tk magazin 10 architecture

magazineTK

Architecture

Windows offer perspective and insight,stand for openness and transparency,for an invitation to dialogue. Preciselylike the extensive campus of the ThyssenKrupp Quarter that can be seen through the punched-outlandscape window of the new head-quarters location.The new headquarters of ThyssenKrupp in Essen symbolizes andexpresses the lived corporate culture.The architecture and urban develop-ment concept of the quarter, in equal measure, stand for innovation andfuture orientation, sustainability andsocial responsibility. With the new

Openness livedquarter, a 230-hectare area that hadlong been undeveloped, right in thecenter of Essen, comes to life. Theopen campus as the heart of a newly-developed urban district embodies thedynamic interaction between historicbond to the location and lived inter-nationality, as well as the desire fordialogue and movement. The Quar-ters buildings are arranged around a central water axis and like thenewly constructed Krupp Park arean invitation to encounter.Read more about the background andthe significance of the new Quarterdevelopment on pages 46-65.

In Brasilia, Corbusier students LcioCosta and Oscar Niemeyer were ableto cast a dream in steel-reinforcedconcrete: the utopia of a functionalcity. The new capital of Brazil, whichshot up out of the Central BrazilianPlateau within less than four years,embodied a noble goal: a clear breakfrom the chaotic conditions and rigidclass distinctions in other Braziliancities. The French author, Andr Malraux, called Brasilia the capital ofhope. The city was laid out accordingto the campus principle, with separatequarters for living, working, and lei-

Capital of hopesure, between which city residentswere to commute on broad freeways.Viewed from the air the contours ofBrasilia are similar to those of an air-plane. The so-called monumental axis,where the most important buildingsstand, could be considered the fuselage. The two wings are compris-ed of more than 100 so-called superquadras, enclosed units of 11to 12 residential building slabs, ineach of which up to 5,000 people canlive. As an architectural project, todayBrasilia is listed as a World HeritageSite by Unesco. As urban living space

it has been frequently criticized. Atleast the public routes and means oftransport were not in line with theexplosive growth of Brasilia. Since itwas dedicated, 50 years ago on April 21, 1960, the city, which was originally planned for 500,000 inhabi-tants, has now grown to a populationof 2.6 million inhabitants. However its citizens appreciate its high qualityof life compared to the rest of thecountry and particularly its clean air that is also a consequence of thecomparably low traffic volume.

Its the possibility of having a dream come true thatmakes life interesting.Paulo Coelho, author

Without lights everything is nothingLight interprets bodies and spaces, makes them experienceable and gives them color. It adds a fourth dimension to architecture.James Turrell transforms light into form. The most influential light artist of our time explores the multifaceted appearances of natural and artificial light in his works. Turrell has created so-called "skyspaces" around the world where he works intensively withthe relationship between light and space. For the American artist, light is a material that he can shape and make experiencable. The frequent attempts of viewers to touch the light of his installations are confirmations of his success.

Light and shadow reveal form.Le Corbusier, Swiss-French architect

(18871965)

Blueprint of a humanistic world viewThe Tuscan city of Pienza, which the humanist Enea Silvio Piccolomini, as Pope Pius II (14581464) hadbuilt on the site of the village where he was born, is considered the first ideal city of the Renaissance.Here, for the first time, the urban internal space of a piazza opens onto the open landscape; here, for thefirst time in the history of the newer building art, architecture and nature are simultaneously conceivedas antithetical and complementary counterparts. Starting from Pienza, the humanistic urban planningconcepts spread to other Italian cities and ultimately to all of Europe.

The quality of cities and places can be designed on the drawing board,their beauty comes with time.Renzo Piano, Italian architect

We wanted to generate a space that stimulates movement, promotes the exchange

of knowledge, and demonstrates surprising possibilities for the use of innovative

materials and technologies.

11

TK Magazine | 1 | 2010 | June

We do almost everything in rooms created by people. The designers of buildings and citiesgive people room for encounters and exchange, for development and going forward. Architecture

is thus particularly determined by the essence of the society in which it arises: Architects and

interior designers shape the environment from our expectations. They can also inspire us with new

ideas and thus alter us.

In view of this challenge, no one can escape worldwide change. Today, new global developments

and a new understanding of lasting architecture, city planning, and landscaping are reflected

in the complex requirements on architects and interior designers. While people compete for a

sustainable use of the limited spatial capacities and energy resources of our planet all over the

globe, architects and city planners are working on solving the most urgent spatial challenges of

our time.

How will a growing population find enough room to live and work in the future? How can the

population dispersal in abandoned rural areas be avoided? Can we

also realize the need for life in harmony with nature in the city?

Architecture must face up to the dramatic changes in demographics

and the environment and develop new concepts to create space

for the future, even under these conditions. At the same time, the rapid technological advances

also open up unforeseen possibilities.

It has long been clear that technological innovations are decisively important in overcoming the

major global challenges. In architecture, as well, sensitive, innovative technologies support the

striving for quality of life, efficiency, and sustainability. The new ThyssenKrupp Quarter in Essen,

which our employees are in the process of moving into, deliberately points the way. With this

construction project, unique for ThyssenKrupp, we have generated a space that stimulates

movement, promotes the exchange of knowledge, and demonstrates surprising possibilities for the

use of innovative materials and technologies. We have thus created a place for people and ideas.

As the heart of our globally networked corporation, our new campus is an expression of the self-

perception of our group and of the demands we place on ourselves: innovation and sustainability,

openness and dialogue.

It is and this particularly appeals to the engineer in me a piece of constructed technology.

Philosopher Martin Heidegger once said: Our understanding of reality is reflected in the way we

build and experience constructed space. The best architecture, however, finds the right balance

between reality and vision, between what exists and what could be with the courage to take

new paths. Some of the examples in this magazine demonstrate these qualities. We would like to

extend the following invitation: Come with us and discover the living spaces of the future!

Dr.-Ing. Ekkehard D. Schulz,

Chairman of the Executive Board of ThyssenKrupp AG

Room for the future

editorial

12


contents

views

30 What is your view on architecture?

Views of Kazuyo Sejima and Alain Robert

46The ThyssenKrupp Quarter in Essen is the Groups new heart and asymbol of its continued development. Its architectural and urban planning concept reflect innovation and future orientation, sustainabilityand social responsibility. A special section on ThyssenKrupps newheadquarters.

forum

14 Money cant guarantee beauty

An interview with Alain de Botton, author and philosopher

22 World in figures

Global metropolises yesterday, today and tomorrow

24 Watch out for pedestrians!

A stroll through Leipzig with the freelance promenadologist

Bertram Weisshaar

projects

34 What comes before the city?

Nothing works without the right infrastructure

40 Materials that dreams are made of

Innovative materials help turn visions into reality

74 A new start in America

ThyssenKrupp opens two new production sites in Brazil and

the U.S. in 2010

28 worth_knowing

66 projects_news

101 puzzle

102 review

Architecture

TK Magazine | 1 | 2010

92App City: Does Augmented Reality alter our perception of new spaces?

quarter

46 From waste land to the new campus

A brief visual history of the construction project

48 Movement and renewal

An interview about the new ThyssenKrupp Quarter with Ralph

Labonte, member of the Executive Board of ThyssenKrupp AG

55 Room of Tranquility

A retreat from the hectic of everyday work

56 The doers

Three men and their reflections on the construction project

58 Building on ones own strengths

Some of the Groups most innovative products have been used to

build the Quarter

60 A green stage

The ThyssenKrupp Quarter has been awarded a renowned

sustainable building seal

62 The city within the city

Company history has been written on the site of the new

ThyssenKrupp Quarter since 1818

40Architects can realize their dreams with

new materials.

84Cars will play an increasingly minor

role in future mobility.

96Ants as master builders an expert interview that offers surprising insights into humans behavior

24Promenadologist Betram Weisshaarteaches us perceptiveness.


perspectives

76 Megacities and shrinking cities

How can space, traffic, energy and the quality of living conditions

be safeguarded and improved in growing and shrinking cities?

