Rent-Event-Tec Façade Design

For this industrial building, located next to a residential area, the only division is a public road. The City of Mannheim asked büro uebele visuelle kommunikation to improve this situation.There was a problem concerning the commercialization of this public space with industry taking over parts of the city, which led to conflict. Fortunately, the urban planning authorities intervened and büro uebele visuelle kommunikation could help resolve this conflict by means of a simple wall graphic.

There were two opposing views; for legal reasons, the huge building front couldn’t be used as a billboard even though the client had a keen interest in showing his logo on the façade. As the planners and the client were holding different views on what should be displayed on the façade, the büro uebele visuelle kommunikation team tried to satisfy both parties as well as delivering an eye-catching design. Since the façade is huge (about 1,000 square metres), they were obliged to design something simple that wouldn’t break the budget but still be impressive.

So the büro uebele visuelle kommunikation design team took the company logo and broke it up into its component parts, which they arranged loosely and indecipherably enough for the planners to approve, but closely enough that it’s just about legible, creating a typographical camouflage pattern that covers an enormous façade. Through the fragmentation of the clients’ logo, the team developed abstract shapes that won’t become boring after a while. Thus the mural turns into an integrated entity together with the architecture.

The design process was organized in gradual phases and there were many professionals involved such as specialist planners, structural engineers, engineers, architects, building authorities, lighting designers, landscape designers, the user and the client. Furthermore, the designers consulted representatives of special social groups, e.g., representatives of disabled people.

Design Team

Carolin Himmel, Christian Lindermann (project manager), Andreas Uebele

Design Firm

Büro Uebele Visuelle Kommunikation

Project Area

13,778 sq ft

Consultants

Peter Stasek Architects (architect)

Fabricators

Eicher-Werkstätten