We view this project as a ‘forum’, a platform for identifying, addressing, clarifying and actively engaging with the questions and problems of ‘temptation’ that have shaped humanity and human society from the very beginning, with their boundless positive and negative implications for the individual and their relationship with the world (and with their fellow human beings). Today, there is a need for a primarily discursive and dynamic engagement with the socially relevant and pressing challenges posed by the phenomenon of ‘temptation’.

The active participation of citizens – both individuals and groups – from diverse social and cultural backgrounds, age groups and educational levels in all activities and offerings is to be regarded as the fundamental principle and objective of the Atrium, which is used and designed as a ‘forum’. We understand this as a “contact and conflict zone” designed for participation, as a space for discourse in which individuals and groups – of diverse social and cultural backgrounds, age groups and educational levels – meet face-to-face in moderated conversations/discussions/ negotiations, personally engage with one another, contribute their questions, problems, wishes and visions, discuss them, possibly modify them, or even defend them. What is essential here is the opportunity to gain insight into the emotional as well as rational motivations behind the explicit opinions and attitudes of other participants.

The spaces of varying sizes, arranged on different levels and designed for curated exhibitions, can also be used as spaces for action and production, enabling groups to give tangible form to their ideas, dreams and the realities of their lives. We view the architectural layout of the spaces and the visitor route as a framework offering scope for varied, context-specific configurations. The building provides the opportunity to organise different visitor routes and thereby separate areas for group work.