80 How kids see their surroundings

Students from an Essen high school took snapshots of their

environment

84 Getting around in 2050

New forms of mobility in the city of the future

90 Real and virtual spaces

Why the desire for real encounter remains an essay

92 Augmented Reality

New technologies alter our perception of our environment

96 Fascinating buildings

An interview with entomologist Bert Hlldobler

forum_interview

MONEY CANT GUARANTEE

14


Y CANT GUARANTEE

BEAUTYArchitecture is more than function. The design of a house says a lot about the character and aspirations of its owner. An interviewwith Alain de Botton, author and philosopher.

15


16


forum_interview

17


An architect should be a psychologist of buildings.Alain de Botton

So in giving shape to our buildings, architects shape us, too?

Architecture affects us, but we usually dont behave as though that is

true. People may praise beautiful buildings, but politicians never stand

up saying I want to make the world look more beautiful. Architecture

is always considered a very low-priority issue.

Isnt that also due to the fact that there is no universally valid de-

finition of beauty?

Theres a perceived idea that no one can define whats attractive. The

dominant view that beauty is a matter of taste is a wonderful intellectual

structure for the business of property development. Actually, its no

more difficult to define whats beautiful than it is to determine whats a

good book. But architecture is a practical art. The art of architecture is

to deliver beauty and utility.

One of your books is called The Architecture of Happiness. Can a

building really make you happy?

Architecture isnt medicine. You can disagree with medicine, and it will

still work. Architecture is different. It is an invitation to a mood, not an

order that will force you into a mood. I would compare the effect of

architecture to the effect of the weather. The weather means a lot to our

mood and people move to countries for the weather. But if something

terrible has happened, it doesnt matter that its a beautiful day, youll

be upset whatever happens. Or the other way around. However, most

of the time, were in a middle kind of mood. Thats when we can be

pulled in one direction or the other by the weather. Similarly, I think

architecture can help decide on the tilt to optimism or pessimism.

Conversely, this means that an architect should be a psychologist of

buildings.

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forum_interview

The idea of an empty spaceis the great fascination ofour age.

Living Architecture: The In-Between House (Jarmund/Vigsnaes Architects, Norway) fits seamlessly into a traditional British seasidestrip of houses.

Michael and Patty Hopkins Long House respect for old-fashioned craft allied toa fascination with high technology

of some of the practical requirements normally associated with archi-

tecture. Its just a gathering space for people. In addition, religion gave

architects lots of interesting forms, such as the shrine or the baptism

chapel, and asked them to evoke feelings. Thats different from

designing a railway station. Some people have said that art galleries

and museums are the future. The big difference is that the art gallery

exists to exhibit art. If the art itself is the special thing, even the nicest

19


But isnt beauty an elite concept in architecture?

Again, the argument that beauty is an expensive luxury that we cant

afford is very dangerous. You only have to look at the attractive peasant

houses in Tuscany that are built very simply out of stone. Similarly, you

can go to parts of Saudi Arabia or Moscow and quickly see that a lot of

money cant guarantee beauty either. Examples like these will quickly

show you that theres actually no connection between money and

beauty. Money opens up the possibility of beauty, but beauty is not

dependent on money and money doesnt guarantee beauty. At the end

of the day, what you need is talent in an architect. Beautiful architecture

for everyone should be possible. Its no more expensive to build a

beautiful building than it is to build an ugly one.

Why do people feel attracted to some architectural styles but not

to others?

We tend to need the architecture that reflects things that we are attrac-

ted to, but that are missing in our lives. For example, there are really

only two great modern architectural fantasies or desires: the first is

calm, the second is nature. Minimalism the idea of an empty space

is the great fascination of our age. The reason is that our lives are so

complicated and overloaded with things and activities that we long for

calm. In a technological, industrial world, the other thing people feel

attracted to is the natural.

We have more exceptional, university-trained architects than ever

before, and great contemporary buildings. However, everyday

architecture often lacks the quality associated with beauty.

Why?

Part of the reason is that more and more architects have been removed

from the business of designing buildings. Many building companies

dont even use architects anymore. The areas of the world where things

go well architecturally are often those where politically the society is

quite invested. For example, to get Manhattan looking as good as it

does required a huge collective effort, tons of rules regarding how tall

buildings should be and where they should be located. It required poli-

tical action on the part of many people. Similarly, the Netherlands bo-

asts architecturally beautiful areas because the Dutch care a lot about

their environment. Again, there are a lot of rules here about how and

where you can build. Often the times when built-up areas look worst is

when theres no control and things are just abandoned to the market.

Architects should be accountable to the community at large because ar-

chitecture is not a private business. It affects everybody.

Without the influence of religion, many of the great architectural

works around the world would not exist (the pyramids in Egypt

and Mexico, Greek temples, Gothic cathedrals, Renaissance and

Baroque buildings ). With religiously motivated building pushed

to the background at least in the West , what is driving archi-

tecture today?

Part of the reason why religious architecture has allowed architects

freedom is that, more than other buildings, a church or a temple is free

Alain de BottonFrom the art of travel to the architecture of happiness and the

pleasures and sorrows of work in his books, Alain de Botton strives

to apply philosophical ideas, from Greek philosophy to modern

thinking, to everyday problems and socio-political issues in simple

terms. The native of Switzerland lives and works in London. 7

3

20


to define it: The ideal city may be a city that you can walk across in one

day, a city in which you can see the surrounding hills and countryside

from a high spot. The best way to handle a megacity, I suppose, is to

split it up into lots of smaller cities. To some extent, some big cities like

Los Angeles or Tokyo are like that. Theyre really rather a collection of

neighborhoods. London has some of that quality too.

Does urbanization offer a cure for loneliness?

Not necessarily at all. Because there are so many people, they become

a threat. When there are fewer people around each person becomes

less threatening and a potential friend. You never really say hello to

someone you pass in the city whereas you will in an isolated part of the

countryside. Loneliness goes with the city. Sometimes that loneliness

building will be no more than a box allowing you to enjoy this art. Its as

though nowadays we need an excuse to build nice buildings. I think we

should reinvent certain forms and allow architects to build great public

spaces for nothing else than wandering around. But were not there yet.

In an interview about 10 years ago, you said that cities can

strangle themselves with their size. Since then, global cities have

been getting bigger and bigger. How do you rate that development?

I think its a real problem. Human beings are made to live in groups, but

not in enormous groups. Once you get beyond a certain size of group,

all sorts of things start to happen. You no longer have a connection with

people. You become more antisocial than you would be in the country-

side. I think there is an ideal size for a city and various people have tried

forum_interview

Loneliness goes with the city.

3

21


Living Architecture: Shingle House, designedby the Glasgow practiceNORD, consists of recycledmaterial and can both openup to or close itself off fromits surroundings.

The Balancing Barn of Dutch architectural practice MVRDV

A Secular Retreat by Peter Zumthor

the way that we live hasnt actually changed in quite a long time. The

bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen these are stable units.

At the age of 101, Oscar Niemeyer said in an interview that the

architect must think that the world has to be a better place. Would

you agree?

Definitely. To design a building should be a positive step and you should

be able to feel that youre enhancing the environment in some way. The

best architects have been utopians. 7

THE INTERVIEW WAS CONDUCTED BY ANKE BRYSON. PHOTOS (PORTRAITS): PHIL FISK

A new way of experiencing architecture

Alain de Botton is one of the initiators of the Living Architecture

project. Living Architecture has asked a series of established and

emerging world-class architects to build houses around the UK,

which will be available to rent for vacations by the general public. The

inspiration for Living Architecture came from a desire for people to be

able to experience what it is like to live in a space designed by an

outstanding architectural practice. There is a tremendous resistance

to contemporary art in the UK, says Alain de Botton. While there are

examples of great modern buildings in Britain, they tend to be in

places that one passes through, such as airports, museums and

offices. The few modern houses that exist are almost all in private

hands and cannot be visited. We are hoping, in a small modest way,

to help change the debate and encourage people who build houses

in the UK to become slightly more adventurous. Living Architecture

started to open its houses for vacation rentals in June 2010. 7

can be good because youre anonymous, and no one will gossip. But

when what youre looking for is community, go to a village.

Nobody can say today what our working and living environment

will look like in 50 or 100 years. But most buildings constructed

today will still be around then will they be able to adapt to a

perhaps radically different environment?

