Leipzig Panometer
Encyclopedia
The Leipzig Panometer is an attraction in Leipzig
, Germany
. It is a visual panorama
displayed inside a former gasometer, accompanied by a thematic exhibition. The current theme is the Amazon Rainforest
. The Panometer was created in 2003 by the Austrian-born artist Yadegar Asisi, who coined the name as a portmanteau of "panorama" and "gasometer". He opened another Panometer in Dresden
in 2006.
, and was in operation until 1977. It has a diameter of 57 metres (187 ft) and a total height of 49 metres (160.8 ft), including the cupola
with lantern. From 2002–05 it was renovated to allow the transformation into Asisi's panoramic display. The final step was the addition of a glass foyer, which connects it to an adjacent gasometer and also contains the restaurant.
is used to create an impression of space.
There are also light and sound effects, including a simulated day-night cycle, sounds from nature, and music composed especially by the Belgian composer Eric Babak.
In the area between the panorama and the outer wall there is an exhibition on a theme related to the picture (currently Amazonia), as well as a film viewing room.
. The viewer's vantage point was from the Valley of Silence
. The accompanying exhibition showed the history of Western journeys to Everest on one side of the building, and the viewpoint of local Buddhist
inhabitants on the other. This included a mandala
made from coloured sand and a stupa
constructed in Nepal
(both sacred artworks).
2005–09: Ancient Rome
. A recreation of an 1889 panorama of Rome by Alexander von Wagner
, portraying Constantine the Great's entry into the city following his success in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312. The exhibition covered the day-to-day life and architecture of Ancient Rome, and featured plaster casts from the University of Leipzig
's antiques collection
along with paintings, architectural drawings and models of famous Roman buildings. It included a reconstruction of the partly destroyed, 12 metres (39.4 ft) high Colossus of Constantine
, rebuilt as an anamorphosis
(a kind of visual illusion).
2009–now: Amazonia
. This was made to honour the 150th anniversary of the death of Alexander von Humboldt
, the German naturalist who explored South America. The panorama shows a diverse and detailed image of the flora and fauna of the rainforest, in which some smaller animals are only visible with a telescope. The sound and light effects include animal calls and a simulated tropical rainstorm. Humboldt had expressed his desire for a panorama which would "show nature in its wild luxuriance and the fullness of life". The exhibition includes a large model (60:1) of a mosquito
.
A new exhibition is planned for 2013 to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig
. Asisi has said he intends to depict not the battle itself, but Leipzig at that time.
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is a visual panorama
Panoramic painting
Panoramic paintings are massive artworks that reveal a wide, all-encompassing view of a particular subject, often a landscape, military battle, or historical event. They became especially popular in the 19th Century in Europe and the United States, inciting opposition from writers of Romantic poetry...
displayed inside a former gasometer, accompanied by a thematic exhibition. The current theme is the Amazon Rainforest
Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
. The Panometer was created in 2003 by the Austrian-born artist Yadegar Asisi, who coined the name as a portmanteau of "panorama" and "gasometer". He opened another Panometer in Dresden
Dresden Panometer
The Dresden Panometer is an attraction in Dresden, Germany. It is a panoramic painting inside a former gasometer, showing Dresden as it might have appeared in 1756, accompanied by an exhibition. The Panometer was created in 2006 by the Austrian-born artist Yadegar Asisi, who coined the name as a...
in 2006.
Building
The Leipzig Panometer occupies a disused telescopic gas holder in Connewitz. The gasometer was built in 1909, under Hugo LichtHugo Licht
Hugo Georg Licht was a German architect.- Life :...
, and was in operation until 1977. It has a diameter of 57 metres (187 ft) and a total height of 49 metres (160.8 ft), including the cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
with lantern. From 2002–05 it was renovated to allow the transformation into Asisi's panoramic display. The final step was the addition of a glass foyer, which connects it to an adjacent gasometer and also contains the restaurant.
Panorama and exhibition
So far the panoramic pictures have been 105 metres (344.5 ft) in circumference and around 30 metres (98.4 ft) in height, making them currently the largest such pictures in the world. (The one in Dresden is slightly less tall.) Digital technology is used to combine photos, drawings and paintings into a single large picture file, which is then printed onto individual strips of textile. The strips are combined into a circular picture which is then hung up as a single piece. The panorama is viewed from a raised platform in the centre. Perspective distortionPerspective distortion (photography)
In photography and cinematography, perspective distortion is a warping or transformation of an object and its surrounding area that differs significantly from what the object would look like with a normal focal length, due to the relative scale of nearby and distant features...
is used to create an impression of space.
There are also light and sound effects, including a simulated day-night cycle, sounds from nature, and music composed especially by the Belgian composer Eric Babak.
In the area between the panorama and the outer wall there is an exhibition on a theme related to the picture (currently Amazonia), as well as a film viewing room.
Themes
2003–05: Mount EverestMount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
. The viewer's vantage point was from the Valley of Silence
Western Cwm
Often called the Valley of Silence, the Western Cwm is a broad, flat, gently undulating glacial valley basin terminating at the foot of the Lhotse Face of Mount Everest. It was named by George Leigh Mallory when he first saw it in 1921...
. The accompanying exhibition showed the history of Western journeys to Everest on one side of the building, and the viewpoint of local Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
inhabitants on the other. This included a mandala
Mandala
Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...
made from coloured sand and a stupa
Stupa
A stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship....
constructed in Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
(both sacred artworks).
2005–09: Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. A recreation of an 1889 panorama of Rome by Alexander von Wagner
Alexander von Wagner
Alexander originally Sándor von Wagner was a Hungarian painter.- Biography :Wagner was born in Pesth. After graduating from the Real-Gymnasium in his hometown at the age of nineteen, he entered the Academy of Fine Arts at Vienna, where he was a student of Henrik Weber...
, portraying Constantine the Great's entry into the city following his success in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312. The exhibition covered the day-to-day life and architecture of Ancient Rome, and featured plaster casts from the University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
's antiques collection
Museum of Antiquities of the University of Leipzig
The Museum of Antiquities of the University of Leipzig is a collection of antiques in Leipzig, Germany.-History:The foundations of the collection were laid in the first half of the 18th century, with the first acquisitions of antiques by the University. As early as 1735, Johann Friedrich Christ,...
along with paintings, architectural drawings and models of famous Roman buildings. It included a reconstruction of the partly destroyed, 12 metres (39.4 ft) high Colossus of Constantine
Colossus of Constantine
The Colossus of Constantine was a colossal acrolithic statue of the late Roman emperor Constantine the Great that once occupied the west apse of the Basilica of Maxentius near the Forum Romanum in Rome...
, rebuilt as an anamorphosis
Anamorphosis
Anamorphosis or anamorphism may refer to any of the following:*Anamorphosis, in art, the representation of an object as seen, for instance, altered by reflection in a mirror...
(a kind of visual illusion).
2009–now: Amazonia
Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
. This was made to honour the 150th anniversary of the death of Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
, the German naturalist who explored South America. The panorama shows a diverse and detailed image of the flora and fauna of the rainforest, in which some smaller animals are only visible with a telescope. The sound and light effects include animal calls and a simulated tropical rainstorm. Humboldt had expressed his desire for a panorama which would "show nature in its wild luxuriance and the fullness of life". The exhibition includes a large model (60:1) of a mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
.
A new exhibition is planned for 2013 to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, on 16–19 October 1813, was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine...
. Asisi has said he intends to depict not the battle itself, but Leipzig at that time.