new_spaces_07_GB

new spaces 07 365 days
Gaggenau
new spaces 07
365 days
See page 34

2 Editorial
Welcome to the World of Gaggenau!
“If you’ve got a great interior, you should show it,” says the
Berlin-based architect Thomas Baecker referring to his innovative
supermarket designs. This quotation from our report about the
new temples of food is also a good motto for this issue of
new spaces, in which Gaggenau shows you lots of great spaces.
Some of them, like modern premium supermarkets, superbly
combine functionality and a strong visual impact. Others blur the
boundaries between art and design. A good example here is the
customised house created by an architect on a site between
the Rhine Valley and the Black Forest. Together, we discover small
spaces, including a round houseboat in Copenhagen, and endlessly
large ones such as “skywalks” — panoramic bridges high in the
air with nothing above them but the overarching sky. We also show
you spaces for enjoyment and adventure, such as the new Wine
Cube from Gaggenau and bulthaup, and we invite you to visit us in
the virtual space of the new Gaggenau online showroom.
In other words, there’s a lot to enjoy in a magazine designed to
offer you a wealth of new ideas and insights that will help you
in your daily work. Let yourself be inspired by creative people who
are daring to step into the world of tomorrow.
Pleasant reading, yours sincerely
Sven Schnee
Head of
Gaggenau International

PHOTOGRAPHY (TOP TO BOTTOM): BRUNO HELBING FOTOGRAFIE ZÜRICH, JOEP VERHOEVEN/DIRK KREIJKAMP, CHRIS MALUSZYNSKI/MOMENT/AGENTUR FOCUS
14
44
52
Imprint
Gaggenau new spaces 07
Publisher Gaggenau Hausgeräte GmbH, Marketing international
Responsible Sven Schnee
Project Management Annette Kaiser
Contents
04 Thinking the Future I Jelly designers from the UK: Jellymongers
10 Inside Gaggenau Gaggenau and bulthaup show their wine expertise
14 Best Practice A bungalow between the Rhine and the Black Forest
20 Kitchen Love The Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat
22 Thinking the Future II Supermarkets and architecture: New temples of food
28 Projects A modern houseboat in Copenhagen
32 New Products The new fully electronic gas cooktops
34 Gaggenau Online The new virtual Gaggenau showroom
35 Sights and Scenes Focus on Singapore
43 What’s Next? Spectacular architectural plans
44 Thinking the Future III Telling Tales: Every object tells a story
52 Thinking the Future IV Skywalks: Bridges between heaven and earth
58 Worldwide News from the world of Gaggenau
Editor in Chief Peter Würth (responsible according to press law) Art Director Dirk Linke Managing Editor Inga Borg Design Annette Arnheim Picture Editor Trine Skraastad
Copy Desk Sebastian Schulin Translation TransForm Production Claude Hellweg (Head), Oliver Lupp Contributors Wolf-Christian Fink, Josephine Grever,
Roland Hagenberg, Isabelle Hofmann, Tobias Moorstedt, Kerstin Schweighöfer, Oliver Stilling, Andreas Toelke Questions or suggestions concerning this issue should be
sent to newspaces@gaggenau.com Publishing house and editorial office HOFFMANN UND CAMPE VERLAG GmbH, a company of the GANSKE VERLAGSGRUPPE,
Harvestehuder Weg 42, 20149 Hamburg, Germany, Tel. +49 40 44188-257, Fax +49 40 44188-236 Managing Directors Manfred Bissinger, Dr. Kai Laakmann, Dr. Andreas Siefke
Publication Manager Frank Rothschuh Lithography fi lestyle medienproduktion, Hamburg Printing Neef+Stumme, Wittingen
Copyright © 2010 by Gaggenau. Reprinting only with source credit and voucher copy. The content does not necessarily refl ect the opinion of the publisher.
3

4 Thinking the Future I
Edible Architecture
Bompas & Parr use colourful jelly to
make models of world-famous buildings
that astonish even star architects
Text: Josephine Grever

Masters of jelly
Sam Bompas and
Harry Parr (right) are as
fascinated by jelly as
they are by architecture.
The entrepreneurs have
developed this dual
passion into a successful
business model.
PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRIS TERRY

6 Thinking the Future I
The wobbly model of Madrid’s Barajas Airport
is almost two and a half metres long.
The original is the largest construction ever
created by the architect Richard Rogers.
For Rogers’ 75th birthday, the guests were
served a version of the architect’s
masterpiece made of orange-coloured jelly,
complete with aeroplanes, for dessert.

“ The complete airport was eaten up in 15 minutes.
We love that,” says Sam Bompas. PHOTOGRAPHY:
ROGERS STIRK HARBOUR + PARTNERS

8 Thinking the Future I
If you happen to be a world-renowned architect who has been
knighted by the Queen, and you’re celebrating an important
anniversary, you need a highlight people will be talking about for
a long time. When Richard Rogers celebrated his 75th birthday
two years ago, this highlight was the dessert of a gala dinner to
which he had invited all of his colleagues. After the main course,
a joyously vibrating creation made of yellow, orange and red
jelly was carried in on six huge trays. It was a model of Bajaras
Airport in Madrid, which was opened four years ago and, at
more than 93,000 square metres, is Rogers’ largest structure
to date. The edible version — 2,340 millimetres long and
570 millimetres wide, complete with a wavy roof, forked girders
and mini-aeroplanes — consisted of pure fruit juices and
gelatine. And there was another surprise in store for the guests:
the gigantic jelly also tasted fantastic.
“We use only fresh ingredients,” emphasises Sam
Bompas, and Harry Parr is in complete agreement. The two
clever London businessmen, who are in their mid-twenties, were
responsible for “translating” the architectural masterpiece into
shimmering jelly. “That’s why our jellies don’t give the impression
of being chemical or artifi cial but instead taste like strawberries,
grapefruits and mangoes. There’s not the slightest similarity with
ready-mixes from the supermarket.” How long did it take them to
construct the airport? “A whole week”, recalls Bompas with
satisfaction. “The complete airport was eaten up in 15 minutes.
We love that.”
Route planner to a jelly banquet
Extravagant and odd as only a couple of
Londoners can be.
PHOTOGRAPHY: EMMA RIOS (BOTTOM), CHARLES VILLYARD (2)
Night Glow Jelly
This Bompas & Parr jelly enriched with quinine
glows in the dark.
The two business partners who founded their company,
“Jellymongers”, three years ago are now in great demand at
exclusive meetings and major cultural events, for which
they might be asked to construct replicas of London’s tourist
attractions or the Taj Mahal. The prices of their colourful
architectural models begin at 800 British pounds and vary
according to the degree of technical diffi culty involved. How do
such ideas arise in the fi rst place? “The charm of jelly desserts
is easy to understand,” answers Bompas. “They awaken childhood
memories, but that’s not all. Jelly is multifaceted. You can
pour it into any shape and give any colour or taste you wish. And
its transparency clearly makes it an aesthetically beautiful object.
It should be taken seriously as an art form.” Besides, he adds,
experimenting with jelly is nothing new. “It was already popular
with the ancient Egyptians, and over the decades jellies became
the crowning glory of lavish banquets.” In Great Britain, the
golden age of jellies was the reign of Queen Victoria, when
festive tables were decorated not with fl owers but with jellies.
“We’d like to continue this tradition,” Bompas explains.
It all began with a friendship at Eton College. Harry and
Sam both loved electronic music and good food. While their
fellow students would sneak out of the dormitory in order to
frequent nearby pubs, the two of them saved up their pocket
money to have an occasional meal at one of London’s gourmet
temples. Harry also likes to cook. His beans on toast, which
he occasionally made for Prince William, who was one year
above them, were famous. After Eton, Harry studied architecture,
while Sam chose geography and subsequently worked in the

PR industry. Both of them lived in London and enjoyed cooking
dinner for their friends and, increasingly, for private dinner
parties. Frequently praised for their original desserts, they came
up with the idea of making their passion into a business.
It was defi nitely an idea whose time had come: In a
London beset by crises there was little work for young architects,
and the know-how Sam had acquired in the PR business also
came in very helpful. As both of them loved not only food but
architecture, they initiated an amusing contest in the same year:
As part of the “Festival of Architecture”, more than 100 renowned
architects designed models that were then constructed as
jellies. The results were auctioned off and the proceeds went to
“Article 25”, an organisation that builds housing in developing
countries.
The participants were enthusiastic. “There’s too little
humour in architecture,” commented Will Alsop. With selfdeprecating
irony, Sir Norman Foster provided a model of his
Millennium Bridge. The original had wobbled so dangerously
during its inauguration in 2000 that it immediately had to
be closed. The winner was the Taiwanese architect Anna Liu,
Inhaling instead of drinking
In the Walk-in Cocktail, alcohol fl oats in the air
and goes straight to the head.
whose fl ower-shaped pavilion fulfi lled all of the criteria, including
innovation, aesthetics and the all-important shimmying factor.
But the real winners were Bompas & Parr, who
attracted lots of attention through the event. The British media
are puzzled: Are they performance artists, chefs, or merely
pranksters? “Food as performance is fi ne, but nobody wants to
see a magic trick more than twice,” says Bompas. “Everything
we do is an expression of our love of food, but we don’t want to
compete with professional chefs. We take a holistic view of our
PHOTOGRAPHY: DAN PRICE
work.” Just like their heroine Agnes B. Marshall — the Victorian
ice cream queen, who not only invented the ice cream cone
but also wrote books and gave lectures — the two men aim to
unite various disciplines. For example, they cooperated with
scientists from University College in London to develop a jelly
containing fl uorescent quinine, which makes it glow in the dark.
This was followed by the Walk-in Cocktail, a bar opened for
two weeks near Carnaby Street, in which gin and tonic was not
served in glasses but sprayed into the air and inhaled. Visitors
had to put on overalls to protect their clothing, and the establishment’s
team included three physicians. “Alcohol evaporates
to form a kind of steam,” explains Bompas. “If you breathe it in,
it directly enters your blood and goes straight to your head.”
This “total experience for all fi ve senses” was followed
by the Architectural Punchbowl sponsored by Courvoisier. For
the event, Bompas & Parr installed a gigantic punchbowl as
large as two double-decker buses and fi lled it with a cocktail
made of Courvoisier Exclusif, pomegranate juice and cranberry
juice. Their project for the next Festival of Architecture also
promises to be entertaining. At its centre will be a golf course
made of jelly, in which each of the 18 holes will be designed by
a different architect. “Once again, it will feature all of the big
names in architecture,” says Parr, who spends a lot of his time in
the architecture department of University College on a computer
that translates newly designed shapes into three-dimensional
models. For the visionary chef Heston Blumenthal, Bompas &
Parr conceived shapes made of galvanised copper; for the Kraft
Foods company, they created other moulds. They also design
new cooking utensils, will publish their fi rst cookbook in June,
and are now working on a “magic marmalade” for an exhibition
titled “The Surreal House”, which will take place in the Barbican
Centre. But fi rst, they’re going to move into a spacious workshop
with a large industrial kitchen.
One question still remains: How does one make the
perfect jelly? “The crucial factor is the ratio of fresh fruit juice
to gelatine,” says Bompas. “The bigger the construction,
the more solidity it needs. Basically, you have to use as little
gelatine as possible. By doing so, you guarantee the optimal
degree of wobbliness.”
Further information
www.jellymongers.co.uk
London Festival of Architecture: 19 June – 4 July 2010 www.lfa2010.org
The Surreal House: 10 June – 17 September 2010, www.barbican.org.uk
9

10 Inside Gaggenau
A Feast for All the Senses
Where fine wines meet modern design: today’s
wine cellar can provide the perfect environment
for slower, more authentic enjoyment

PHOTOGRAPHY: GAGGENAU
The wine experience
Instead of being banished to
the dusty cellar, today’s
precious vintages are put on
show. The right setting for this
purpose can also serve as
an ideal venue to enjoy wine.

