Commitment to Europe by Mia Florentine Weiss at the NIKOLAIKIRCHE MUSEUM BERLIN

To mark the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Versailles, artist Mia Florentine Weiss has transformed the nave of St Nicholas’ Church into a universal “Way of the Cross” by creating a large-scale cross installation which visitors can walk through.
Resting on a mound of soil from every European country, the cross becomes an eloquent image for the concept of a unified Europe. After its Berlin debut in autumn 2019, the installation is due to set off on itself own symbolic way of the cross as it will tour a number of the countries which signed the Treaty of Versailles.

The walk-in cross is a framework construction enclosed by membranes. An ECTFE film cushion is used to close off the ends on the cross’s horizontal bar and its top point.
The structure is designed for both indoor and outdoor areas. The cross can be accessed at the foot end and is exited via a set of steps leading back from the intersection point to the outside. There are screw connections at the joints of the steel construction components so they can be separated into elements to facilitate transport and assembly. The installation is stored is on a specially adapted grill structure made of rolled profiles.

formTL
structrual design
structutal analysis
workshop design

artist
Mia Florentine Weiss

realisation/installation
Montageservice LB GmbH
Stephan Lenk

photos
Robert Skazel
Emanuel von Finckenstein

award
On the occasion of the Verzinkerpreis 2021 formTL was awarded a recognition in the category metal design for the project “Kreuzweg # LOVEEUROPE” by Mia Florentine Weiss.

length
28.30 m

maximum span
21.00 m

usable width
2.30 m

weight
ca.10 to

steel
S355

membrane
Taiyo Europe GmbH

fabric
Hiraoka SX-1800-H

foil
Halar  ECTFE  250my