Im sure some wont. But the best buildings are flexible. Many of the

industrial buildings of the 19th century, for example, started off as

warehouses and then became offices, flats or art galleries. In addition,

22


forum_world_in_figures

Global metropolises yesterday, today and tomorrowThe city is a virtually universal phenome-

non. Urban cultures developed on almost

all continents independently from each

other. Rome in the year AD 330, with

approximately 1 million inhabitants, is

considered the worlds first metropolis.

Through the process of shifting significant

capital city functions to Constantinople

in the 4th century and the collapse of the

Western Roman Empire in the 5th century,

by the year 530 the population had

dropped to approximately 100,000. Rome

stagnated for 350 years until it re-awoke;

in 1936 the one-million mark was again

exceeded; today Rome with its 2.3 million

inhabitants is indeed a veritable metro-

polis, however it is a small town compared

to cities like New York or Mexico City or

the Tokyo metropolitan region, home to

more than 31 million people, more than

a quarter of the Japanese population.

With Beijing, as early as the 15th century

an Asiatic city was the biggest city in the

world. According to the computations

unfortunately based on inconsistent statis-

tics the 21st century will be the century

that sees Asiatic cities boom.

23


Source: IDC, Emporis, Worldmapper.org.

Higher and higherIn the Emporis Skyline Ranking, cities get points depending on the number of sky-scrapers and the floor count in their skyscrapers. Rule of thumb: the more points, the more impressive the skyline. With 7,682 skyscrapers and 128,548 points, HongKong is clearly in front of New York, with 5,845 skyscrapers and no more than 38,898 points. Due to the building boom of recent years, Dubai has now secured 10thplace. Seven of the top 10 skylines are in Asia, none are in Europe.

City air, country airMore than half of the worlds population lives in thecities of this world with clear differences from country to country. Excluding city states like Singapore,Belgium, with 97 percent of the actual population holds the record for urbanization, followed by Kuwaitand Iceland. However, the proportion of city dwellers ishigh in Australia and Uruguay as well, at 92 percent.Also at 92 percent, East Timor and Bhutan have the relatively largest rural population; in Uganda and Ethiopia 85 percent of the people still live in thecountry.

Down and throughIn many of todays metropolitanregions the fastest means oftransport is the undergroundrapid transit system, variouslyreferred to as a subway, under-ground, metro, tube, or U-Bahn.At 408 kilometers, the longest and the oldest undergroundrapid transit system in the world crisscrosses subterraneanLondon. New Yorks subway follows with 386 kilometers. TheTokyo and Moscow undergroundrapid transit systems vie for theuser record; each transportsapproximately 8 million passen-gers a day. In Tokyo, so-calledsubway pushers ensure thatcommuters are cheek to jowl at rush hour. Currently approxi-mately 140 cities worldwide operate an underground rapidtransit system.

24


forum_report

Underfoot, the grit crunches. Bertram Weisshaar amblesfrom parking level 10 to parking level 11 and then back to parking level

10. He is not searching for a vehicle; no, he is searching for peace. The

parking garage is only a few steps away from the central station, but no

one is rushing with a trundling Pullman suitcase, no one is braking with

squealing tires. Weisshaar leans over the railings. He looks down onto

the roofs of Leipzig, onto the blue letters of the Stadtwerke municipal

utilities, the red writing of the Sparkasse bank. The wind ruffles his

curls. In the distance, the express trains rattle, the streetcars jingle, the

trucks rumble. Suddenly, the parking garage seems to resemble a holi-

day island at least a little.

Anyone who sets off on a walk from Leipzigs central station probably

first heads for the Nikolaikirche church, then possibly to the Altes

Rathaus (the old town hall), the Alte Brse (old stock exchange) and the

Alte Waage, the former town weigh station. But not to a parking

garage. Weisshaar is not your typical walker, however, but a freelance

walking scientist. Leipzig is just as much his adopted home town as his

field of research: There are microlandscapes everywhere.

Bertram Weisshaar is a freelance walking scientist. He does not stroll through the countryside, but rather examines his environment. His argument: You can see more on a walk than through a windshield.

25


With this term, he means parks and canals, but also industrial waste-

lands and empty spaces. One question drives him: How do we in our

own cities, not on faraway continents get new landscapes? To do

this, he has to gain a new insight into the city for example, by looking

at it from a parking garage.

For crime author Georg Simmel, he would probably have been a flneur,

for Marcel Proust a passant, for Oscar Wilde a dandy. However, Bertram

Weisshaar calls himself: a promenadologist. In the early 1990s, he

studied at Kassel University under Lucius Burckhardt, the founder of

what is known as the promenadology movement. As a sociologist,

Burckhardt researched how people discover and traverse their environ-

ment. Human perception and movement that was what city planning

should cater to, he found. City development could not take only car

drivers into account. Weisshaar disseminates Burckhardts theories in

lectures, at congresses, in seminars. He has followed in Burckhardts

footsteps.

WATCH OUT FOR PEDESTRIANS!

3


forum_report

Underfoot, the thorns snap. Blackberry tendrils are over-growing the flagstones. The only way to get to the freight station beside

the parking garage is to push back a barrier. The complex is abandon-

ed. The window panes are broken, the red-brick walls covered in graffiti.

Someone has painted: See sunrise with no sleep at all in black letters

on a white background. The birds twittering is growing louder, while

the traffic noise is getting quieter. Have we reached the countryside

already? In former times, the definition was not excessively difficult

the countryside was just outside the city gates. Today, we no longer

know where the city ends and the countryside begins, says Weisshaar.

There are increasingly more green spaces in the city, but at the same

time there are increasingly more industrial areas in the country.

In the city, the countryside sometimes remains hidden, for example,

behind the freight station. Bertram Weisshaar likes to walk there along

a river bank. However, to do this, he has to fight his way through black-

berry bushes, balance on a wooden board and slide across a muddy

area. It is only then that he reaches the Parthe, a tiny river that rises

in the Glastener Forest and flows into the Weisse Elster River.

3

27


Planners did not merely conceal the Parthe, they also straightened it;

the water wends its way through a cement riverbed. Nevertheless,

Weisshaar detects a characteristic of the countryside in this fact: Even

in a channel like this, he can discover nature that does not allow itself

be tamed completely.

Strictly speaking, the freight station has nothing to do with the zoo that

lies downstream from it. The only link between them is the water: Both

places are on the Parthe River. Thus they belong to the same coun-

tryside.

Bertram Weisshaarresearches and develops walks to heighten peoples percep-tion of their environment.

Elaborating relationships of that ilk in such a way that they are imme-

diately apparent to every walker this is what Weisshaar regards as the

task of landscape architects. The landscape comes into existence in

peoples heads first. However, that was always the case. In former

times, anyone who stepped beyond the gates of the city crossed over a

stream, climbed up a hill, rambled through a forest. These were discrete

places too. The walker was the first person to combine all these diffe-

rent impressions into an overall picture, that is, the landscape.

Underfoot, the glass splinters. A few beer bottles haveshattered on the paving stones on the riverbank. Other walkers would

possibly block out the image of the shards, preferring to turn their at-

tention to something more beautiful, for example to the basil plant that

is growing in the terracotta pot on the windowsill on the other side of the

river. That fits better into the picture. However, Bertram Weisshaar does

not filter his environment. How do the city planners deal with rivers?

How do they deal with pedestrians, with cyclists and with car owners?

Bertram Weisshaar does not just walk through Leipzig with questions

like this in his head, but also through Frankfurt, Hanover or Lbeck.

Frequently, the cities hire him. Then he takes groups through historic

downtowns, for example from parking garage to parking garage. This

allows him to show two things: On the one hand, he proves how much

space cars take up, on the other hand, how much cars restrict our

vision. Through a windshield, we can only perceive segments, while on

a walk we can get insights. Sometimes, Bertram Weisshaar can find no

countryside. When he leaves the riverbank behind him, he turns onto a

main street. The cars rush past in eight lanes. A few steps farther on,

three trolley cars trundle to the trolley car stop, fender to fender. A

walker would not be able to cross the square. Anyone who wants to

explore the city on foot has to be prepared for detours. Weisshaar often

observes how pedestrians are being pushed out of the city centers. For

example, a modest sidewalk runs alongside the generous main street.