“Those who take the time to
discover intimacy benefit the most.”
Peter Wippermann

A successful
aesthetic symbiosis
The industrial
architecture of Berlin’s
E-Werk as the perfect
foil for a “living room”.
PHOTOGRAPHY: GAGGENAU
Inside Gaggenau 13
“The Renaissance of cuisine goes hand in hand with a new
myth of happiness. Its combination of natural archetypes
and rituals of fellowship creates intimacy whilst implying meaningfulness.
As individuals cannot buy happiness, but must
rather create it for themselves, shared activities such as cooking,
eating and drinking have acquired a new signifi cance.” These
are the words not of a celebrity chef but rather of a scientist —
an academic concerned with cultural change and new forms of
experience — the futurologist Peter Wippermann. His thesis is
that cooking is no longer merely concerned with the intake of
food but has acquired a higher social signifi cance. In this sense,
cooking with family or friends has become a pleasurable experience
in itself, which not only includes food, of course, but also
extends to wine. Part of this pleasure derives from taking things
more slowly: “Those who take the time to discover intimacy
benefi t the most,” says Wippermann. The old saying “Rome
wasn’t built in a day” means just that. And the same applies to
wine. It, too, needs time to prepare its pleasures — time in the
making, in the drinking and, most importantly of all, in the storing.
In fact, what it needs most of all is to be left in peace for a while.
The fi ner the vintage, the more delicately it has to be treated.
That’s reason enough for Gaggenau to call on renowned
sommeliers for help in developing wine climate cabinets. Perfect
wine storage is more than a question of the right temperature.
Top vintages must be protected against light and left undisturbed
in an environment that is hygienic and properly ventilated.
That’s why all Gaggenau wine climate cabinets have a sophisticated
ventilation system, stainless steel lining and a compres sor
suspension so as to ensure practically no vibration during
operation. All models are equipped with different climate
zones and can therefore store different wines at different
temperatures. This means that champagne and white wine,
for example, can be stored at the perfect drinking temperature,
while red wine continues to mature under ideal conditions.
Moreover, the fully extendable bottle trays in aluminium and
untreated, rounded beech wood prevent damage to the precious
wine labels.
In partnership with bulthaup, Gaggenau has now taken the
wine experience to a higher level. As a symbiosis of design
and functionality, the new “Wine Cube” provides the perfect
environment for all the senses. At Berlin’s E-Werk, selected
journalists and business partners recently had the opportunity
to experience the future of innovative walk-in wine cellar over fi ve
days. Embedded within a modern industrial setting, the room
was specially customised for the installation of wine climate
cabinets from Gaggenau. “What we have here is a unique wine
cellar experience,” said Hartmut Röhrig, International Sales
and Marketing Director at bulthaup, at the opening event. “It is
completely different to that possible with an open-plan layout.
Thanks to Gaggenau’s sophisticated wine-storage technology,
we have been able to create a feast for the senses while
respecting the dictates of temperature and humidity required
for proper cellarage. In this way, we are jointly exploring the zone
between art, technology and architecture.”

14 Best Practice
The communication
centre of the house
The slate-tiled kitchen
fl oor refl ects the light
falling through
the translucent room
divider. Architects:
baurmann.dürr
architekten, Karlsruhe.

A House with a Heart
A tailor-made home created in an idyllic
location among the hills between
the Rhine Valley and the Black Forest
Text: Wolf-Christian Fink Photography: Dominik Gigler

16 Best Practice
Entertaining friends, preparing meals
together and sitting around the large
Le Corbusier dining table — that’s what
counts in this home.

Comfort on every level
Grace, the couple’s affable
golden retriever, guards
the house from her bed
at the bottom of the stairs.
The sheepskins casually
draped over dining chairs
created by Danish designer
Hans J. Wegner (left)
lend a warm touch to the
kitchen’s pure lines.

18 Best Practice
Hidden away like a precious jewel, the two-story bungalow
is perched on a hilltop in a rural region between the city
of Karlsruhe and the northern Black Forest. There it stands,
gleaming in the luminous spring sunshine, its structure so
light and transparent that one could gaze right into its very heart.
Not that this should worry the owners. After all, no one strays
into this rural hideaway, tucked away at the end of a cul-de-sac
on the very edge of the forest. It was here that the owners, who
work in Karlsruhe, located this secluded 1,200 square metre
site to build their new house. In the end, the project consisted of
“one year’s planning, one year’s building, and one year’s negotiating
with the planning authorities”, as the lady of the house
explains with discretion and the native charm of the people from
around these parts. Among the manifold problems encountered
by people building a new house, this was one of the most
diffi cult they had to face. It was a clash between reason and
regulation. To avoid undercutting the prescribed distance to the
edge of the woods (30 metres), the façade has been designed
so that it mirrors the contour of the tree line. This now gives the
house extra charm: The shortage of right angles on one side
seems to set the already diaphanous structure in motion, while
lending an organic feeling to the space within.
Surrounded by young hedges of photinia and rosemary
willow, the house and garden already offer an intimation of
how well they will blend into the surrounding countryside. It was
the prime wish of the owners, who felt magically attracted here
from the city, to forge a bond between the house and nature.
The outside walls on the ground fl oor therefore consist in part of
large sliding windows, with the result that the boundary between
inside and outside seems suspended, especially in summer.
“With a guard dog like ours, we can leave the windows open at
night and let the wind blow right through the house,” they say.
Grace, the hound in question, turns out to be a very genial and
not particularly terrifying golden retriever.
It was only during the planning phase that the owners realised
just how many decisions are involved in a project of this kind.
These ranged from the colour of the slate for the fl oor to the
position of the laundry chute, from the hue of the oak used
throughout the house to the position of the bathtub and the
decision ultimately to sacrifi ce it in favour of a small sauna next
to the bathroom. “We were never off the phone to the architect,”
they explain. “But amazingly, we’re still good friends with him.
It doesn’t work out that way for a lot of clients!”
One of the major areas of discussion was the design
of the kitchen area, which covers around 140 square metres
on the ground fl oor, most of it in one single room. In the end,
they let themselves be guided by what they like doing most:
entertaining friends, preparing meals together and sitting
around the large Le Corbusier dining table. One result is that
visitors pass almost imperceptibly from the entrance area into
the kitchen. Likewise, the decision in favour of a kitchen island,
along with the combination of glossy white surfaces and partially
concealed appliances, creates more of a living-room than a
kitchen atmosphere. The ambience is that of a Mediterranean
kitchen in summer, with lots of room and direct contact to the
outdoors — in this case, the terrace.
What the couple — both enthusiastic cooks — couldn’t know
in advance was how quickly they would be integrated into the
neighbourhood, which is made up of newcomers like them. The
community they found here was quite unlike the classic urban
picture of village life. “We’ve made more friends here than we did
during all our time living in the city,” they say. This is a view that’s
heard more and more often from people who have escaped to the
country. Rural living has long since ceased to be provincial. Thanks
to the Internet and the iPhone, it’s possible to be in touch “virtually”
around the clock. And for people who like to cook, the range of
produce on offer in the neighbourhood is by no means basic. In
fact, the couple rave about the organic bread and organic vegetables
that are locally available. Their culinary accomplishments range
from the regional speciality tarte fl ambée — done to a turn on their
Gaggenau baking stone — to homemade sushi, homemade spätzle
noodles and Thai curry. In fact, there’s only one no-no: cooking
strictly according to the recipe. “I always play around with the ingredients,”
says our hostess. “That’s what gives cooking an extra kick.”
Be it delicately seasoned vegetables cooked in the Gaggenau
Combi-steam oven, savoury potato dishes or salmon served with an
exotic sauce — most dishes are prepared from ingredients chosen
on the spur of the moment. In charge of the wine is the man of the
house, who has a collection of fi ne vintages from the nearby Pfalz
region safely stored away in the cellar.
For these homeowners, what counts more than anything
else is being able to carve out islands of enjoyment in the midst of
a heavy work schedule. That includes having a home that has
been designed to completely meet their individual needs and to
provide the perfect escape from the demands of work. “But the
funny thing is that now that everything is fi nished, the creative urge
is still there, just as though we were building another new house!”
says the owner with a laugh. Fortunately, there are still a number of
future plans to work on, including the installation of a small pool in
the garden behind the house.

