Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz

Big city, planned city, city of the future

Hardly any other city in Germany has faced such constant and far-reaching change over the past centuries and decades as Chemnitz. Today, Saxony’s third-largest city has a museum, the Schlossberg Museum, which brings the city’s eventful history to life.

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From a populous metropolis during the industrialization, to heavy destruction in World War II and reconstruction as the socialist planned city of Karl-Marx-Stadt, Chemnitz has experienced many facets. The Museum of Urban History now shows them with the help of four new tactile models.

In the rooms of the monastery and castle complex on the Chemnitz Schlossberg, the ink.Design-models flank existing city models and make the exhibition a good more inclusive.

The four tactile city models show the respective development around 1500, around 1930 and 2020. One of the models is a plan model from 1960, documenting the urban planners’ ideas for the construction of an ideal city according to the standards of a socialist society.

In their parallelism, the models are the ideal extension of the already existing representations and offer blind, visually impaired and sighted people the opportunity to tactilely trace the urban development of Chemnitz from a small trading center to a bustling metropolis.

On each tactile model, the planar expansion of the city was tactilely highlighted and structural constants such as the City Hall, St. Jacob’s Church, the Red Tower, St. John’s Church and the Kaufhaus Schocken were set up as 3D models. They serve as fixed points for orientation in the course of the streets.

In the entrance area, we also designed and produced a tactile model of the Schlossberg area. On it, the castle and the monastery complex can be experienced tactilely as a fully plastic 3D model. Various materials depict preserved or reconstructed buildings in contrast to destroyed structures.

For better orientation within the building, there is also a mobile tactile map with which visitors can move around in the museum independently.

Tactile Models in the Room

The photo shows an exhibition room of the Schlossbergmuseum Chemnitz. The floor and ceiling are made of wood, white walls divide the large room into different areas. In the foreground, one of the four tactile models stands on a white metal table. A visitor can be seen shadowily to the left and right of the table. He is touching the tactile model of the city.
Foto eines der taktilen Stadtmodelle von einer Ecke des Tisches aus aufgenommen. Im Vordergrund daher ein vergrößertes Detail des Modells in orangenem Farbton. Es zeigt beispielhaft die damalige Größe und Anordnung der Bebauung von Chemnitz. Im Hintergrund ein weiteres Modell der Stadt in einer großen Glasvitrine sowie eine Wand mit Gemälden.
Two close-up photos: On the left, a legend of the model - the word "Rathaus" as a high-contrast, tactile inscription and in Braille lettering. On the right, some houses as an enlarged detail.
An exhibition room of the Schlossberg Museum in which an older city model is displayed in a large glass case. Next to this model under glass are the four tactile models by inkl.Design, which invite you to touch them.
One of the tactile city models in an exhibition room. Paintings on the walls in the background. A visitor, who is only faintly visible, touches the clearly recognisable church of St. Jacobi on the city model.
Close-up: In each of the four tactile models, an enlarged section of the urban structure is shown three-dimensionally at one corner of the model. This photo shows the buildings in 1930.

Studio Photos

The tactile city model of the year 2020 in an overall view. The basis is a tactile ground plan. Some of the city's sights, such as the town hall and St. Jacobi's Church, are located on it as three-dimensional buildings. They are contrastingly made of a deep black material. In one corner of the model is a three-dimensional detail of the urban structure, also in high-contrast orange. High-contrast lettering can be seen all around. The model rests on a white metal table with orange accents.
Detailed image of the tactile inscription. Here the word "Chemnitz".
A close-up shows two hands touching the corner of the model where a three-dimensional detail of the building can be found. The base is clearly recognisable: a white metal table with the engraving "inkl. design", on top of which is a likewise white metal tray that supports the model. Between the two is an orange board.
A close-up shows the tactile floor plan and the tactile inscription of one of the models.
Two hands, coming into the picture from the right, are touching one of the models.
Detailed view of the tactile, three-dimensional buildings of the Town Hall and St. Jacobi Church.
Close-up of the enlarged detail of the urban development, which is located in the corner of each model. Here is the model of the planned city from 1964, showing a high-rise building and a congress centre.
A hand, coming into the picture from the left, touches the tactile lettering of the model of the planned city from 1964.

Inclusion in Detail

Detail of the tactile inscription "Red Tower", also in Braille.
Fingers touching a Braille inscription. The tactile model is blurred in the background.
Close-up of the tactile floor plan, which forms the basis of the tactile model. Highlighted here in orange is the section within the floor plan, which is shown in the corner of the tactile model as a three-dimensional detail. A tactile dotted line connects the section and the three-dimensional detail.
Two detailed photographs showing the course of the Chemnitz River on the tactile floor plan. The river is highlighted in blue and touchable wavy lines make it tactilely comprehensible.
Detail of the engraving "inkl. design" on the white table supporting the model.

Accompanying Medium

There are five tactile cards in the picture. One card in the foreground is opened by a hand. On the first page there is a tactile map.
A close-up of a tactile map of the building. You can see the tactile print of the text and braille.
There are four open mobile cards shown. They have different pages open. You can see tactile writing and a tactile floor plan.

Project Details

Project Scope: Didactic concept for conveying the
of the exhibition content to blind and visually impaired people, Moderation and organisation of focus group workshops, Conception and realisation of the tactile models including product design, 3D data creation, graphic design, production support and supervision.

A shot from the office of inkl.Design: the team examines one of the three-dimensional models
The photo on the left shows the base plate of a tactile model lying on a wooden pallet - preparation for transport.
The photo shows two hands working on the base plate of a tactile model with a tool.
Orange tension belts labelled with inkl.design lie on the asphalt, a car in the background.
An employee of inkl.Design in a bright room with several of the white metal tables. She is working on assembling the tables.
Two employees of inkl.Design in a transporter. They load the tactile models.
A close-up of the tactile base plate of a model. Clearly recognisable different tactile structures and colours.
Close-up of one of the three-dimensional buildings in a matt, dark grey colour.
An employee of inkl.Design preparing the tactile model in the museum.
Several of the black three-dimensional buildings lie on a plastic sheet.
A shot from above shows four tactile floor plans of the tactile models arranged in a square on a large table.
Gregor Strutz from inkl.Design touches one of the tactile models in the museum with a satisfied expression on his face.
Gregor Strutz of Inkl Design tests a rotating tactile model in the museum.
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