Underfoot, two rosehips burst. Bertram Weisshaar pulls upthe zipper of his turtleneck and buries his hands in his coat pockets. He

still has some way to go: Every city holds hundreds of thousands of

pictures. He wants to track down a few more. 7

TEXT: INKA WICHMANN | PHOTOS: JRG GLSCHER

Today, we no longer know where the city ends and the countryside begins.

28


Space and toneMusic and architecture are

closely related. In the history

of ideas, mathematic and

geometric considerations

play an important role in both

traditions: Interval and beat in

music, floor plan and spatial

relationships in architecture.

Goethe said, I call architec-

ture silent music. For the

philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm

Schelling architecture also

resembled a frozen music.

Actually music is almost al-

ways a spatial experience.

For example, in the Venetian

tradition of multiple choirs, the

composer, Karlheinz Stock-

hausen, used the movement

of tone in space as a compositional element. The Royal Festival Hall In London

(photo), completed in 1951, was the first concert hall to be built entirely in

accordance with acoustic calculations. Since the 1960s, halls with variable

acoustics for different types of music have increasingly become more widely

accepted. Since the invention of the Walkman and its successor, the MP3

player a person can create his or her own mobile inner spaces and carry

them around as a shield against (irritating) external spaces. 7

forum_worth_knowing

There have always been master builders: In the

Roman Empire, these were primarily military

engineers, in the early middle ages, clerics, in the

late middle ages craftsmen, and in the Renaissance

artists, sculptors or scientists. Architecture became

a separate discipline only in the course of industriali-

zation and the associated progress in building technol-

ogy, and mastery of ever more complex construction

tasks.

The uncompletedIn the history of architecture, there have always

been prominent structures that have not been

completed because money ran out, the client

died, a plague broke out or something else un-

expected intervened. Some of these structures

can also be used in their rudimentary con-

dition, others are like memorials and remain

standing, unused. Thus, for example, at 330

meters, the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang,

North Korea, which could be the tallest hotel in

the world, has not yet been completed due

to financial difficulties and construction errors,

and currently is uninhabitable. Other buildings

are in a state of permanent construction.

Construction has been underway on Gauds

famous Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain,

since the 1880s. And if the Spanish want to

take an example from the Germans, com-

pletion could still be some time off: 632 years

went by until the Cologne Cathedral was

completed in 1880. 7

Gauds famousSagrada Familia inBarcelona

29Space and light and order. Those are the things that men need just asmuch as they need bread or a place to sleep, said the son of a watch enameller and amusic teacher, who was attracted to architecture after

apprenticing as an engraver and goldsmith. As the

logical consequence of the rapid technological develop-

ment and associated transformation of daily routine in

the early 20th century, the architect, who later frequent-

ly became the center of controversy due to his radical

ideas, demanded a fundamentally new aesthetic.

In his Five Points Towards a New Architecture, he

declared, Just as we can get very little from the literary

and historical instruction meted out at school, so

nothing remains for us any more of the architecture

of earlier epochs. He viewed the architects task as

creating functional and economical concepts. He took

the pure functionality of the machine as the model for

building design and oriented himself to the shapes of

airplanes, locomotives, ocean liners, and automobiles.

In this process he comprehensively embraced the

possibilities of the time and relied on new construction materials such

as reinforced concrete and steel. He had no regard for ornamentation

as an end in itself that takes a higher priority than does function.

The results of his architecture theories are clear and simple bodies

comprised of the basic geometric shapes of the rectangle, circle, and

cube. As an urban planner, he relied on strict separation of function. In

his concept of a contemporary city for three million inhabitants, people

should live in gigantic skyscrapers on stilts in the middle of expansive

green spaces, in other

city districts they

should work in office

towers, and shop and

amuse themselves in

yet other city districts.

He was able to imple-

ment his urban devel-

opment ideas when in

1951 the government

of the Indian State

Punjab appointed

him to be a consultant

for the planning of

the new capital city

Chandigarh, which

today is considered a

model for Indian urban

planners. 7

SOLUTION: PAGE 101

WH

O W

AS

IT?Architect density varies greatly aroundthe world: Proportionally, Japan has fivetimes as many architects as Great Britain, in Denmark there are almost twice as many architects per inhabitantas there are in Germany. An architectwho is still looking for projects wouldstill have many possibilities in countrieslike China or India.

The drive to the topSkyscrapers inspire feelings of impotence and omnipotence,

depending on whether one dares a dizzying upward look from the

depths of skyscraper canyons, or looks down on the whir of crowds

and traffic. It is unclear as to precisely when people came up with the

idea of building towers. The oldest archeological evidence of a tower

are the remains of the tower of Jericho, dating back to approximately

7,500 BC. The high cultures of Mesopotamia built their temple

complexes on artificial stepped mounds to be particularly close to

their gods for example the Tower of Babel that measured 77 meters

and was completed 600 BC. 300 years later, a 140-meter

lighthouse was built on the Island of Pharos in the harbor

of Alexandria. High towers were next built in the middle

ages, as people wanted to honor god and dem-

onstrate power with soaring cathedrals. The

beginning of todays skyscraper rally

dates from the end of the 19th century

when development of steel frame con-

struction and the invention of

the electrical elevator opened

up totally new possibilities

to builders. Starting with New

York and Chicago, apart-

ment buildings and office

towers sprang up every-

where. 7

Historically, architects have had to deal with various aspects of setting, but theyvealways concentrated on real problems such as materials or form. I believe thatalmost half of our daily lives is now concentrated on the information society; and even though the information society is invisible, I believe that architecture must relate to it.Kazuyo Sejima

30

views

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa are partners in the architectural firmSANAA in Tokyo. In May 2010, thepractice was awarded the PritzkerArchitecture Prize for 2010, which hasbecome known throughout the worldas architectures greatest honor. Inaddition, Sejima has been appointedcurator of the 12th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice, theBiennale di Venezia. SANAAs mostwell-known designs include the NewMuseum of Contemporary Art in NewYork and the Zollverein School ofManagement and Design in Essen.

Climbing skyscrapers with bare hands seemed impossible to me, but I have realized that the impossible remains impossible only until you make it possible.Alain Robert, French urban climber

34


WHAT COMES BEFORE THE CITY?

projects_infrastructure

t this stage, all that can be seen is streets, sand and

pebbles. A few white factory buildings tower on the

horizon, barely discernible in the shimmering heat. The

black asphalt ribbons stretch along several kilometers

through the pale sand, through the desert. Below the

streets, however, everything is already in place for

the onslaught that the Emirate of Dubai is hoping

for in the desert sand: A stones throw away from the new Al Mak-

toum International Airport, which will be the largest in the world

once it has been completed, an approximately 30-square-kilometer

business complex is being built in which hundreds of international

companies are set to find a new home or set up an Arabic branch:

Dubai World Central. Not even a garage has been built yet, but

water and sewage pipes as well as electricity and air-conditioning

lines have long since been laid. Pairs of fiber-optic cables were

immediately buried in the ground to enable data to flow around the

world undisturbed at a later juncture. Before the city grows, the

infrastructure is already in place. Some 150,000 people will work

in the new logistics center and office buildings with 45 stories and

25 hotels will be built. And they will all have to be supplied with

water, electricity and air conditioning. This is unthinkable without a

high-capacity infrastructure. 3

A

The emergence and growth of cities depend not only on structural development, but also ondevelopment below ground. The city below the city plays a decisive role, particularly for infrastructural supply and mobility.

THE CITY?

35


Where there is still desert today, a futuristiceco-city could stand tomorrow (see p. 38) but first of all it needs a viable utility supplyinfrastructure.

36


The new financial center just outside Dubai is probably one of the

most impressive construction projects worldwide, but by no means

the only one. Cities are growing, particularly in China and India, but

also in Africa. In China, urban quarters are currently being built from

scratch for 50,000 people in only three years; frequently in loca-

tions where conglomerates are setting up factories. According to

Unesco estimates, 60 percent of humanity will already be living in

cities in the year 2025. Supplying all these people with electricity or

clean drinking water is a challenge. To achieve this, intelligent and

effective infrastructure solutions are needed now more than ever.