Where nature meets
architecture
Although the garden
is still young, it is already
clear how well the light
and airy structure of the
house will merge with
the surrounding countryside
(above). The large
sliding windows dissolve
the boundary between
inside and outside (right),
and the generous bathroom
likewise gets lots of
natural light (below).
It was the prime wish of
the owners, who felt
magically attracted here
from the city, to forge a
bond between the house
and nature.
FOTOS: BRUNO HELBLING
19

20 Kitchen Love
Born in 1956, Erick van Egeraat, who is one of the
Netherlands’ best known architects, considers
himself a representative of a sensual architecture.
He speaks of a “modern Baroque” and mixes
shapes, colours and materials to his heart’s content.
Among his most famous Dutch buildings are the
Popstage MEZZ in Breda, the city hall in Alphen and
“The Rock”, an offi ce tower in Amsterdam. He also
designed the ING offi ce building in Budapest, Hungary,
and the Institute of Modern Art in Middlesbrough, UK.
Time to Eat. The fast food era is over for
Erick van Egeraat. It is now mostly fresh fish that
adorns the plate of this butcher’s son
Interview: Kerstin Schweighöfer
How important is the kitchen to you — as a private person
and as an architect?
The kitchen continues to be the centre of the house. And that is
no different at our house. Although we are not at home all that
often, we gather in the kitchen whenever we are — particularly
when my four children from my fi rst marriage are with us.
And as an architect? What kind of kitchen do clients
want in 2010?
The kitchen often has to be larger than used to be the case. Open
kitchens with a bar continue to be very popular. However, many
people still want a closed kitchen with a classical dining room.
In such a set-up, they don’t have to clean everything up right away
when guests come. Instead, they can simply close the kitchen
door. The kitchen can be small, thereby making more space
available for the dining room. But whatever the arrangement, there
is one golden rule: the kitchen and everything in it have to be
perfect. This applies to us, too. We even have two kitchens in our
Rotterdam apartment.
Why is that?
We have a small one with a bar that we use for more intimate
occasions or when we want to enjoy an aperitif at the bar
with guests. We also have a second, large kitchen with an
adjoining open dining room. Both kitchens are fully functional
and fi tted with the latest appliances. I’m not a great cook,
but you don’t have to be a Formula 1 driver to be able to afford
a Porsche, either.
With your wife behind the wheel in this case…
That’s right. She is an excellent cook who insists on high
standards and she also has an extraordinary talent when it
comes to organisation. Everything is cleaned up again in
no time at all. Although I can cook, too, I prefer to design houses.
But I have always been quite good at browning meat…
A legacy from your father, who was a butcher?
Yes! We used to eat a lot of meat at home when I was a boy. But
things are much different today. Now we mostly eat fi sh — for
example scampi or tuna. We are particularly keen on everything
that is low in calories and can be put on the Teppan Yaki, the
Japanese griddle. It’s a fantastic invention!
Is that the infl uence of your wife, who used to be
a model?
Today, every child knows that you should have a healthy diet.
The word has even got around in Russia, where I have a lot of
construction projects. Healthy food also tastes a lot better.
The days when I would quickly devour a pizza are over, in any
case. And when my wife and I eat, we take our time. That,
I think, is the trend of the future.
And what does the future look like?
Even more people will eat out at restaurants. And when they do
decide to cook at home for themselves, they will try to do so
just as professionally as the chef at a restaurant. Quality will also
enjoy a very high priority. Even my compatriots, the rather frugal,
Calvinist Dutch, are now spending more money on the kitchen
than they did in the past. We have learned to pay much more
attention to the importance of cooking and eating. And I consider
this development to be the most important change in awareness
of recent decades. ¤

1 Iittala Tools pan
Maybe it is the big handles that
impressed me so much. But
there is hardly any pot or pan that
I like more than this. The thick
heavy base makes cooking easy.
2 Ray Eames stools
Defi nitely not the fi rst piece of
equipment you might expect in a
modern design kitchen. But we
love to use them everywhere.
Even when not used and left
standing around by mistake, they
enhance any room.
3 Wüsthof tomato knife
From all the knifes that I have ever
seen, Wüsthof still impresses
me the most. Maybe it’s a bit of a
male thing to be so obsessed
with these kinds of objects even
though I hardly use any of them.
But when I do use one, cutting
through a soft tomato skin sends
shivers down my spine.
4 Tetsubin cast iron teapot
It’s the blackness that makes it so
cool. And the water drops on top
of it make it look like an animal.
Because of its gracious silhouette,
you don’t realise how heavy this
teapot really is until you actually lift
it.
5 Iittala glasses
Danish minimalist design is
usually the last thing that gets me
excited. But this set of glasses
turns drinking into an extraordinary
experience. All drinks taste so
much better when the edge of the
glass is extremely thin. What’s
more, these glasses are designed
so well. Whenever I look at them
I wonder how anyone could subscribe
to a throw-it-away mentality.
1
2
6
6 Laguiole bottle opener
Some objects are attractive
because they are perfectly made.
Superbly crafted with all that
French style, these openers are
the perfect tool when it comes
to opening a good bottle of wine.
It is a real pity that so many
good wines can’t be purchased
with a cork these days.
3
4
5
PHOTOGRAPHY: MARCO BAKKER (LEFT), BENNE OCHS

22 Thinking the Future II
Shopping spaceship
The MPREIS market in Matrein looks
like a glittering aluminium UFO that’s
somehow landed in the Alps.

The Wonderful World of Shopping
Modern supermarkets are much more than
just bargain outlets. The best such shopping
venues give consumers the feeling they
are at a weekly market in a space-age setting
Text: Tobias Moorstedt
PHOTGRAPHY: PAUL OTT

Modern supermarkets exploit waist-high shelves,
thematic product islands and merchandise
sections. “If you’ve got a great interior, you should
show it,” says one market designer. High ceilings,
generous lighting, stylish bistros, clearly arranged
merchandise islands — customers should feel
comfortable, whether they’re shopping in Niederndorf
(top, far left) or Achenkirch (bottom, far right).

“ Supermarkets are the
most frequented public places,
so you can’t say their
appearance isn’t important.”
Hansjörg Mölk, MPREIS
A building site in the Salzburg region of Austria, a deep
excavation pit, surrounded by high mountain peaks. The gravel
piles, steel beams, and diggers at a street corner in Bad Hofgastein
don’t reveal much — just about anything might be under construction
here. It’s simply a blank piece of paper in an engineer’s notebook.
A short time later, those familiar with such sites begin to see that the
building under construction is more than just a run-of-the-mill
residential complex or yet another Alpine hotel. The combination of
concrete, wood and large windows indicates an extravagant modern
architectural structure — a library perhaps, or a concert hall. However,
most Austrians already suspected that a new supermarket will
soon appear. And they were right. The latest MPREIS supermarket
opened here in December 2009. This elegant house of merchandise
has razor-sharp corners and shopfront windows that display
products as if they were in a painting framed by black steel girders.
The MPREIS supermarket chain recognised some
time ago that low prices and big lettering are no longer enough
to attract customers. “Our challenge is to provide a spatial
experience along with an attractive range of products,” says
MPREIS managing director Hansjörg Mölk. MPREIS buildings
have won numerous architectural prizes, including the New
Alpine Architecture Award (Astrid Taschapeller and Peter
Köbler, Wenns) and the World Architecture Community Award
(Peter Lorenz, Niederndorf). Some of these structures even
represented Austria at the Biennale in Venice. The leading
design magazine Wallpaper described the discounter’s outlets
as “seriously sexy supermarkets”.
The prototypical supermarket of the 20th century was
defi nitely not seductive in any sense of the word. Instead, it
PHOTOGRAPHS NUMBERED IN ROWS ACROSS SPREAD: THOMAS JANTSCHER (NO. 1, 7, 10), ANDRÉ MORIN (NO. 9), LUKAS SCHALLER (NO. 2–6, 8, 11, 12)

26 Thinking the Future II
resembled the packages and cartons displayed on endless
rows of shelves under cold fl uorescent lights. It was as if the
designers had subscribed to the motto: “Square, Practical,
Good”. The supermarkets’ pragmatic structure refl ected
the two main driving forces behind the design: cost-benefi t
considerations and logistic optimisation.
The result was a wave of eyesores. This was no good
because, as Mölk points out, “supermarkets are the most
frequented public places, so you can’t say their appearance
isn’t important”. At the beginning of the 1980s, architect Heinz
Planatscher convinced Mölk to try something new. This little
experiment evolved into a valuable brand. These days, supermarket
chains in Austria not only compete in terms of the best
location and the lowest prices; they also strive to achieve the
best architectural designs. Even star architects like Dominique
Perrault have been persuaded to build outlets for MPREIS. In
other countries as well, supermarket operators are giving shop
design a higher priority. For example, some time ago the US
organic supermarket chain Whole Foods realised that you can’t
sell premium organic products in faceless concrete structures.
That’s why it commissioned renowned architects from the
KTGY Group to design its fl agship store in Pasadena, California.
Department store giant Selfridges let avant-garde designers
from Future Systems handle its food halls in Manchester and
Birmingham in the UK, while in Germany, young architects from
RobertNeun have already won several awards for their work
on FrischeParadies supermarkets. As the jury for the Deubau
Award put it, the architects dedicated themselves “to designing
commercial buildings for storing and distributing merchandise
in a manner that enhances the cityscape”. To put it another way,
the “food lounges” which these architects often build in old
warehouses, are simply lovely places to shop and spend time.
RobertNeun’s main offi ce is in an old industrial building in the
Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin. A narrow stairway leads to
the studio used by Thomas Baecker, Nils Buschmann, and Tom
Friedrich. Pipes and wires run underneath the ceiling of the white
room. “We like the raw authenticity of industrial settings,” says
Baecker, who also points out that “containers and stock pallets
are just as much an integral part of supermarket processes as
the giant sliding doors in refrigerated rooms and the meat hooks
hanging from the ceilings.” In 2009, FrischeParadies opened a
shop in Berlin — a bungalow-like structure with a total fl oor space
of 6,000 square metres that reminded architecture critics in the
German FAZ newspaper of Le Corbusier. This was because its
wooden frame is supported by dark and abstractly shaped steel
beams while its large seamless glass surfaces offer a view deep
inside. When darkness falls, the yellow LED lamps that illumi-
PHOTGRAPHY: THOMAS JANTSCHER

