Robert Schad: Die Spur

Institute for Disease Modelling and Targeted Medicine

Freiburg, where Robert Schad, who was born in Ravensburg in Upper Swabia, had his studio for a long time before settling in Larians in the Haute-Saône department and in Chamosinhos in northern Portugal, is home to his latest work, which was designed in 2018 and built in 2021. DIE SPUR emerged from an art-in-architecture competition for the new building of the Institute for Disease Modelling and Targeted Medicine (IMITATE), a research centre for genetic engineering at Freiburg University Hospital. On the street side of the building, around forty pieces of steel join together to form a 15 x 27 x 7 metre transverse structure that draws a meandering line in the space in free rhythms and, despite the size and heaviness, unyieldingness and angularity of the source material, creates divergent impressions - from plant-like to sculptural expressive dance to lightning or spark discharge. DIE SPUR addresses the whole person, our senses and our consciousness, which cannot be separated from an internalised experience of history, art and the body. With his new work in Freiburg, Robert Schad has once again created a work that masterfully balances form, content and substance and brilliantly stages them. This illustrated volume with many detailed photographs as well as the plans and project documentation documents the entire process of creating the sculpture right up to its final assembly.