The best solution for electricity supply would be to use regenera-

tive energies. In the medium term, however, sun and wind will only

be able to supply the worlds metropolises with part of their electri-

city requirements. In the meantime, natural gas is an ideal alterna-

tive, as it is markedly cleaner to burn than coal and can be utilized

in small power stations in the city for combined electricity and heat

generation. In Germanys case, gas has to be procured from

Russia and other far-away Asian regions by pipeline. For this

purpose, ThyssenKrupp has developed special steels that are

3

The Romans usedopus caementitium,a predecessor andeponym of todayscement, to buildtheir aqueducts.


37

bus routes have been launched. The Austrian city of Linz also

wants to cut carbon dioxide emissions in its new solarCity district.

Approximately half of the warm water is to be generated by solar

collectors in the district, while the remainder will be supplied by

district heating pipelines.

Thus the trend in urban development and infrastructure is clear:

Infrastructure supply to the metropolitan areas has to be as local

as possible, and in some cases the areas even have to be self-

sufficient. The days of the big sewage networks and arterial roads

have gone, says Alexander Rieck, who collates pertinent research

and development results and applies them to major international

projects at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft research institute.

The future is a small-scale segmentation of the city into several

centers, some of which are self-sufficient and where people live,

shop and work. For example, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft institute

conducted a study into how such an area could supply its own

water and disburden itself of sewage. One solution is thin vacuum

pipes that can almost do without water entirely and which extract

fecal matter by suction like in a train toilet. Solids can then be 3

The future is a small-scale

segmentation of the city

into several centers, some of

which are self-sufficient.

particularly durable with a wall thickness of more than 2 centime-

ters. Hence the gas can be pumped through the pipeline at higher

pressures, enabling more gas to be transported. An additional

factor makes the pipes special too. They resist high concentrations

of hydrogen sulfide in the natural gas which could otherwise lead

to cracks and leaks.

Infrastructure that grows with the city

One of the most pressing questions of our time is how we can sup-

ply the growing global population, and especially the people in the

cities, in an environmentally friendly way in the future. At the

moment, there is no silver bullet that is economically viable as well.

However, researchers in many countries have developed very

different approaches to the infrastructure of the future. In Stock-

holm, for example, a new waterfront district for 25,000 people,

Hammarby Sjstad, is being developed. A large proportion of the

heat required for heating and warm water is generated from the

gasification of biosolids and from burning garbage. To reduce the

amount of automobile traffic, an express ferry connection and new


38 easily separated, dried and burned or fermented into biogas onsite. Rainwater is used to flush the toilet. It is collected in gigantic

underground tanks like a kind of communal cistern.

Alexandra Lux from the Institute for Social-Ecological Research

(ISOE) in Frankfurt am Main also believes that the infrastructure of

the future is more likely to be structured on a small scale. No one

knows exactly how urban growth will progress in the coming de-

cades. Instead of building big infrastructure networks, it makes

more sense to develop a system that can grow with the city and

that is made up of small infrastructure islands. Among other

things, Lux is working on processes that can be used to forecast

water demand.

As for water supply itself, Australias national science agency,

Csiro, recently presented an impressive solution: In the future,

during the rainy season it plans to pump the water into the water-

bearing strata deep in the ground known as aquifers, to cover

water demand in times of drought.

Self-sufficiency on a small scale

The Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Dubais neighbor, is also pursuing a

small-scale self-sufficiency approach. By the year 2020, the

worlds first carbon-neutral, zero-waste city, Masdar City, is set to

rise up out of the desert sand in the emirate. The municipality,

designed by star architect Sir Norman Foster for a population of

50,000, is set to be the first CO2-free metropolis in the world, the

first to generate its own energy for electricity, ambient cooling and

transport from sun and wind. There will be no cars. Instead,

driverless electric pod cars will glide along in the basements below

the streets. They will take residents and commuters automatically

from A to B. The only thing missing is the high-rise buildings.

Instead of the huge apartment and office complexes that are stan-

dard today in Abu Dhabi too, and between which temperatures rise

to 50 degrees centigrade in the middle of the day, the plan for

Masdar is to have snug two- and three-story houses and narrow,

shady alleyways that will remain cool. Thus despite all its progres-

siveness, Masdar will return to the construction style traditional to

the Arab desert regions. Although the economic crisis caused a

shake-up of the sheiks plans, such that they are now drawing up

a new master plan, to date there is still no other city worldwide that

will go so far with environmentally friendly infrastructure.

In the 19th century, European cities began to build modern sewage

systems; at the beginning of the 20th century, water pipes and

electricity networks followed. For a protracted period, infrastructure

meant supply in large dimensions. Of course, that is still the case

today. However, one thing is certain: In the future, different tech-

nologies will be increasingly combined to supply cities. Infrastruc-

ture is becoming more diversified and will thus be perfectly adap-

table to the respective conditions in Europe, in Asia, in a new city

or for the modification of an established hub. We dont know yet

which ideas will prevail, says Alexander Rieck, but many will,

because the population growth is creating huge demand. 7

TEXT: TIM SCHRDER

Rock-solid foundationToday, the basis of every city infrastructure

is comprised of one thing in particular:

concrete. Roads are cast, skyscraper

shells are built, railroad bridges are shaped

or tunnels below the city are lined with

concrete. No other building material is

used worldwide as frequently as this one

the classic mixture of cement, water and

sand. In Germany alone, 35 million tons of

cement are used in construction every

year. Cement is manufactured in plants

that are as tall as towers and in some

cases taller than Cologne Cathedral.

Many of these plants supply up to 15,000

tons of cement a day.

The ThyssenKrupp subsidiary Polysius

specializes in the construction of these

huge works and has built several plants in

the developing nations of this world. They

supply the essence for new infrastructures

such as railroad or underground lines that

take some of the load off the congested

streets or also for underground shopping

malls, as are being planned by Dutch

architects in Amsterdam to leave the canal

and gable architecture above ground

untouched. Today, thanks to special con-

struction chemical additives, concrete

and cement are truly high-performance

materials.

In tunnel construction, cement is mixed

with accelerating admixtures. This makes

the concrete harden within seconds as

soon as the extruder has dashed it onto

the tunnel wall. It is a well-known fact

that cement factories require enormous

amounts of fuel. To save precious raw

materials like oil, gas or coal, the plants

are therefore fitted in such a way that they

can also be fired by waste materials

by garbage or old tires. Environmental

savings are also made in the raw materials

used to make cement. Today, blast-fur-

nace slag from iron production is frequent-

ly used. It transpires that these waste

materials actually improve the properties

of the cement. Types of slag are used in

road construction today too, for example in

sound-absorbing silent asphalts. 7


3


39

Dilapidated water pipes in the West, a lack of infrastructure in developing countries water supplyremains one of the biggest global challenges.

Instead of building big infrastructure networks, it makes more

sense to develop a system that can grow with the city.


40

projects_materials


THAT DREAMS ARE MADE OFMATERIALS

Whether for spectacular construction projects or protecting famous monuments architects can onlyimplement many of their ideas with the help of modern materials like newly developed types of steel,titanium and steel sandwich elements.

41

T DREAMS ARE MADE OF

Striking: The foyer of the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart that was designed by Viennese architecturalfirm Delugan Meissl rests on three massive concrete pillars 16 meters above the ground. The corro-sion-resistant stainless steel made by ThyssenKrupp that was used here spatially increases thegenerous entrance to the foyer and intensifies the interaction between visitors and building, as archi-tect Roman Delugan explains.

hen the Burj Khalifa Bin Zayed, known for

short as the Burj Tower, was officially

opened on January 4, 2010 in Dubai, Thys-

senKrupp Nirosta also had a reason to cele-

brate. For the facade of the 828-meter-high

tower, the constructors drew on some 400 tons

of stainless steel from the Dillenburg works

that was processed and delivered by German partner company

Strukturmetall. However, the building, which was erected in a

six-year construction period following the plans of U.S. architect

Adrian Smith, is not only the tallest in the world, it is also parti-

cularly resilient stainless steel resists the environmental effects to

which the Burj Tower is exposed because of its simultaneous

proximity to sea and desert and the temperature fluctuations this

causes. In addition, the surface was treated to economize on

weight and make the facade non-reflective in order not to confuse

pilots on their approach to the airport in Dubai.