nate the empty building, shopping trolleys, car park, and pockets
of rubbish turn the site into a veritable installation.
Until recently, retail chains interpreted corporate design as
meaning that each outlet should have a similar appearance
and structure. Customers would then be able to fi nd the shops
and recognise their interior structures, regardless of whether a
7Eleven, for example, is located in Hong Kong or Los Angeles.
Only recently did companies realise that the atmosphere in
which they present their products is important, and that modern
architecture can enhance a brand’s value and attract attention.
Indeed, car manufacturers like Mercedes, BMW, and VW are
already involved in a crazy competition involving museums, transparent
factories, and so-called auto cities designed by Zaha
Hadid or Coop Himmelb(l)au. The MPREIS market in Telfs also
looks like a glittering aluminium UFO that has somehow landed
in the Alps. Each market is unique. “Our style focuses on the
individual and unmistakable,” says Mölk. “Because we always
look different, people tend to recognise us.”
Still, supermarkets will never become sculptures. “We
are judged primarily on things like whether or not we deliver on
time and whether our doors are wide enough to accommodate
forklifts,” says Baecker. In other words, functionality and business
factors remain the key. Even Mölk points out that “the market
Summits rather than merchandise mountains
MPREIS shops like the one in Telfs (left) choose
to forgo shelf space in favour of transparency
and open areas. As a result, shopping there is a
true experience. People at FrischeParadies have
a similar view of things but have opted instead
for the raw charm of industrial aesthetics, as
can be seen at the market in the Berlin district
of Prenzlauer Berg (top).
needs to function properly.” But isn’t good architecture the art
of reconciling budget constraints, construction ordinances,
spatial contexts and function to create an exceptional design?
Baecker says that chains like MPREIS, FrischeParadies and
Whole Foods understand that while a large glass facade can
reduce the absolute shelf space in a market, it will also pull more
customers inside. In other words, sometimes an exceptional
form can also follow function: “Our ceilings are up to 1.50 metres
higher than stipulated by law,” says Mölk. “This creates a
pleasant atmosphere that entices people to stay longer.” It goes
without saying that discount merchandise is a no-no in such
a designer market. FrischeParadies is actually a delicacy food
business that formerly supplied only hotels and restaurants,
but has now opened its doors to the public. The entrance to
every FrischeParadies is adorned with a sign touting caviar and
truffl es — and right next to that is the shop’s spice section.
However, MPREIS also stresses the regional origin of many of
its products. These days, the “super supermarket” has become
the ideal place for a new consumer sub-species with a “LoHa”
(Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) to shop. For these consumers,
food is more than just a nutrient. In fact, their shopping
list is like a personal identity card that says “I am what I eat.”
In the traditional supermarket, the shelf arrangement, signs,
and information from loudspeakers guide shoppers past
each product at least once. This guidance system leaves some
options open, but seals off others. “Today’s modern customers
don’t like to feel trapped, however,” says Baecker. That’s why
modern supermarkets utilise waist-high shelves and thematic
product islands and merchandise sections. Sometimes cash
registers are even arranged within the market rather than at the
end, thereby eliminating this ultimate barrier as well. “If you’ve
got a great interior, you’ve got to show it,” Baecker says.
Baecker and his colleagues took this doctrine further
than ever when designing the FrischeParadies supermarket in
Berlin. The supermarket’s glass windows and innovative “viewing
channels” not only display products but also reveal what’s
behind the scenes and in storage areas. It’s a transparent supermarket
where administrative staff can be found between the
aisles and customers can see storerooms and trucks bringing
in deliveries.
Mölk believes supermarkets should not be a place where
customers simply work through a shopping list. Instead, they
should be places where people communicate, similar to the
old weekly markets. That’s why these super supermarkets often
include bistros and bars. Amanda Levete and her colleagues
at Future Systems adopted a similar approach with the food halls
for Selfridges department stores in England. These halls look
like the bridge of a spaceship with their cool blue light illuminating
the biomorphic glass showcases and shelves. Here, the
artifi cialness of the market environment underlines the naturalness
of the products. According to Future Systems, this concept
is meant to re-establish supermarkets as social meeting places —
locations for people to stroll about in, sample individual products
and converse with other people. In other words, what’s needed
is a weekly market that looks like a spaceship.
Further information
www.mpreis.at/standorte/architektur/architekturdesign/index.htm
www.frischeparadies.de
www.wholefoodsmarket.com
PHOTGRAPHY: ANNETTE KISLING

28 Projects
A UFO Lands in Denmark
A circular houseboat
moored in Copenhagen
is a masterpiece
boasting state-of-the-art
green technology Text: Oliver Stilling
UFO with a view
Sea views almost all round.
In winter, the Unique Floating
Object is a real eye-catcher
in Copenhagen’s frozen harbour.

If you take a walk — or, preferably, a bicycle ride — around the
harbour of Copenhagen, Denmark, you will see a large
buoyant construction that will tempt you to linger for a while. At
Kalvebod Wharf, right opposite two former grain silos that were
remodelled into upscale apartments by the Dutch architects
MVRDV, and within a stone’s throw from the waterfront’s popular
29
open-air swimming pool, you’re bound to come across a
houseboat with a spectacular design. As its name suggests,
the ‘UFO’ — Unique Floating Object — really does look like
something from outer space. Most houseboats are rectangular
like ships and are often remodelled boats. But this one
is completely circular and is covered by a two-deck ceiling. PHOTOGRAPHY: THOMAS IBSEN (RECHTS), CC DESIGN (2)

30 Projects
Household brands
Once you are inside the boat, the extravagant but stylish
interior will take your breath away. “We asked ourselves: ‘What
is the world going to look like in 20 years?’” says Christian
Christiansen, founding CEO at CC Design. Having answered
this question, we then made the design accordingly.” His
company developed this prototype in partnership with Marina
Housing, a Helsinki-based Finnish maker of fl oating structures
that plans to put the boat into production.
The result is a 130 tonne houseboat costing 1.6 million
euros. The vessel, which has been built with sustainable
materials, is equipped with a variety of the latest technologies
from household brands like Danfoss, Duravit, Uno Form, Harman
Nordic, Lauritz Knudsen, Samsung and, of course, Gaggenau.
All of these companies have made their products freely available
for the houseboat project.
The houseboat sailed into the harbour prior to the 2009
United Nations Climate Change Summit, commonly known as
the COP15. A variety of international delegations — most notably
from China and the United States — dropped by to see the boat
during the summit, says Christiansen. The exact outcome of the
visits is unclear. The UFO is furnished like any fancy cosmopolitan
two-storey apartment. However, there are two key differences:
it is energy-effi cient and has a sea view in three of the four
directions. The sea view is especially impressive from the kitchen
area in the centre of the boat, which is equipped with blackstained
Italian poplar wood by uno form. Here, a handful of
Gaggenau’s revolutionary appliances provide everything you
could wish for in terms of comfort. They include a fridge and
freezer from the Vario Cooling 200 series with an energy rating
of A++, an oven, a Combi-steam oven and a coffee machine, all
from the 200 series, an 80 centimetre wide induction cooktop
with Twist-Pad control, a Vario dishwasher, as well as a washing
machine and a dryer.
Splashing around
in a fl oating whirlpool
The UFO is outfi tted with
all of the comforts of a
home in one of the world’s
great cities — including
Scandinavian design and
Gaggenau-fi tted kitchen
appliances (left). The stairs
(bottom right) appear to
fl oat up to the upper deck.
The wood fl oor in the
living room (top right) is
equipped with an underfl
oor heating system that
utilises heat from the
seawater in the harbour.

Sustainable and exclusive
The average private home doesn’t come with a server room, but
then again there doesn’t seem to be anything average about
the UFO. The sound system delivered by Harman Nordic’s two
strong brands Harman/Kardon and JVL has a main-source
system in the little server room amidships between the kitchen
and the hallway. All the sound sources are controlled by built-in
panels and remote controls in every room. To claim that the
sound of the music is “green” would probably be pushing it a
bit. But at least the products installed by Harman Nordic can
boast a very low standby power consumption.
Both fl oors have bathrooms supplied by Duravit. Anyone
entering them will be impressed by the use of classical Starck 1
porcelain from the new PuraVida design series. As if all this wasn’t
enough, on leaving the combined kitchen/dining room you encounter
the stairs to your right. Each of the stairs seems to hang from the
wall, and walking on them is a downright elevating experience. The
top fl oor is home to the master bedroom and the boat’s other sundeck,
where you can enjoy a Jacuzzi all year round. The water temperature
is 40 degrees Celsius. Incidentally, there’s a sauna up here,
too. It’s a Duravit sauna designed by EOOS. It’s called Inipi, which is
Lakota Indian for ‘sweat lodge’. What you recognize immediately on
coming on board the UFO is the care and accuracy that has gone
into every part of the houseboat — be it the wooden fl oor or the way
in which the windows are attached to the panels that surround
them. “We have used very skilled craftsmen for everything and
they built the house using traditional methods,” says Christiansen.
Heat from the fl oor
On entering the prototype you are asked to take off your shoes.
And then you feel the warmth coming from the 250 square
metre wooden fl oor. The temperature is cosy even though it’s
freezing outside the large panorama windows. That might not
sound like sustainability, but it is. Danfoss, the leading Danish
manufacturer of valves and fl uid handling components, has
created an indoor climate using the latest heat pump, fl oor
heater and heat recovery ventilation systems. The power source
is the ocean plus indirect solar energy harvested from the sea.
As Mads Rasmussen, Product Solution Manager at
Danfoss explains, it is possible to extract heat from seawater “by
laying a coil wrapped with hoses on the seabed beneath the
houseboat”. The impressive big Danfoss pump just lies there in
the water. It doesn’t look like much but it does an amazing job.
But why are all these high-end brands interested in participating
in a sustainability project being carried out by CC Design
and Marina Housing? The answer is easy. The fi rms get a chance
to show the importance of creating energy-effi cient products in a
world that desperately needs solutions to climate change.
According to Marina Housing the primary market for a
houseboat like the UFO is the Middle East — for example,
in places like Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, where the
Finnish company already has a rich portfolio of customers.
The houseboat will soon be moved to a different part of the waterfront
where it will be used as a showroom.
Further information
www.marinahousing.fi /en/
31
FOTOS: THOMAS IBSEN

32 New Products
Ease of Use and Safety
The new fully electronic gas cooktops
of the Vario cooktops 400 series

Extremely precise and fast: There are many advantages
when you cook with gas. The new generation of gas cooktops
from the Vario cooktops 400 series combines functionality and
safety to give the perfect result. The fully electronic controls
make the cooktops extremely fl exible: From the simmering setting
to 6,000 watts of power for the gas wok (when operated with
natural gas) — the gas fl ame can be instantly set to one of
12 power levels at any time. When the simmering setting is
selected, the gas fl ame extinguishes automatically every
30 seconds and is reignited 30 seconds later to perfectly
simmer food on the lowest setting.
Especially user-friendly: The automatic ignition makes it
possible to activate and exactly reproduce the gas fl ame directly
at every power level for exceptional ease of use. The fl ame is
also monitored electronically and is reignited automatically — for
example, after it has been extinguished by a draft.
Visually striking: The appliances with front-mounted control knobs
are the fi rst gas cooktops with the Gaggenau typical orange
illuminated rings that indicate the current operating mode and
operational errors. The rings are activated when the appliance is
switched on and thus have an important safety function.
Product information
VG 441/ VG 442 Fully electronic Vario gas cooktops 400 series
Dimensions 38 cm wide
Features Stainless steel, fully electronic power control,
automatic fast ignition, electronic fl ame monitoring
with automatic re-ignition, residual heat indicator
and safety shutoff. Power range: gas wok 300 –
6,000 W (when operated with natural gas)/
simmering setting 150 W, 2 burner gas cooktop
165 – 4,000 W/simmering setting 80 W
Further information www.gaggenau.com
33
PHOTOGRAPHY: GAGGENAU

