The ''Zeitpyramide'' () is a work of

public art Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically acce ...

by Manfred Laber under construction in

Wemding Wemding () is a town in the Donau-Ries district of Bavaria, Germany. Wemding is situated on the edge of the Ries meteorite crater in the Geopark Ries. Wemding is the location of the ''Zeitpyramide'' ( Time pyramid), a public art work begun in 1 ...

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. The

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...

, begun in 1993, at the 1,200th anniversary of Wemding, will take another years to complete and is scheduled to be finished in the year 3183. In , the project is scheduled to be complete with the first of its 120 concrete blocks scheduled to have been placed.Conception
Official ''Zeitpyramide'' website, accessed: 14 December 2010

Concept

The town of Wemding dates back to the year 793 and celebrated its 1,200th anniversary in 1993. The ''Zeitpyramide'' was conceived by Manfred Laber (a local artist) in June 1993 to mark this 1,200-year period and to give people a sense of what the span of 1,200 years really means. One block is scheduled to be placed every ten years, taking 1,190 years (see Fencepost error) in total. The material of the blocks used is not fixed and may be altered in future generations depending on availability.

Artist

Manfred Laber was born in Wemding in 1932 and studied painting at the ''Hochschule für Bildende Künste'' in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

in the 1950s. He has other artwork on permanent display on the Isla San Antonio, and in Alcanar,

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, and Mormoiron,

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. Alcanar is also his part-time place of residence.

Construction

Current progress

The pyramid, as far as it exists today, is on a concrete pad on a rounded hilltop, the ''Robertshöhe'', on the northern edge of Wemding. The first block was placed in October 1993. The third and most recent block was placed at 16:14 on 29 June

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. Following the schedule, the fourth block is to be placed in 2023. The project's initial financing was mostly achieved through donations by local companies, which, for example, supplied the materials for the concrete slab for free. The project is administrated by a foundation based in Wemding.Stiftung Wemdinger Zeitpyramide
Official ''Zeitpyramide'' website, accessed: 14 December

Speculative future progress

A model of the final artwork is exhibited at Wemding, at the ''Haus des Gastes''. It is unknown if or how the project would be continued if the administrative foundation stopped existing. Assuming the project proceeded according to plan, it would naturally fall into stages by tier.

Base tier

The planned base layer, measuring , consists of 64 blocks arranged in 8 rows and 8 columns with a presumptive stage completion date of 2623—some decades after Wemding's hypothetical bimillenary.

Second tier

The planned second layer will consist of 36 blocks, in a 6 by 6 format with a presumptive stage completion date of 2983. This is the first layer that requires a block be placed atop another block, which would require a crane or some form of scaffolding such as an earthen ramp used as an incline.

Third tier

The planned third layer will consist of 16 blocks arranged in 4 by 4 with a presumptive stage completion date of 3143.

Fourth tier

The planned final, fourth layer consists of 4 blocks, arranged in 2 by 2, upon completion of which the structure will be finished, having taken just shy of a decade less time to build than Wemding had been in existence at the time that the first block was laid

Completion

The pyramid, when completed in the year 3183, is scheduled to consist of 120 stone or concrete blocks, each measuring long, wide and tall. Adjacent blocks are separated by gaps of half a block or .

References

{{reflist

External links

Official ''Zeitpyramide'' website

Official website of the city of Wemding

Website of the city of Wemding about the project
4th millennium Brutalist architecture Buildings and structures in Donau-Ries Buildings and structures under construction in Germany German art Outdoor sculptures in Germany category:Public art in Germany category:Pyramids in Germany Unfinished sculptures