New materials change architecture

Like numerous other spectacular edifices before it, the Burj Tower

demonstrates how the development of new or the improvement of

familiar materials continue to expand architects possibilities.

Cement was one of these materials, even back in the days of

antiquity. The Romans mixed it with travertine, tuff and slate chip-

pings and so were able to vault a 43-meter space, a formidable

span for that time, without using columns when they built the Pan-

theon 2,000 years ago. In the mid-19th century, on the other hand,

glass and iron caused a sensation when British architect Joseph

Paxton had the exhibition building for the first World Exhibition in

1851 in London known as the Crystal Palace constructed using

mainly these two materials. Not long afterwards, steel began its

worldwide advance. The construction of the steel lattice tower that

was named after its builder, Gustave Eiffel, for the centennial of the

French Revolution and the 1889 world exhibition that accompanied

it, once again involved the display of a modern building material.

However, the erection of the Empire State Building in 1930/31 in

New York in the record time of 18 months surely symbolizes most

W

42


projects_materials

3

impressively the extent to which steel revolutionized architecture in

the metropolises of the world. At 381 meters high, the Empire State

Building was the worlds highest building for more than 40 years

until the World Trade Center was built.

Steel remains future-proof

Although the end of the steel age has meantime been predicted

several times already, constant three-digit-million investments by

the German steel industry alone ensure that steel remains compe-

titive against newly developed composite materials like fiber glass

reinforced plastic or metal foams, both in terms of price as well as

of material properties. Thus the number of types of

steel listed in the European Steel Register has risen

continuously in recent years to currently 2,379 market-

relevant types. In 2009 alone, 86 new types of steel

were added to the list. This was five types more than the

total for the previous four years, according to Wolfgang

Schmitz of the German Steel Federation. Add to this

further non-registered special works brands and non-

European steels. New types of steel should either achieve

weight savings while retaining the same material

properties or improved properties while retaining the

same weight. Over many decades, the interaction bet-

ween material research and development on the one

hand and adaptation to the constantly growing

demands of builders and architects on the other have

ensured that buildings are being constructed increas-

ingly higher and ultimately that increasingly daring designs can be

realized.

Particularly the combination of steel and concrete has ensured that

building can continue to enter into new dimensions, as with the

construction of the Burj Tower. The latest development in concrete

is what is known as translucent concrete, which allows a certain

amount of light to pass through it. ron Losonczi from Hungary

managed to produce these novel concrete elements by inserting

optical fibers. Light and shadow can still be discerned at wall

thicknesses of up to 20 meters. In Mexico City, this material is

New materials ensure that increasingly daring designs

can be realized.

43


Concrete | Already used to impressiveeffect by the Romans to build the Pantheon in Rome, this material alsodeveloped further and today enablesaudacious constructions like the Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge in Braslia.

Stainless steel | Whether in the facadeof the newly built Burj Tower in Dubai orto stabilize the Frauenkirche church inDresden architects employ ThyssenKrupp Nirostas material for many different purposes.

44


projects_materials

Titanium | Indestructible: Titanium hardly weathers at all, even in inclement conditions,and is being increasingly used in facades. Thus the dome of the National Theater inBeijing (photo middle right) has been partially constructed from this material. Moreover,more than 20 years ago, ThyssenKrupp Titanium already supplied 30 tons of the material for the doors of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca, thus protecting themperfectly against corrosion from the aggressive sea air.

Glass | The trans-parent material of glass has lostnothing of its fasci-nation for archi-tects like here inIeoh Ming Peisfamous pyramid infront of the Louvre(photo left) or asthe roof of theGrand Palais, alsoin Paris, that wasbuilt around 1900(photo middle left).

45


currently being used for the first time on a large scale by architects

Ebner + Snchez to build an extension to the company headquar-

ters of Mexican construction firm ICA. The 120-meter-long building

that will rest on only a few supports is set to receive a circumferen-

tial facade with panels made of the translucent concrete.

Apart from steel and concrete, titanium in particular is a material

that has excellent mechanical properties, is furthermore highly

corrosion-resistant and enables the construction of spectacular

edifices in modern architecture. The Guggenheim Museum in

Bilbao, which was completed in 1997 and

clad with sheets of titanium, is the best

known, but by no means the only building that

can gleam in this way. For example, Japanese

architect Kisho Kurokawa also combined

titanium with aluminum for the extension to

the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which

was opened two years later, to lend more

luster to the elliptic shape of the structure

compared with the more austere, quadrangu-

lar main building.

Apart from exclusivity and luster, titanium

scores points among builders and architects

in particular because of its resilience: Because

contact with oxygen causes a thin, trans-

parent oxide layer to form on its surface,

which virtually does not react any more, it

hardly weathers at all, even in unfavorable

weather conditions. This is a factor which also

moved the builders of the Glasgow Science

Center to choose titanium cladding for the roof

and facade of the building, including the

attached IMAX cinema.

However, stainless steel and titanium do not come into considera-

tion solely for modern construction projects; they are used in total-

ly unexpected situations too. Anywhere heat, cold and corrosion

damage the fabric of ancient, medieval or other buildings from

more recent epochs over the years, these modern materials offer

the opportunity to counteract the decay. Normally, stainless steel

is only associated with modern architecture, said Gert Wei, head

of Product Service at ThyssenKrupp Nirosta. However, it can also

help restore old buildings, without giving them an entirely new

character. One example is Cologne Cathedral, where the old and

heavily corroded iron girders of the 100-meter-high visitors gallery

were replaced by stainless steel girders. The construction of the

Frauenkirche church in Dresden and the equestrian statue in front

of the Town Hall in Bremen were stabilized using securing elements

made of Nirosta steels. In these application examples, the promi-

nent factor is not the technical aesthetic of the material, but its

functionality, Wei continued.

Modern monument preservation in steel and titanium

This also applies to the concealed use of titanium on the Acropolis

in Athens. Years previously, the steel originally used for restoring

the monument was replaced by titanium rods manufactured by

ThyssenKrupp Titanium to prevent the marble in the world-famous

temple columns being damaged by corrosion. ThyssenKrupp

Titanium is also involved in saving Venices landmark, the Campa-

nile di San Marco, from dilapidation.

The Campanile, a free-standing bell tower of St. Marks Cathedral

on the opposite side of St. Marks Square, was originally built in the

10th century, collapsed in 1902 and was subsequently rebuilt.

However, the foundation of the almost 100-meter-high tower is

made of wooden stakes, which have rotted over the years from the

salt water. In addition, because the sea-level is rising, high tides

and floods are attacking the fabric of the building. This can cause

cracks to appear, and St. Marks Tower could lean sideways or

collapse again. In an elaborate operation over a two-year

construction period up to the end of 2011, a titanium construction

will be extended around the present foundation at a depth of three-

and-a-half meters underwater with the aim of keeping the edifice

stable in the long term. 7

TEXT: CHRISTOPH NEUSCHFFER

Whether Cologne Cathedral, the Acropolis or St. Marks Church:

Steel and titanium can help restore old buildings.

3

46

projects_quarter2007

2008

TK Magazin | 1 | 2010 | Juni

2009

2010

Dreams become reality: In a time loop, 52 pictures show how

the expansive campus of the new ThyssenKrupp Quarter arose

from an industrial wasteland at the edge of downtown Essen in

about two and a half years. In the summer of 2010, employees

started moving into the new Group headquarters of Thyssen

Krupp. With its large panorama windows, the prominent main

building Q1, somewhat left of center of the range of vision, and

the campus as a whole stand for openness and an invitation

for dialogue. Read on to discover what special features the

Quarter offers, how it reflects innovation and future orientation,

and why the 230-hectare area is so interesting from a historical

point of view.

47

MOVEMENT AND RENEWAL

48


quarter_interview

An interview on the new ThyssenKrupp Quarter in Essen with Ralph Labonte, Director of Human Resourceson the Executive Board of ThyssenKrupp AG, who headed up the project.