34 Gaggenau Online
Open Around the Clock:
The Gaggenau
Online Showroom
Virtual landscapes and spaces are not only the terrain for
modern journeys of adventure and discovery — they also provide
a setting that enables people to express their creativity. And
that also applies to the new Gaggenau online showroom —
which initially features three spaces. Every day, 365 days a year,
visitors to the site have an opportunity to make the barren
landscape of the Mongolian desert the starting point of a varied
spectrum of encounters with the world of Gaggenau. The
users can try out for themselves, in a specifi c ambience, the
confi gurations that achieve the desired effect.
The principle is as surprising as it is innovative
Visitors are led through three portals at
www.gaggenau.com/onlineshowroom
into three different digital worlds.
After clicking on “New York”, the user enters the 42nd fl oor of a
high-rise building with a dazzling view of Manhattan. A spacious
loft with stainless steel and wood design elements is the stage
for the Gaggenau appliances that have been placed here.
Each product can be studied in detail with a zoom camera and
is presented complete with image and text. The focus here is on
the appliances’ sophisticated technology and broad range of
functions and details.
In addition to the existing Gaggenau showrooms all over
the world and their spectacular mobile spin-offs that travel
from continent to continent, the virtual showroom is a further
A barren steppe landscape. Three pavilions.
Each one offers a new, intensive
encounter with the world of Gaggenau.
especially convenient way for users to experience Gaggenau up
close, on the one hand, while also exploring their own ideas
in a manner that’s experimental and almost playful, on the other.
After all, in this virtual environment entire confi gurations of
appliances can be interchanged and integrated in one and the
same room. As a result, it becomes possible to easily try out
a wide array of options.
Whereas the focus in the “New York” setting is on
solutions for an interior with generous dimensions, in the
“Balinese Pagoda”, which is set in pristine natural surroundings,
there is a different objective. Here, the aim is to harmoniously
put together a combination of natural materials and aluminium
surfaces — as organically as the traditional Balinese architecture
refl ects the exotic landscape.
The third digital journey conveys the aristocratic grandeur
of a Venetian palazzo. Here the refi ned setting for a kitchen
equipped with Gaggenau appliances is a residence with very
high ceilings. The central aspect is the contrast between a
cool stainless steel look and period interiors, with all the fl air
that the lagoon city is famous for.
As a “guest” in these rooms, visitors not only learn how
the Gaggenau appliances can be combined in many different
ways and without stylistic restrictions in the kitchen of their
dreams; the online showroom is also the new Gaggenau Internet
address for an individualised brand experience. And it will
be expanded in the future — with features including a wealth of
information on the history of Gaggenau.
PHOTOGRAPHY: GAGGENAU

Gaggenau
new spaces 07
Focus on Singapore
1.
Stopover in Singapore: The
Gaggenau mobile showroom
Thousands of visitors came to Boat Asia held in
Singapore in April. At this celebration of waterfront
lifestyle, they were eager to experience maritime luxury
up close — at the helm of a super-yacht, inside an elegant
cabin or on the gleaming decks of sleek speedboats.
Gently rocking between the 57 well-heeled
vessels on exhibit was an unusual launch carrying an
extravagant cargo: the Gaggenau mobile showroom.
Following stopovers in Phuket and Bangkok, the travelling
brand messenger revealed that Gaggenau caters
to its customers even on the waterfront. In addition,
cooking shows featuring the 200 series ovens and the
Vario 400 series cooktops, especially the teppan yaki,
demonstrated to visitors that life on a yacht without
high-end kitchen appliances is as incomplete as nightlife
without music.
Sights and Scenes 35

36 Sights and Scenes
2.
The Tree Lover
The Singaporean architect Kay Ngee Tan
uses plants to connect old and new urban elements —
and he tries to learn from history
Text: Roland Hagenberg
It looks like a cross
between the
Guggen heim Museum in
New York and a gigantic
birthday cake: the
Singapore Pavilion for
Expo 2010 in Shanghai.
People who live near the equator don’t
have seasons, only the tropical
alternation of rain showers and sunshine.
Time seems to stand still in the Duxton
Hill neighbourhood of Singapore on the
edge of China Town, where lovingly
restored old buildings from the colonial
period doze in the shade of exotic trees.
Their survival in the midst of the city’s
explosive development of recent decades
was the result of pure chance rather than
urban planning. The houses are now
protected landmarks. In earlier times,
merchants lived in the top stories and
used the street fl oors for their shops,
where they would smoke opium while
waiting for customers. Today, the
architectural charms of days gone by
offer designers, artists and architects a
measure of protection from the
monotonous and functional business
world of Singapore. The 53-year-old
architect Kay Ngee Tan is among those
who have found their way to this creative
oasis. His latest project is the Singapore
Pavilion for this year’s World Fair in
Shanghai, whose organisers expect to
welcome a total of ten million visitors.
“Urban symphony — that was
the theme we started with,” he explains.
PHOTOGRAPHY:: PR KAY NGEE TAN

“A variety of sounds, rhythms and instruments
will be united into a harmonious
whole, just as Singapore is doing with its
many cultures, races and religions.”
Because the English word “square” can
mean “boring” as well as “quadrilateral”,
Tan has deliberately avoided cubical
structures. “The pavilion is as round as a
music box playing waltzes, and if you take
a closer look at the façade you’ll see patterns
similar to those formed on a music
cylinder by the metal picks that play the
music,” he says. You could also say it’s a
cross between the Guggenheim Museum
in New York and a minimalist birthday
cake — overshadowed by tropical trees,
which you see everywhere in Singapore.
“We put plantings on the roof, and the
building is additionally cooled by the wind
that is caught in the irregular surfaces of
the façade and then conducted inside the
building,” says Tan.
Like almost all Singaporeans, Kay Ngee
Tan is a descendent of immigrants who
were either driven out of their homeland
or seeking a better life. Initially they were
uprooted, later they felt stranded, but
today they are an indispensable part of a
multi-ethnic experiment that is unique in
the world. Different ethnic groups are
well integrated and live together harmoniously
in this city-state, a metropolis with a
population of four million. “Our main
cultures are Chinese, Indian, Malaysian
and European. In the interior of the pavilion
I have represented them symbolically
with four cylindrical pillars,” Tan says.
The architect, who is of Chinese
origin, received his training at the Architectural
Association School of Architecture
in London. In the late 1980s he
received First Prize in the international
student competition sponsored by the
Royal Institute of British Architects, and
from that point on his career took off.
“The assignment was to design an exhibition
space for the artists David Hockney
and Anthony Caro. The legendary
architect and construction philosopher
James Sterling was a member of the jury.
He liked my design most of all.”
Tan stayed in England for 20 years
and established his fi rst architectural
offi ce there. Today it’s one of three, the
others being in Singapore and Istanbul.
The rightness of Tan’s decision to return
to Singapore after living abroad for so
long was confi rmed by an experience he
had before he left London. “I was standing
in the glassed-in Palm House in Kew
Gardens with all these fantastic tropical
trees, and I thought, this is absurd. Here
I have to pay admission in order to see
them, but in Singapore they grow in front
of every house and along every street!”
Tan believes that it’s possible to
create a city from scratch on a drawing
board. However, he adds, if the city’s
individual parts have no relevance to the
people who live there, even the best
construction plan won’t work: “If we had
built Singapore the way Le Corbusier
imagined his futuristic cities, the result
would have been horrible. I think that
today China can learn from us — from our
mistakes as well as our successes. We
too have experienced rapid economic
expansion followed by a breakneck
construction boom that has destroyed a
great deal. Today we continue to modernise,
but we’re also trying to preserve
our past.” Plans call for precise landscape
architecture to form links between
old and new urban elements, with rooftop
parks, climbing plants on highway bridges
and streets with overarching canopies
Kay Ngee Tan
is Singapore’s most
exciting architect. He did
his training in England,
but he returned to
Singapore “because of
the trees”, he says.
Below you can see his
design for the Buddhist
Cultural Museum in
Singapore.
37

38 Sights and Scenes
of trees. Ever since the 1960s, Singapore’s
bureaucrats have been looking for
suitable plants all over the world.
Kay Ngee Tan’s projects always begin
with two rituals. When he thinks he has
intuitively grasped the character of a
building, he draws imaginary pictures of
it with a coloured pencil on loose sheets
of paper. “I always use this two-coloured
pencil, which is blue on one side and red
on the other. This lets me express two
aspects of the building at the same time,”
he says. And as though the survival of his
creativity depended on these coloured
Façade technology
The residential buildings
in Taipei’s Hu linduan
quarter show similarities to
computer circuits and
an aerial view of the city.
pencils, he uses only the best kind, which
he has fl own in from a renowned
stationery shop in Tokyo. The second
ritual is a period of months during which
he and his 12-person team in Singapore
research the planned construction site’s
history. “This creates trust between the
client, the architect, the local people, and
of course the people who will move into
the fi nished building,” he explains. The
results of this research into the site’s past
fl ows into the architectural design, and
the building can then be smoothly
integrated into its surroundings. The team
also uses programs such as “Google
Earth” for its historical research. Once
when Tan was preparing to create a new
façade for a building complex in Taipei,
the capital of Taiwan, he noticed that the
aerial photographs of the city that he was
using in his research revealed construction
patterns that resembled computer
circuitry. Tan fi ltered out these patterns
and integrated them into his design. For
villas along a lake in Hangzhou, south of
Shanghai — a region known for its
mystical bamboo forests — the architect
used the ringed pattern of bamboo
trunks. He also created pedestrian bridges
similar to those seen in paintings made
in the 13th century by the artist Huang
Gongwang, who used to live there.
So it’s no wonder that the new bread factory
Tan recently designed in Singapore,
which is called “BreadTalk”, resembles a
pile of baked goods. During his student
years in London, Tan’s special fi eld of
interest was “the language of originality”.
Today he still regards it as the foundation
of every successful design. If he’s not
sure what he thinks about a certain issue,
he sits down and writes a book, and in
some years he writes several. One of
them was Magnetic Fields of Cities,
which received an award in Singapore as
one of the ten best works on architecture.
In this book and elsewhere, Kay Ngee Tan
deals with buildings and their infl uence
on their immediate surroundings.
“Singapore is a society governed by
certain rules, but that doesn’t mean
Singapore as a whole is ‘square’,” Tan
says. “There’s an incredibly exciting
subculture here which dares to address
controversial issues such as the problems
faced by minorities, compulsory military
service or freedom of the press. This is
possible in the small experimental theatres
that evolved from the tradition of
Chinese drama. I often create the stage
designs for these plays. It’s true that
these events are attended by fewer than
200 people, but they have an impact on
our city’s cultural life,” says Tan with a
smile. “Just 200 people — imagine how
much they can accomplish in Singapore.”
www.kayngeetanarchitects.com

