Buchvorstellung: Suche nach dem Unbestimmten: Gottfried Böhm und die Wallfahrtskirche „Maria, Königin des Friedens”

In the organizer's words:

Prof. Dr. Steffen Kunkel, Professor of Interior Architecture at Mainz University of Applied Sciences, presents his latest publication at the LUX Pavilion. In conversation with Prof. Wolf Gutjahr, he will provide insights into the creation of the book and the underlying architectural and theoretical debate. We cordially invite all interested parties to the book presentation - Free admission.

The book:
Searching for the indeterminate : Gottfried Böhm and the pilgrimage church "Maria, Queen of Peace"

The pilgrimage church Maria, Queen of Peace is widely regarded as Gottfried Böhm's major work and an epochal example of 20th century architecture. The fact that the church was conceived as an integral part of an entire pilgrimage district, which Böhm designed as an urban intervention - with a kindergarten, pilgrims' house, hostel and other facilities that develop along a cascading pilgrimage route to the church - has largely remained hidden from previous reception. This publication is the first to examine this complete work in its spatial, urban and social context. Based on archive material, interviews with Böhm and his collaborators and a series of photographs taken over several years, some of which have gone unnoticed to date, it provides new insights into the work and enables a contemporary reassessment of Gottfried Böhm's contribution to architecture.

The publication was supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, the Vitra Design Foundation and the Verein Ausstellungshaus für christliche Kunst. It was published by Spector Books in 2026. The publishing house publishes experimental art, architecture and design publications (Sächsischer Verlagspreis 2018, Deutscher Verlagspreis 2019 & 2022, Gutenberg-Preis der Stadt Leipzig 2023).

Steffen Kunkel is Professor of Architectural Theory and Building Theory and teaches at Mainz University of Applied Sciences. He is part of the architecture collective noûs-arc. In 2020, he completed his doctorate on the pilgrimage ensemble Maria, Queen of Peace. From 2004 to 2013, he studied Visual Communication at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach am Main and Architecture and Urban Design at the Technical University of Darmstadt.