T AND RENEWAL

49


Mr. Labonte, ThyssenKrupp started an international architect com-

petition for the new ThyssenKrupp Quarter in 2006, and the ground-

breaking ceremony took place in mid-2007. Now the Groups em-

ployees are moving into the Quarter. What does such a large

project, which gathers together thousands of people in a new

place, mean for ThyssenKrupp?

First of all, we are happy and proud to move into a new Quarter that is

such an architectural success and is tailored precisely to our require-

ments. It articulates how we see ourselves and what is important to us

in many ways. It is thus an expression of our self-conception. With our

return to the Ruhr region, we are clearly committing ourselves to the

area in which ThyssenKrupp and its predecessors have their roots. In

After two years of construction, the topping-out ceremony for theGroup headquarters in the new ThyssenKrupp Quarter took place on July 17, 2009. On behalf of the Executive Board, RalphLabonte thanked everyone who contributed with their know-howfor awakening a city quarter and old industrial site to new life.

3

Essen, Group history started at a small cast-steel factory called Krupp

in 1811 and it continues to be written here. That is something special.

Just think of how other companies have moved sites, even abroad. A

move also always means movement, a renewal. I think I speak for all

Group employees when I say that we are conscious of this historical

dimension. I am excited to see how these dynamics affect us all.

How important is the site of a Group headquarters nowadays?

A site is always a sign of the companys connection with a city or regi-

on. Especially in a globalized world, the place where a company settles

is of great importance and high symbolic value for the company itself,

for its employees, and naturally for the respective site. Even an interna-

tionally networked group like ThyssenKrupp with sites on five continents

needs a centralized administration as the heart of the Group and as a

symbol for its development.


50

quarter_interview

A Quarter for 2,000 employeesThyssenKrupp is concentrating its adminis-

trative sites in the new Quarter in Essen in

addition to the second administrative head

office in Duisburg. The entire Krupp Belt com-

prises 230 hectares. It borders on the western

part of downtown Essen and stretches 7 kilo-

meters to the north. About 2,000 employees

have been working on the campus of the

ThyssenKrupp Quarter since June 2010. The

Quarter was built on the basis of a design

by Chaix & Morel et associs, Paris/JSWD

Architekten und Planer, Cologne. The office

concept was developed in cooperation with

the Fraunhofer Institute, taking the wishes of

the employees into consideration. 7

The shell-core principle

The basic design of all campus buildings

reflects the harmonious interplay between ar-

chitecture and space, as a symbol of dialogue

and communication. To achieve this, the

shell-core principle was applied: All buil-

dings consist of at least two L-shaped indivi-

dual structural bodies that surround a shared

space. Two facade types thus arise one

facing the central space with the courtyards

and atria (the core) and the other facing the

exterior and relating to the open spaces (the

shell). The warm, sunny colors of the sheet

metal of the core," which is illuminated in the

twilight and night hours, create a strong con-

trast to the rough, metallic external shell. 7

Building_dimensions_1

Construction site

More than 300 companies took part in

the construction

About 1,600 workers at peak times at the

construction site

Several hundred construction vehicles a day

13 cranes (max. simultaneous use)

450,000 cubic meters moved earth

Approx. 3 kilometers of construction site fencing

3

A new green Quarter: on the left, the new Krupp Belt, on the right, downtownEssen, connected by the new Berthold-Beitz-Boulevard

The urban campus concept should also at least to some extent

convey openness toward the outside. Isnt it still probable, how-

ever, that the Quarter will develop into a microcosm for the people

who work there?

No, I dont think so the Quarter is embedded in a very comprehensive

urban development. Eleven years ago, the general plan for the so-

called Krupp Belt, the area of development between downtown Essen

and the Altendorf district that lay empty for the most part for decades,

had already been developed. With a sheer size of about 230 hectares,

this is the largest downtown development area in Germany. The objec-

tive then as today is to expand the city center and link it with the Alten-

dorf district. With the decision to concentrate the administrative units of

ThyssenKrupp in the heart of this area of development, we have stimu-

lated an urban dynamic in Essen. In parallel, the city started the first

part of construction of Berthold-Beitz-Boulevard and the northern

section of Krupp Park and has already handed it over to its citizens. I am

confident that the general public will also discover our campus and thus

start a lively exchange between the Group and its vicinity. By designing

the campus so openly, we wanted to take a stand, especially at a time

when security checks are almost out of control. We built neither a fence

nor a wall so that this immense area is not just available to employees.

The design of the forum also shows that we are serious about our invi-

tation for dialogue: It should be a place of conversation and exchange.

Which view or assessment do you hope to obtain from your guests

and neighbors in Essen? Do you expect an urban development as

we have seen in the last few years in Germany, for example on

Potsdamer Platz in Berlin or in Hamburgs HafenCity?

51


Underground

A lot is also going on under the green carpet

of the ThyssenKrupp campus: A clever logi-

stics system has been created underground.

Generously sized underground garages

connect all buildings in a sophisticated traffic

system and thus make sure that the entire

campus remains car-free supply and

disposal, delivery and pick-up take place

underground, and garbage trucks and catering

vans will not be seen anywhere on campus.

Visitors and employees can drive to every

single building underground. This means

no-one has to walk across the campus in bad

weather. 7

3

A place for working and relaxing: the new campus

52


quarter_interview

That remains to be seen. Comparisons of this type always involve a

certain imponderability since conditions are different in every city. In the

past decades, Essen and the Ruhr region have gone through an exten-

sive structural change this continues to this day this is also reflected

in its selection as the cultural capital of Europe this year. The develop-

mental process by means of which the future of this region should be

secured has been anything but easy and has resulted in painful decisi-

ons in many areas. In this context, our decision for this site is also a sig-

nal that we believe in the future of the region. I hope that our guests and

neighbors come to a similar judgement. The foundation for a lively

urban development which can never be precisely controlled or pre-

dicted has been laid down with the general plan and the Thyssen

Krupp Quarter. Now it depends on what we and everyone else make of

it. Thats exciting.

Architecture is also always a self-portrait of whoever lives there.

What does the construction of the new Quarter say about Thys-

senKrupp? What message should the Quarter communicate to the

outside world, what trends should it set?

We are primarily a technology group that lives from the ideas of highly

qualified engineers who introduce our products and know-how to the

world. An exchange of knowledge and dialogue are thus essential

which we demonstrate with the campus structure and openness to the

outside. We basically want to signal transparency and openness. This is

proven, among other things, by the facades. The main Q1 building, for

example, has large window-like openings, the panorama windows. In

addition, the Quarter reflects the lively innovative culture of our Group.

This is shown at a first glance by such things as the fine sheet metal

facade or the unique sun protection design that we developed in-house.

Employees and guests will also discover many innovations on the

second and third look. As a global technological group, ThyssenKrupp

is committed to helping design a sustainable living environment for

todays and future generations and that starts in-house. The particu-

larly sustainable construction of the Quarter has already been awarded

a renowned pre-certificate.

A strong partnership

A consortium of Paris architects Chaix & Morel

et associs and Cologne architectural practice

JSWD Architekten won the competition to de-

sign the ThyssenKrupp Quarter. The agencies

are bound by friendship; a number of projects

have already arisen from their combined

drafts, including the new central train station

of Luxembourg. Colognes JSWD has been in

business since 2000. The four partners,

Jrgen Steffens, Olaf Drehsen, and Konstantin

and Frederik Jaspert, run an office with about

50 employees. JSWD sees its distinctive

sense for planning in urban dimensions as

one of its particular strengths. With few, but

clearly defined elements, the architects create

clear hierarchies of buildings and free spaces.

This also characterizes the ThyssenKrupp

Quarter: The building and surrounding land-

scape are an equal part of the spatial whole;

the individual building blocks develop their

full effect embedded in the green and empty

spaces of the campus.