One of the most remarkable
private homes in Singapore
is Cluny Park 8, which features
a row of Kay Ngee Tan’s beloved
palm trees in the courtyard.
Bringing nature closer to
architecture —
Kay Ngee Tan included many
good vantage points in his
design for Cluny Park 8,
ranging from narrow slits
(right) to portholes (below).
39
PHOTOGRAPHY: KAY NGEE TAN (LEFT), DENNIS GILBERT (3)

40 Sights and Scenes
3.
An “Arminator”
in a Culinary Mecca
Armin Leitgeb, a
world-class chef from
the Tyrol region of
Austria, has found
his greatest challenge
in Singapore
Text: Roland Hagenberg
“When I was in the fourth year we had
career weeks to help us fi nd out what
career we’d like to pursue,” recalls Armin
Leitgeb. “I fi rst tried out mechanical
engineering, which involved fi ling down
blocks of metal and getting cracked
fi ngernails. I decided that wasn’t for me!”
Leitgeb thereupon left his home in the
Stubai valley to work in his aunt’s
restaurant in Seefeld, 40 kilometres
away. “I was tasting, looking, sniffi ng,
trying things out. The kitchen was a
hotbed of activity, and that convinced
me: I wanted to become a chef!”
When Leitgeb, who is now 34, talks
about his meteoric career in his thick
Austrian dialect, one can still hear the
youthful enthusiasm in his voice — along
with a spirit of adventure and a longing for
distant places. “During our training, we
apprentices always saved every penny so
that at the end of the season we could
squander all the money abroad on a
A chef and his world
Armin Leitgeb in
front of his workplace,
the top restaurant
Les Amis in Singapore.
supper cooked by a famous chef, usually
in France!” he recalls. After his apprenticeship,
Leitgeb was hired by the threestar
restaurant Tantris in Munich. The
master chef Hans Haas became his
mentor, and the two men are still close
friends. “We often perform together
at international cooking shows, and
Gaggenau is an additional bond,” he
says. “Hans’ school is equipped with
Gaggenau appliances, and as for me, I’m
a Gaggenau ambassador. I helped design
the Gaggenau showroom in Singapore.”
After Tantris, Leitgeb worked in Marc
Haeberlin’s legendary restaurant Auberge
de l’Ill in Alsace — Leitgeb’s wife was born
in this region — and then moved on to
Jacques and Laurent Pourcel’s Le Jardin
des Sens in southern France. “In this
business it’s not enough to just send
around your CV. It’s important to have
personal recommendations,” says Leitgeb.
“That’s how it was for me — with one

PHOTOGRAPHY: DARREN SOH
exception. After I had gathered some
experience at the French Laundry in
California, I suddenly felt like trying out
Asia. My uncle was the director of the
Fullerton Hotel in Singapore, and he
actually passed around my CV to his
acquaintances. That got me a job at the
Raffl es Hotel! I wanted to get more
experience in the area of management so
that I wouldn’t fall into the same trap as
many chefs before me: They worked for
decades in the world’s best restaurants,
then went into business on their own,
but they failed miserably because they
weren’t able to calculate costs!”
However, Leitgeb considers stubbornness
to be an even more dangerous
characteristic than ignorance. “You can’t
come to Singapore from Europe as a
celebrated chef and simply do your thing,
just because you think you’re the greatest.
People’s palates are different all over
the world. Of course it’s true that people
Only the best produce
and the freshest
fi sh are good enough
for Armin Leitgeb.
The ingredients he uses
are fl own in from all over
the world, but the local
markets also provide
him with spontaneous
discoveries and
new taste experiences.
always want to try something new,
but you also have to offer them an
escape route back to the kinds of taste
experiences they already know. If you
don’t, your guests won’t return and your
restaurant will go bankrupt!”
Armin Leitgeb — whose admiring friends
call him the “Arminator” — believes the
secret of his success in Singapore is a
careful balance between lightness and
taste. “Back home I could simply use
more butter or lard to enhance a certain
pleasurable taste, for example, but I
wouldn’t dare to do that here!” he says.
Leitgeb is now the Chef de Cuisine at
Les Amis — and it’s the biggest challenge
he has faced yet in his career, not just
because the restaurant is so famous but
also because Singapore is simply the city
of fi ne food par excellence. “If you don’t
gain weight while you’re here, there’s
something wrong with you,” say the
Singaporeans. That’s because everything
you eat here tastes fantastic and there’s a
broad range of cuisines to choose from —
Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, Indonesian
and European. Leitgeb often simply
wanders around the “wet markets”, which
offer fresh vegetables, meat and fi sh
around the clock, to gain inspiration. He
stops here and there, for example at the
Tiong Bahru market, tastes and sniffs
things, strokes fl owers, orders a bowl of
noodle soup from a street stand — and
then returns to Les Amis with a wealth of
new ideas.
“The ingredients of my dishes vary
with the seasons and are carefully
selected,” he says. “For example, I’ll call
up a fi sherman in Brittany and talk to him
directly rather than with a wholesale
dealer. He might tell me that he’s caught
a wonderful turbot. I then start to compose
a meal in my mind, experimenting
with impressions I’ve gathered from the
Singapore markets until the delivery
comes from the airport. If it’s winter in
Europe I place my orders in Australia and
fi nd out what vegetables are best there
at the moment. When it comes to
chanterelles, however, things get diffi cult.
I want only those grown in France.
The same goes for mugwort — which you
need for a good roast goose.”
The life of a sought-after chef might
seem glamorous in lifestyle magazines,
but Leitgeb isn’t impressed by the fl attering
reviews he receives in the media.
He accepts this acclaim with humour and
a grain of salt. When he is asked if music
inspires him while he’s cooking, the
“Arminator” answers, “I often work in the
kitchen for 15 hours at a stretch, so
I need to have a radio above my head —
not for the music but for the news. Otherwise
I’d never know what’s happening
out in the world!”
www.lesamis.com.sg
41

42 Sights and Scenes
4.
A Multi-showroom for Singapore
Together with exclusive partners,
Gaggenau has created a setting that
sharpens and refi nes all fi ve senses
Text: Roland Hagenberg
Gaggenau Experience Center
11 Bishan Street 21, 4th fl oor
Singapore 573943
Opening hours:
Monday through Friday
8:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
by appointment only
Tel. +65 67515022
e-mail: Tiffany.Kok@bshg.com.
PHOTOGRAPHY: DARREN SOH
“When people design their own kitchens,
they often make two big mistakes: They
skimp on space and they place appliances
ineffi ciently,” says star chef Armin
Leitgeb, who made key contributions to
the concept behind Singapore’s new
Gaggenau showroom. “The showroom
should inspire people and show them
how elegant design, functionality and
individual preferences can be harmonised,”
he says. Wide windows allow
daylight to fl ood into the generously proportioned
rooms, which remind visitors of
modern art galleries. Here Gaggenau
products play a role that goes far beyond
that of normal household appliances.
“The showroom setting allows us to visualise
the increasing integration of sections
of living space that used to be separate,
and thus to refl ect an important
aspect of modern architecture,” explains
Sven Szesny, Marketing Director, South
East Asia. And what would a showroom
be without a show? The focus of all the
presentations is a “live cooking area”
where visitors can sit at a counter and
get a fi rst-hand view of the working
methods and cooking tricks of top chefs.
If there’s a large crowd of visitors,
obviously not everyone can sit in the fi rst
row, so the cooking events are simultaneously
projected onto large screens. The
audiovisual system was installed by Bang
& Olufsen, one of several Gaggenau
brand partners. “We think it’s very important
to show how interesting synergies
can arise in homes between Gaggenau
and other premium brands. That’s why
we make the showroom available to
these partners for their own events. That
emphasises our commitment to use
Gaggenau products to create a setting
that sharpens, refi nes and opens up all
fi ve senses,” says Szesny. Designer
furniture from Walter Knoll provides visitors
with stylish and comfortable seating
in the showroom. The Occhio lighting
system comes from Axel Meise, and the
elegant wine glasses for winetasting
events are from the Zwiesel 1872 range.
In the new Gaggenau showroom in
Singapore, visitors can also participate
in the cooking (a herb garden is within
easy reach), design activities (design
competitions for students are being
planned) or presentations of new ideas.
Architects will be able to use the showroom
as a forum for presenting their
concepts for home design. And right next
to the entrance there’s an interactive
touchscreen with suggested recipes, tips
on how to save energy, product information
and a quiz.
PHOTOGRAPHY: GAGGENAU (2)

2
3
4
5
1
What’s Next?
What’s Next? 43
New Projects around
the World
1 AMOLFINI CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTRE Bristol, UK / Redevelopment / “The Good Life” design proposal / 51N4E, Brussels / www.51N4E.com
2 MAHANAKHON Bangkok, Thailand / Tower with 77 fl oors, luxury boutiques, hotel, apartments / Completion date 2012 / OMA / www.maha-nakhon.com
3 TAICHUNG CONVENTION CENTER Taichung, Taiwan / Offi ces, hotel, shops, conference centre / Municipal project / MAD Architects / www.i-mad.com
4 MONT MAECBE Beirut, Lebanon / Art and cultural centre (15,000 m 2 ) / Competition entry 2009/ L.A.St (Benoît Meriac, Guillaume Relier) with Remi
Souleau / www.last-architecture.com
5 CONFERENCE CENTER Ougadougou, Burkina Faso / Competition winner / Completion date 2012 / Coldefy & Associés Architectes Urbanistes + JVC
/ www.coldefy-associes.com

Light as a feather —
and time with a human face
Tord Boontje’s Icarus lamp
made of swans’ wings and
Maarten Baas’ longcase
clock (right) with a silhouette
tracing the hours.

