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Happening | Design for Events
DasProjekt_125 years Bilfinger Berger (p. 080)
Frame Publishers, Amsterdam 2006
Birkhäuser - Publishers for Architecture, Basel Boston Berlin 2006
DasProjekt
125 years Bilfinger Berger
Mannheim, Germany
Text by Anneke Bokern
A City Built for Celebrations
The success of Bilfinger Berger, a construction company going global
with 50,000 employees worldwide, which meanwhile advanced to a Multi Service
Group with its corporate headquarters in Mannheim, is based on a longtime
tradition in the handling of construction and providing operational services.
In June 2005 Bilfinger Berger celebrated its 125th anniversary. On the
Maimarkt, an exhibition area just outside the city gates, a temporary
7000-m2 Bilfinger Berger City was erected for several anniversary
celebrations. DasProjekt, a young architecture and interior-design outfit
from Hofheim am Taunus, led by Rolf Pauw and Carsten Schmidt, took on
the architectural design of the event. Event-planning agency Voss + Fischer,
hired by Bilfinger
Berger to develop the concept and organize the celebrations, selected
DasProjekt to help with the job. It was love at first sight,
laughs Pauw. The collaboration went wonderfully well. The agency
already had a concept for the event, but no idea how it could be realized
spatially. Thats where we came in. A three-dimensional plan
of an imaginary city framed the events.
Our aim was to document and to present the various spheres of activity
of our clients in an entertaining way, explains Pauw, adding that
Voss + Fischer had already chosen a palette of bright, strong colours
and that all graphics for the event were to be done by a graphic-design
team. But we were responsible for everything to do with architecture.
According to Pauw, the greatest challenge was the ground plan. The layout
had to include an event area with a stage, enough space for a diversity
of exemplary projects, and room for ample seating, tables, bar areas and
so forth. We drew the layout for the roads and then added the buildings,
says Schmidt, who calls the evolution of the city an extrusion of
the two-dimensional ground plan.
Pauw and Schmidt covered over two thirds of the area with a 4500-m2,
open-sided Delta tent. At the entrance, visitors were met by the so-called
Wall of Fame. This installation, which was made out of curved partitions
up
to 5 m high, flanked both sides of a meandering path and displayed the
history of the firm. The Wall of Fame was a prelude to the main event
area,
which occupied a 500-m2 piazza, similar to a market square, at the end
of the winding path. In contrast to the curvaceous walls, the plan of
the piazza was orthogonal. In line with the entrance was a stage with
a rear wall
illuminated by lEDs, which formed the focal point. A large area fronting
the stage provided the public with tables and chairs. DasProjekt custom-designed
the boxlike, grey bars and counters that were spread across the piazza.
We even supervised the floral decoration on the counters to ensure
that they matched the overall concept, says Pauw. The analogy of
the city continued
in the form of buildings surrounding the piazza and the network
of streets that connected them. A number of grey cubes, the tallest of
which was 5.5 m, accommodated cloakrooms, toilets and backstage facilities.
An additional
seven structures were models of Bilfinger Bergers core projects.
On one side of the square stood a simplified version of the Svinesund
Bridge, which links Sweden and norway. On the other was the nigerian Abuja
Stadium,
and next to the stage stood the Alte Oper of Frankfurt. Accompanying each
project were relevant details printed on the exterior of the buildings
and an audiovisual presentation inside.
Pauw compares the construction of the exhibition site to that of a trade
fair. The project allowed us to apply all our architectural expertise.
A major problem was wind, however. The site was close to the airport,
and partition
walls, being very light, had to be well tethered. Before the event, a
structural engineer checked to make sure everything was secure.
The amount invested in this short-lived event is visible particularly
in the floor used throughout Bilfinger Berger City. Originally,
there was gravel everywhere, making it impossible for us to erect structurally
sound buildings, says Schmidt. Wooden flooring was out of
the question, because of warping. We covered the entire area in tarmac
especially for the event, and a road-marking company gave it a glossy
surface. The city had to stand up to some 2000 visitors. The tarmac
was removed after the event was over. DasProjekt spent a good six
months working on the architecture for the jubilee celebrations. Building
the city took a month, the celebrations three days and dismantlement just
one night. Thats how event architecture is, says Pauw
laconically. Its a fleeting business.
Building the city took a month, the celebrations three
days and the dismantlement just one night. Rolf Pauw
Idea/concept: Voss + Fischer - www.voss-fischer.de
Architecture: DasProjekt www.atelier-dasprojekt.de
Photographer: Voss + Fischer www,voss-fischer.de
Client: Bilfinger Berger
lighting consultant: neumann & Müller
Graphic consultant: desres design group
Multimedia consultants: neumann & Müller
Manufacturers: De Boer, Susannah Martin Backdrops, Zeeh Design Messebau
Capacity: 2500 guests
Total floor area (m²): 4500 (tent), 2500 (outdoor area)
Duration of construction: 4 weeks
Start of event: 24 June 2005
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