THE PAVILION OF CHRIST FROM EXPO 2000 TO THE ABBEY OF VOLKENRODA

摘要

One of the most beautiful buildings at the EXPO 2000 World Exhibition was undoubtedly the "Pavilion of Christ", the EXPO church demonstrating outstanding architecture in steel and glass. The Christian Churches of Germany as clients, insisted from the very inception of the building that it be relocated after the World Exhibition to Volkenroda in Thuringia to revitalise and complement the abbey here. An enormously important aspect of utilising this modern steel structure at two different locations, which involved dismantling and re-erecting the complete building, was the availability of a reliable and quality-assured technique for connecting up the steel components. The "Sigma node", a spin-off from German research into steel application, was used to create an innovative, rigid plug-in system, making the on-site assembly and dismantling of the pre-fabricated steel frame sections easy and reproducible. Facade sections covering large areas can be rigidly joined to the roof section whilst they are swung into place and plugged together, also at great heights, using just a crane. Techniques for laser-welding sharp-edged plate steel for posts and columns were adopted for individually tailored sections to allow freedom of design and new accents in architecture. Nine months were needed from the start of the technical work until completion in Hanover Dismantling and re-erection took only 10 weeks.