Building
Stories
Lampshades made of wings, and buildings like
twisted columns — in an increasingly common trend,
designers and architects are telling their own stories
Text: Andreas Toelke
Thinking the Future III 45
PHOTOGRAPHY: ARTECNICA (LEFT), RICARDO SÀ DA COSTA

46 Thinking the Future III
As functionality cedes its
central role, fantasy can fl ourish
The playful, Lego-like “retro
block” iPod loudspeaker (above),
Joep Verhoeven’s deconstructed
Cinderella table (top right),
Dutch designer Marcel Wanders’
wind-bent vase (centre) and the
legendary charred Louis XVI
chaise longue of his compatriot
Maarten Baas all have their very
own design stories to tell.
PHOTOGRAPHY (TOP TO BOTTOM): HANS V/D MARS, FREDFLARE, BLOW AWAY VASE/FRONT/MOOOI, MAARTEN VAN HOUTEN

47
A lustrous cavern of LEDs
Zaha Hadid’s luminous funicular stations in
Hungerburg, Austria, testify to the technological
progress of recent years, without which
many designs would never have left the ground.
PHOTOGRAPHY: HELENE BINET

48 Thinking the Future III
Walking inside an enormous artifi cial cloud
on Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland. Scientists
from MIT now make use of the insights revealed
by the design team Diller Scofi dio + Renfro.
PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF DILLER SCOFIDIO + RENFRO

Every object tells a story, and so does every building — a story
that can move people or irritate them. Objects and buildings
are shaped and constructed to give form to ideas that designers
and architects don’t need to relate because they can “build”
them instead. In the world of literature, each story has its own
context and is tied to a particular era with all its special skills and
cultural specifi city. Homer and the Odyssey, Cervantes and Don
Quixote, James Joyce and Ulysses — each one is a landmark of
world literature. But how do you build a story? What is design as
storytelling? How do you turn “Once upon a time…” into a lamp?
What once inspired our imagination in printed form has
in the past 10 or 20 years begun to inhabit the world of things.
An armchair that alights in the living room like a drop of water
travelling in slow motion would have been technically impossible
at one time. The spectacular technical creations of architects
such as Rem Koolhaas are on the one side; the desire of
designers to abstract and tell a story is the other. “Form follows
function”, the now legendary credo of Bauhaus pioneer Mies
van der Rohe, has become passé. Today, aesthetics can be
totally free of ideology. This means in turn that austere Bauhausinspired
design can coexist alongside fl amboyant, exuberant
creations, including those of Fernando and Huberto Campana,
for example. Today, the beautiful is what pleases the senses, and
functionality is a prerequisite, but by no means the only criterion.
Yet beauty is more than merely pleasing. At stake here,
once again, is the readability of design and of architecture —
Visitors to the Blur Building stand in awe
in front of or within a cloud floating
above the lake. They are captivated by
the sheer poetry of the moment.
as exemplifi ed by the Campana brothers from Brazil, who turn
stuffed toys into unconventional armchairs. But is this mere
playfulness? “Our aim is to get a hold on the present,” says
Fernando Campana. For the hippies of the 1970s, reality had
already moved far beyond the functionality venerated by the
Bauhaus movement.
The stories that designers tell always have something
to do with their own life histories. The Campana brothers, for
example, have never given up their playroom in Rio de Janeiro,
where they wallow in stuffed toys and rearrange them into a
fairytale context.
49
And thus everyday life is transformed into illusion. The world of
MTV, iPhones and Avatars is a global reality that leaves its
mark and provokes a response from the world of design and
architecture — whether as an armchair made of stuffed toys or in
Santiago Calatrava’s Turning Torso, a building that twists its way
into the Malmö sky over 54 fl oors, complete with warped
windows like something out of a Salvador Dali painting, which
provide residents with a totally new and even surreal perspective.
For Calatrava, the design process usually starts with sketches
and studies of people and animals. This produces drawings of
immense artistic power. An exhibition at the Metropolitan
Museum of Modern Art charted the birth of Calatrava’s design
stories, from the original idea in draft form to the fi nished hightech
structure. For the tower in Malmö, 820 tonnes of steel were
worked into the framework of the façade, and new processes
had to be developed to produce the 2,250 slanted windows.
Is this just aesthetic playfulness? By no means. Every
new advance in architecture and design generates ideas that
benefi t sectors ranging from the automotive industry to recycling.
Rarely do the creations of the design pioneers have only a
visual dimension. For example, it was Diller Scofi dio + Renfro’s
“Blur Building” — a spectacular cloud-creating structure built on
Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland — that fi rst pushed scientists
at MIT toward a realisation of how certain wind conditions and
landscape features shift smog. But that doesn’t concern the
visitors who are savouring the amazing experience of standing
before or within a cloud fl oating above the lake. They are
simply transfi xed by the sheer poetry of the moment and share
an experience of architecture that is beyond the conceptual.
In its simple beauty, the Blur Building commands an aesthetic
consensus — and in its own context the Campana armchair
made of stuffed toys does so as well.
The top designer Philippe Starck has shown that design
stories can also be disturbing. His 18-carat gold-plated guns
fashioned into fl oor and bedside lamps have an obvious story to
tell. Yet freed from their usual context of war and violence, they
become works of art for the home. Is this merely provocation

50 Thinking the Future III
and pure cynicism? Starck explains: “I designed the lamps
because I’m a pacifi st. I wanted to highlight the excessive
violence in our society.” Fine — but whether you see it that way
is a personal question.
One thing that storytelling in design, including Starck’s
gun lamps, certainly accomplishes is a shift away from pure
functionalism to sensuality. This is also the lesson of the
funicular railway stations designed by Zaha Hadid in Hungerburg
near Innsbruck. Interestingly, an earlier creation by the
English-Iraqi architect is only a few kilometres away. Although it’s
only eight years old, the Bergisel Ski Jump is from another technological
age compared to the four funicular stations of 2007.
Here we see minimalist shotcrete, as compared to the futuristic
glass façades in Hungerburg, which are shaped like huge manta
rays and illuminated at night with high-tech LED lighting. Yet very
simple design can also tell a story. Take the feathery Icarus lamp
by Tord Boontje: A swan’s wing is wrapped around the light,
nothing more. The Dutch designer describes his work as a “delicate
marriage of design and emotion” and explains that “modern
design doesn’t have to mean minimalism.” Like the Campana
brothers, Boontje plays with different combinations: vases made
of paper, furniture made of pieces of old wood. Everything is
allowed, nothing is mandatory. Fellow Dutchman Maarten Baas
takes an equally relaxed approach. He fi rst achieved fame with
his charred Louis XVI furniture, which, set alongside the shiny
creations of the design galleries, looks like a relic from a
forgotten chateau. With ideas like “Hey, chair, be a bookshelf,”
Baas takes design one step further than pure storytelling, by no
longer importing stories into design, but rather creating stories
through design. Perhaps the simplest way to tell a story with
furniture is simply to plaster furniture with stories. That’s just
what Giuseppe Canavese did when he papered cupboards and
dressers with scenes from his favourite comic strip starring the
1960s icon Valentina. Bedroom furniture, appropriately enough,
is decorated with an alarm clock. The Italian designer has a
playful approach to the history of art and design, combining
Roy Lichtenstein’s use of comic strips with Gio Ponti’s 1950’s
retro chic. There are no limits to the kinds of stories that
design can tell, except perhaps the designer’s own imagination.
And when it comes to Ora-ïto, imagination knows no
bounds. As a young, inventive but still unsuccessful designer,
he dreamt up new products for Louis Vuitton, Swatch and Apple
without being commissioned to do so, and then posted them on
the Internet. The response was overwhelming: Thousands of
people tried to order his creations in the brands’ shops. Suitably
impressed, the brands promptly awarded him design contracts.
What started as a design story ended as a designer fairytale.
Today the talented young designer is involved in a range of
projects, including a kitchen that recalls the fi lm 2001: A Space
Odyssey. Or it does so, at least, when you look at it with your
eyes wide open. And that is really all you need to do in order to
read design stories.
Further information
www.tordboontje.com
www.maartenbaas.com
www.moooi.com
www.marcelwanders.com
www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/telling-tales
www.dillerscofi dio.com
www.demakersvan.com
www.piekebergmans.com
Twisted around its own axis
In order to construct Santiago Calatrava’s
“Turning Torso” in Malmö, Sweden (left),
new processes had to be developed
to produce the surreally distorted windows.
Light poured in a molten drop
Pieke Bergmans’ “Light Blub” (right).

PHOTOGRAPHY: HUTHMACHER/ARTURIMAGES (LEFT), PIEKE BERGMANS

52 Thinking the Future IV
Standing in “thin air”.
A transparent observation
box at Willis Tower
(formerly Sears Tower) in
Chicago offers a clear view
of the ground below.

Up, Up in the Sky
From the Alps to the world’s jungles, the
frightening thrill of standing at the abyss
is drawing people to skywalks and radical
observation platforms — where only
thin glass separates them from a free fall
Text: Isabelle Hofmann
PHOTOGRAPHY: SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES

54 Thinking the Future IV
“Come on everyone,” a woman’s voice calls. “You can do it! Let
go of the rope and look down — nothing will happen.” While the
older people slowly step forward as if walking on eggshells, the
kids get moving immediately. Safely secured in their harnesses,
they joyfully swing back and forth above the round Skywalk X — a
233 metre high, 1.5 metre wide ring mounted to the exterior wall
of Macau Tower. This dizzying adventure was created by AJ
Hackett, the father of commercial bungee jumping. Burj Khalifa
in Dubai, the CN Tower in Toronto and Shanghai’s World Financial
Center may have observation decks twice as high as Skywalk
X — but they can’t provide the thrill of “hanging around”
between heaven and earth. That is found only at Skywalk X in
the former Portuguese colony and at Auckland Tower in New
Zealand, which is four years older and the birthplace of bungee
jumping. Numerous YouTube videos have documented the
daring feats of teenagers and young adults who spread their
arms wide as they hang above the abyss. “It’s crazy,” one man
screams into the camera. “This is totally insane!”
That’s true — but there’s also a method to this madness:
The goosebumps people get when they look down, and the perfectly
secured balancing act at dizzying heights, have also become
architecturally breathtaking marketing instruments. Marketing
strategists and tour operators have come to understand
that there is money to be made with these thrills — whether in
the most remote jungle regions or in major cities. The renowned
architectural fi rm Denton Corker Marshall, for example, designed
a 25 metre long “Sky Swimming Pool” for the rooftop of
the stylish Adelphi hotel in Melbourne, where the pool projects
far beyond the building’s façade. It’s like swimming with nothing
below you. Even the idyllic Belgian provincial town of Mechelen
has got into the act, with a transparent walkabout at the top
of the still uncompleted tower of St. Rumbold’s Cathedral. Brave
individuals who climb the 536 steps to the top of the 95 metre
high UNESCO World Heritage Site are rewarded with unobstructed
views from the gallery.
Residents of Pulau Langkawi also like their guests to go for a
climb. The Bumiputras (“sons and daughters of the earth”), as
they are known on their lovely holiday island off the northwest
coast of Malaysia, have created what may well be the most fascinating
observation bridge in the world: a daunting, elegantly
contoured steel structure 120 metres in length that wriggles
some 700 metres above sea level like a lindworm in the wilderness.
Or rather above the wilderness, since the suspension
bridge actually links two mountain peaks in the nature reserve
above the “Oriental Village” — a settlement specially created for
tourists, who can use a cable car to get to Mat Cincang Mountain.
From there they walk down a steep path of steps to reach

