine. This work represents the path of life
Lightforest 2006-08 \| Airport Hotel Basel, Switzerland lightforest — 201 polymer light rods A site-specific nightscape composed of 201 slender, translucent polymer rods set directly into the ground.	Changes 2005 \| Basel, Switzerland \| corten steel, water	Tears 2022 \| Tar on Tar
Inside-Out 1 1999 \| Warteck pp, Basel, Switzerland Granit sliced, Light verkauft	Infinity 2018 \| Baltic Sea, anywhere \| woman and men Duality - unity - one and yet separate.	Monolithes of Progress 2022 \| Basel, Switzerland \| Mirror of time.
Delicate Balance Art Festival Kyoto Japan Winter 2012 \| Glass tubes, hammer Glass breaks, fragility, the walk on the edge, how much can it take until it breaks? Violent hardness meets fragility, the heavy - dark mass - opaque meets the light - light transparency. Link to video https://vimeo.com/376122645 https://vimeo.com/376134141	Monolith of Life Riehen, Switzerland Summer 2006 \| Natural Stone, water The cube an eight-sided body - a primal form.	Forest forest Kunst Museum Basel, Switzerland concept, not yet realised Summer 2014 A forest planted in the atrium of the museum. Nature in built space. Fog, glistening light, living green and sounds so dense that you can't see through it,
Into the Silence lll Basel, Switzerland Summer 2010 \| purpur fabric Kinetic Sculpture, surreal landscape, moving wall with the wind, creating hyperrealistic moments in the perception of the visitors Link to video https://vimeo.com/395388127	into the silence ll Art Festival Strasbourg Jardins de Gaia, Wittisheim, France summer 2008 A landscape shrouded in purple In a narrower sense, purple refers to a very saturated reddish-purple or violet-red hue of "splendid" effect, associated with "supreme glory" long before antiquity, as early as 1600 B.C., but also compared by Homer to (coagulated) blood. In the installation into the silence ll, the landscape, and thus the perception, is manipulated and interwoven so skillfully that a constant change	Into the Silence lV 2010 \| private, Basel, Switzerland purple wall and 21 birches, kinetic moving fabric
Green Waves 2008 \| public park Basel, Switzerland	Inside-Out 2021 \| Garten zur Sandgrube \| Basel, Switzerland Natural stone and high polished Steel INSIDE-OUT, hidden things are made visible and audible. Credits: dars collective, Ramon de Marco, Simon Luk, ideeundklang	Cube Kaiseraugst, Switzerland Summer 2002 \| Natural Stones
nature's looking glass 2008 London, UK Sky mirror A circular water mirror reflects the sky and brings the sky down to earth.	White Sheep 2012 \| 20 V masks Temporary intervention étagère Museum, Paris, France	Squared Basel, Switzerland not yet built A house consisting of 2 cubes that intertwine and generate a new interacting spatial experience. A walkable art space work.
7 Tore Art Festival Jardins de Gaia, Wittisheim, France Winter 2019 \| 7 wooden columns 200- 400cm 20x20cm painted The installation consists of 7 Torii columns. The pillars are gates.	wolke 2021 Berlin, Germany Berlin is not an island, Berlin is a cloud. It lets you dive in, edgy soft, symbolic of diversity, symbolic of Berlin. The cloud does not fly around the tower in the sky, it hovers lower, directly overhead, combining the activating power of dawn red with the soothing pastel colors of the evening sun. Fluid as a sea of waves, it breaks the straight lines of the facade and creates a place for optimism that awakens a healthy recklessness Credits: Co work with Ramon de Marco,	Innocence in repose 2020 \| Intervention

Intervention

into the silence

installation water, natural stone, concrete, light 1999, LISTE, WARTECK PP, BASEL Into the silence is a path, a conversation, an encounter with the self Credits: Karin Wagner felt-installation | video: Beat Toniolo

Apertures of Perspective

2007 | private Birsfelden, Switzerland A concrete wall hard and opaque, pierced with leaves - play of light - views - constantly transforms with the course of the sun and the weather.

Rememberance of the Earth

2014 | Museum, anywhere It was a blue planet, fertile and richly filled with a living biosphere. There was life in great diversity.

Resonanz

2024 | hochpolierter Edelstahl, Metall Campus Spiegelfeld, Binningen, Schweiz verkauft

Stone Waves

Stone waves 2014 | Riehenring Basel, Switzerland The park is laid out like a river that meanders through the urban structure and shows the users a permanently changing image from above at any time of the year

Lebensweg

2019 private | Basel, Switzerland In Japan it was the custom to lay out the gardens like a poem. Each garden has its own special meaning and lets its own intention shine. This work represents the path of life

Lightforest

2006-08 | Airport Hotel Basel, Switzerland lightforest — 201 polymer light rods A site-specific nightscape composed of 201 slender, translucent polymer rods set directly into the ground.

Changes

2005 | Basel, Switzerland | corten steel, water

Tears

2022 | Tar on Tar

Inside-Out 1

1999 | Warteck pp, Basel, Switzerland Granit sliced, Light verkauft

Infinity

2018 | Baltic Sea, anywhere | woman and men Duality - unity - one and yet separate.

Monolithes of Progress

2022 | Basel, Switzerland | Mirror of time.

Delicate Balance

Monolith of Life

Riehen, Switzerland Summer 2006 | Natural Stone, water The cube an eight-sided body - a primal form.

Forest

forest ​ Kunst Museum Basel, Switzerland concept, not yet realised Summer 2014 A forest planted in the atrium of the museum. Nature in built space. Fog, glistening light, living green and sounds so dense that you can't see through it,

Into the Silence lll

Basel, Switzerland Summer 2010 | ​purpur fabric Kinetic Sculpture, surreal landscape, moving wall with the wind, creating hyperrealistic moments in the perception of the visitors Link to video https://vimeo.com/395388127

into the silence ll

Into the Silence lV

2010 | private, Basel, Switzerland purple wall and 21 birches, kinetic moving fabric

Green Waves

2008 | public park Basel, Switzerland

Inside-Out

2021 | Garten zur Sandgrube | Basel, Switzerland Natural stone and high polished Steel INSIDE-OUT, hidden things are made visible and audible. Credits: dars collective, Ramon de Marco, Simon Luk, ideeundklang

Cube

Kaiseraugst, Switzerland Summer 2002 | ​Natural Stones

nature's looking glass

2008 London, UK Sky mirror A circular water mirror reflects the sky and brings the sky down to earth.

White Sheep

2012 | 20 V masks Temporary intervention étagère Museum, Paris, France

Squared

Basel, Switzerland not yet built A house consisting of 2 cubes that intertwine and generate a new interacting spatial experience. A walkable art space work.

7 Tore

Art Festival Jardins de Gaia, Wittisheim, France Winter 2019 | 7 wooden columns 200- 400cm 20x20cm painted ​ The installation consists of 7 Torii columns. The pillars are gates.

wolke

Innocence in repose

2020 | Intervention

forest Kunst Museum Basel, Switzerland concept, not yet realised Summer 2014 A forest planted in the atrium of the museum. Nature in built space. Fog, glistening light, living green and sounds so dense that you can't see through it,

Basel, Switzerland Summer 2010 | purpur fabric Kinetic Sculpture, surreal landscape, moving wall with the wind, creating hyperrealistic moments in the perception of the visitors Link to video https://vimeo.com/395388127

Kaiseraugst, Switzerland Summer 2002 | Natural Stones

Art Festival Jardins de Gaia, Wittisheim, France Winter 2019 | 7 wooden columns 200- 400cm 20x20cm painted The installation consists of 7 Torii columns. The pillars are gates.