Atelier darchitecture Chaix & Morel et asso-

cis, founded in 1983, currently comprises a

team of eight partners (Philippe Chaix, Jean-

Paul Morel, Rmy Van Nieuwenhove, Walter

Grasmug, Anabel Sergent, Denis Germond,

Benoit Sigros, and Rmi Lichnerowicz) and

30 employees. The agencys design priorities

include ecologically sustainable building and

planning, the search for architectural forms

of expression with strong identity, and the use

of innovative technologies in the planning

and development of buildings. Chaix & Morels

design principles include architecture of sober

elegance, a contextual language of shapes,

and a subtle use of natural light. At present,

the atelier is mainly engaged outside of

France, not least due to intensive cooperation

with other architects abroad. The Thyssen

Krupp Quarter is the first project of such

magnitude within such a constellation in

which Chaix & Morel et associs has been

involved. 7

3


Building materials

90,000 cubic meters of concrete

23,000 tons of steel

28,600 square meters of carpeting

16,300 square meters of glass surfaces

We are serious about our invitation for dialogue.

Avenue of the Worlds

The Allee der Welten (Avenue of the Worlds)

in front of the forum reflects the international

character and global orientation of Thyssen

Krupp AG. The 68 trees planted here come

from five continents. During the selection,

particular attention was paid to growth and

foliation to ensure the most versatile ensemble

possible. Similar to Essens Hgelpark where

the Krupp family once planted trees from all

over the world, no tree shoots were planted,

but rather fully grown trees so that the desired

overall effect would already be in place when

the Quarter is occupied. 7

53


How will users experience the quarter? What kind of working and

living environment will they find?

Here too, the keywords are transparency and openness. The wide use of

glazing communicates spaciousness: It provides the greatest possible

natural incidence of light and thus a bright, friendly working ambience.

The floors, ceilings, and office furniture made of bright materials

reinforce the effect of light inside the buildings. The water axis, the bou-

levard, and the open campus structure create an inspirational working

environment. The green spaces, on which people can both work and

relax, contribute to this atmosphere. With a non-religious Room of

Tranquility, we offer our employees a place to retreat from the hectic of

everyday work. This all expresses our idea of future-oriented work-

places. The concentration of the previously separate sites will certainly

lead to changes in the daily routine for some. We have, however,

mastered other moves in the past and will do so this time as well.

What were the greatest challenges in connection with the new con-

struction? What surprised you the most in the project phase?

As a whole, the construction project was a logistical challenge. We

relaid a high-voltage line that cut across the site a unique procedure

in Germany. In addition, we ploughed through the entire area with

crushers to clean up the foundation of the cast steel factory and level

the ground for the construction of the water axis. We have also coped

with some unexpected events like the emergency landing of a small

airplane on our construction site.

Symbol of a new future of ThyssenKrupp in Essen: Construction work for the Quarter started withthe groundbreaking ceremony on June 12, 2007. From left: Dr. Gerhard Cromme, Chairman of the ThyssenKrupp Supervisory Board, Dr. Wolfgang Reiniger, Mayor of the City of Essen, Prof. Dr. Berthold Beitz, Honorary Chairman of the ThyssenKrupp Supervisory Board, Minister-PresidentJrgen Rttgers, Dr. Ekkehard Schulz, Chairman of the Executive Board of ThyssenKrupp AG, andRalph Labonte, Member of the Executive Board of ThyssenKrupp AG.

3

Virgin territory in the city

With the long-term Krupp Belt project, a new,

urban quarter that should offer space for work,

free time, and culture, is arising in the middle

of downtown Essen. In this process, the needs

and potentials of the existing neighborhoods

play a central role: Connections and links are

being created, which will allow the surrounding

quarters to be strengthened by the qualities

of the Krupp Belt. After the completion of

the southern section, the approximately 22-

hectare Krupp Park, designed by landscaper

Andreas Kipar together with the citizens of the

neighboring quarters, will offer space for free

time and recreation. 7

Which elements of the Quarter do you think are particularly un-

usual in comparison with other similar projects?

On the one hand, the overall architectural presentation: Our structure is

so flexible that we can react to dynamic change processes within the

Group. The overall concept with one-third built-up area and two-thirds

open green areas is certainly unusual as well. The 700 trees and the

generously designed water axis contribute considerably to improving

the microclimate of the entire grounds. What is unique is perhaps the

use of our own products, some of which we especially developed for the

Quarter. In this manner, we have created a corporate architecture, an

identity-promoting construction culture that makes the new Group

headquarters in Essen distinctive.

And now your personal assessment: We have the year 2030. Will

the move to the quarter have marked an epochal change for the

Group?

Calling it an epochal change is probably too much. The move wont turn

ThyssenKrupp into a completely different company. If you put what

youre familiar with to the test, however, as weve done with this con-

struction project, new ideas always arise. With the Quarter, we have

implemented the corporate identity and demands that we place on

ourselves innovation and sustainability, openness and networking of

knowledge in a physical form. That also creates new impetus and a

feeling of renewal. To that extent, I do think that we will look back on this

move as an important distance marker, maybe even as the beginning of

a new chapter in the history of the Group.7

54



Infrastructure

320,000 running meters of electrical lines

9,000 running meters of water pipes

29 elevators, escalators, and lifting platforms

About 3 kilometers of ground loops

(geothermical energy)

Panorama windows

The atrium of the main Q1 building is the heart

of the ThyssenKrupp campus and whoever

enters the campus can see how it beats. The

25-meter-wide and 28-meter-high windows

open up the view into the interior space from

the south and north. The lack of frames or

sash bars on the windows creates the initial

impression that the panorama windows consist

of a single giant pane. How was this maximum

transparency achieved? Among other things,

the objective was to use as few panes as

possible so that the window is interrupted by

as few silicone joints as possible. The result

of these considerations are insulating glass

panes that are 2.15 meters wide and 3.60

meters high. In addition, the most slender

support structure possible for the windows

plays a decisive role so the engineers selected

a vertically and horizontally pretensioned cable

truss facade. The panes are supported at

certain points using clamps. The panorama

windows thus not only provide transparency

they are also a technical masterpiece of steel

and glass, as well as symbolizing the

innovative force of ThyssenKrupp. 7

quarter_interview

3

55


3 These words could be used to describe a chapel or meditation room

in the ThyssenKrupp Quarter in Essen, Germany. The company is at-

tempting to create future-oriented, sustainable structures and open up

space for its visionary foundations. At the foundation of every enterprise

are the people involved: those for whom the company is there or the

target group and those who make up the company the makers and

doers. A Room of Tranquility and meditation should invite both groups

to pause for a moment to refresh themselves for their further

travels down the everyday paths in their business and personal lives. An

opportunity to take a short rest in the hectic workday that has been

and will continue to be the function of the roadside chapel. These small

structures are visible to everyone, inviting us in, but we can also choose

to pass by. Maybe that best descibes the idea of this Room of Tran-

quility. In the context of a corporate head office, a chapel or meditati-

on room can only function as an optional facility and should not be seen

as its main emphasis. It is, then, a room within a room a symbolic

space that allows connections to resonate, but not to be articulated.

Where should such a room be located in the constructed space? It must

be visible and easy to find for those looking for it, but also function as a

hidden retreat for those within.

The words of Angelus Silesius portray humans as beings in relationship

to other beings and places. People strive to move beyond that which

they are. Space is given to encompass that yearning for something

greater, for something or someone else. What survives Accident and

remains? Sometimes this question comes up amid all of the transience

of everyday business. Because a Room of Tranquility should lift

visitors up so that they can access their true abilities and power, the

rooms design should emphasize upward motion and height. Consider-

ing that the searching associated with being human takes on many and

various shapes, a Room of Tranquility created in a company that is

active all over the world cannot provide an adequate response to every-

one. The room can simply serve as a container in which questions

remain open, questions a person asks him or herself and questions

about the future. Such a room should be kept neutral with nothing that

indicates a specific religion but should also address visitors in a very

personal manner. The questions a person asks about

him or herself would provide a good focus. This focus

could give rise to any manner of ideas about what God

is or not. The room should provide a great degree of

freedom and release, but not attempt to specify the di-

rection of a persons introspection. Likewise, the place

should exhibit a sense of design but remain free of

condescension. Even just the existence of such a

space is meaningful and points to the builders con-

ception of humanity. A Room of Tranquility allows

people to be seen as more than just part of the

economy. This perspective suggests sustainability

and poses questions regarding the future of this

German company. At one time, semi-finished pro-

ducts were manufactured from raw materials, then

products, and finally, innovations and t

tk magazin 10 architecture

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