Visitors are left breath -
less 650 metres ab ove
the Aurlandsfjord.
The protective glass at
the end of the “ski jump”
is barely visible (left).
The curved Sky Bridge
on Pulau Langkawi,
which is suspended
from only a single pylon,
stretches 700 metres
high above the tropical
rain forest (top).
the unique Langkawi Sky Bridge. The triangular masterpiece is
supported only by an 83 metre high pylon, to which eight suspension
cables and two restraint cables are fastened. If that
doesn’t take your breath away, the view across the jungle and
the Andaman Sea defi nitely will.
It’s diffi cult to imagine the engineering feat that was required
to implement this mammoth project in the middle of the
jungle, without any roads, electricity or water. Nevertheless, 76
tonnes of steel were brought in by helicopter, and part of the
bridge was even assembled from the air. The experts who mastered
this challenge were from Switzerland, which honoured
them accordingly by presenting the 2005 Swiss Steel Construction
Prize to the Ticino-based architect Peter André Wyss and
Hötschi & Schurter, a Zurich engineering company. But it’s not
only the Swiss who are so outstanding when it comes to building
bridges and observation platforms — the entire Alpine region
55
is now dotted with exciting “structures of experience” designed
by top French, Italian and Austrian architects. Consider the
Dachstein Skywalk in the Styria region of Austria: Built fi ve years
ago above the Hunerkogel peak, right next to the Dachstein Glacier
cable car station, the skywalk consists of a 15 metre long
platform with a glass fl oor that makes visitors feel like they are
looking down into emptiness. The structure weighs 40 tonnes
and can hold up to 150 people, or eight metres of snow per
square metre. It will also remain stable (hopefully) in winds of up
to 210 kilometres per hour.
The cable car operator reports that the number of passengers
has increased signifi cantly since the platform opened.
Other Alpine resort areas were quick to follow Dachstein’s
example. At Krippenstein, on the north side of the Dachstein
mountain range, “5 Fingers” was installed — an observation
deck in the form of a hand that extends out from the face of the
mountain. The town of Sölden has also built futuristic observation
terraces on its three 3,000-plus metre peaks. And in Aurland,
Norway, architects Todd Saunders and Tommie Wilhelmsen
designed and built a wonderfully modest yet elegant 33
metre long “ski jump” made of wood on a hillside 650 metres
above the Aurlandsfjord. The panoramic view gives the
visitor goosebumps, especially since the diagonally placed
(wind) shield is barely visible at the end of the “jump”.
PHOTOGRAPHY: TODD SAUNDERS (LEFT), BERTRAND GARDEL/HERMIS.FR/LAIF

A new source of income
for a Native American tribe.
The “Grand Canyon Skywalk”,
perched 1,200 metres
above the Colorado River,
is no place for anyone with a
fear of heights.

Daring escapades
Only thin lines are keeping
these airborne adventurers
connected to Macau
Tower (right); even small
children enjoy taking a
walk on the glass-bottom
catwalk atop Pearl Tower
in Shanghai (bottom).
Austria is already preparing the next sensation, which will coincide
with the 2011 Alpine Skiing World Championships scheduled
to take place in neighbouring Garmisch- Partenkirchen.
The Vienna architecture fi rm Dieter Wallmann is currently building
AlpspiX, right near the Osterfelderbahn cable car station.
AlpspiX consists of two intersecting catwalks, each protruding
13 metres into the air above the abyss.
Environmentally conscious engineers take care to implement
such avant-garde architectural designs in a way that
ensures the “softest” possible intervention and impact on nature.
The Innsbruck-based LAAC architectural offi ce, for example,
aimed to incorporate the topography of the Stubai Glacier into
its “Top of Tyrol” curved skywalk. The ramp, which extends
out nine metres from the Großer Isidor peak, does in fact look
like a summit when viewed from afar. In winter, the steel disappears
under a sheet of ice, giving the lookout the appearance
of a snowdrift. Near Lake Achensee in Tyrol, the giant wire
“Adlerhorst” (“aerie”) atop the Gschöllkopf peak is also very well
integrated into the surrounding landscape, while the steel
fi ligree “Spir” viewing platform above the Rhine Gorge in Conn,
Switzerland, which was designed by the architect Corinna Menn
from Chur, calls to mind the fl ight of a swift. The most impressive
project of this kind was designed by Paolo Bürgi for Cardada
Mountain near Locarno. It’s certainly no coincidence that Bürgi,
like his colleague Wyss, hails from the Swiss canton of Ticino,
where Mario Botta has set new architectural standards. The
internationally renowned landscape architect has put together
an ensemble consisting of a geological observation station,
playground-walkway, musical forest and observation platform at
a height of 1,340 metres. A long narrow catwalk made of metal
and stone leads through a forest and tree tops to a free-fl oating
“cape”, from which one can see the beautiful countryside surrounding
Lake Maggiore.
Whereas Bürgi used his award-winning project to make
people more aware of environmental protection issues and the
future of the Alps, architect and investor David Jin from Arizona
seems to be guided by only one idea: “Pimp my mountain.”
In accordance with this concept, Jin built the “Grand Canyon
Skywalk” 1,200 metres above the Colorado River. This gigantic
horseshoe of steel and glass projects out 21 metres into the
canyon. With thick supports anchored deep into mountain
stone, the 480 tonne, 45 metre long semicircular structure is
Thinking the Future IV 57
designed to withstand winds of up to 160 kilometres per hour
and earthquakes measuring as high as 8.0 on the Richter
scale. The know-how for the project also originated in Europe
— or at least the special low-ferric oxide glass for the fl oor
and the balustrade were “Made in Germany”, at glass factories
in Cologne and Berlin. The 30 million US dollar facility attracted
international attention for a completely different reason, however
— namely the fact that it belongs to the Hualapai, a Native
American tribe whose council of elders overcame initial concerns
before giving the investor a green light to construct the platform
on reservation land. At the ceremony to mark the opening of the
skywalk in 2007, the tribe’s chief explained the decision, saying
the tribe’s future was more important than a possible defi lement
of the sacred mountain. Since the opening, about 2,000
visitors a day have been helping to transform the tribe’s vision
of a perpetual source of income into reality.
PHOTOGRAPHY: KARL JOHAENTGES/LOOK-FOTO (TOP), LIU XINGZHE/CHINAFOTOPRESS/LAIF

58 Worldwide
London
One Hyde Park
One of most ambitious and luxurious
construction projects in London, UK, is
taking shape at a very prominent address.
Richard Rogers has designed
London’s latest architectural icon on the
former site of Bowater House, a building
constructed in the 1950s. One Hyde
Park offers space for 80 apartments and
three exclusive boutiques in a complex
consisting of four pavilions. Situated between
the lively shopping streets of the
fashionable neighbourhood of Knightsbridge
and a quiet park landscape, One
Hyde Park represents the perfect mix of
urban chic and peace and quiet. The
London-based company Candy & Candy
is responsible for the interior design of
the apartments, which are equipped with
Gaggenau appliances. This Mandarin
Oriental Residences company project
will be completed at the end of 2010.
www.onehydepark.com
Zurich
Mobimo Tower
Soaring high above western Zurich,
Switzerland, the 80 metre high Mobimo
Tower designed by the Swiss architecture
fi rm Diener & Diener (which also
designed the Swiss Embassy in Berlin) is
a symbol of successful urban development
on a former industrial site. The
building has 24 fl oors, 11 of which will
be rented to a hotel. The top nine fl oors
accommodate 33 apartments, all of
which will be equipped exclusively with
Gaggenau appliances. The new owners
can look forward not only to fascinating
panoramic views from one of the city’s
highest buildings but also to apartments
that have been designed according to
the latest standards of energy effi ciency.
The ultimate highlight of this high-rise is
the top fl oor. The penthouse, which
comprises 1,000 square metres of living
space, offers a 360-degree view —
probably the most beautiful vista of the
city and Lake Zurich.
www.mobimotower.ch
Apeldoorn
De Echoput Academy
of Gastronomy
A new gourmet attraction on the site of a
royal palace: The renowned restauranthotel
De Echoput (The Wishing Well),
which was opened by the Dutch star chef
Peter Klosse, is located on the grounds
of the baroque palace Het Loo near Apeldoorn,
the Netherlands. The most recent
attraction added to the complex is Peter
Klosse’s Academy of Gastronomy, which
is equipped with a bulthaup kitchen and
Gaggenau appliances. The school offers
courses for beginners as well as master
classes for advanced practitioners. The
dishes prepared by the students are
based on seasonal produce. Especially
popular are the game specialities, which
are professionally prepared by the chefs
of the National Game Academy. The
school was set up in one of the hotel’s
extensions. It also offers very popular
wine seminars, where each evening is
devoted to a certain region.
www.echoput.nl

PHOTOGRAPHY (FROM LEFT): COURTESY OF CANDY & CANDY, MOBIMO AG (2), GAGGENAU (2), FRANCISCO DE ALMEIDA DIAS (2)
Scottsdale
Training Units for
Professional Chefs
Six design workshops a year: At the
Gaggenau showroom in Scottsdale,
Arizona, kitchen specialists can now sign
up for comprehensive training courses
on how to communicate with their customers.
During these weekend seminars,
the participants get to experience
Gaggenau’s design expertise and innovative
technology at fi rst hand. The participants
themselves also carry out everyday
kitchen procedures, so that later on
they will be able respond as effectively as
possible to their customers’ wishes.
But the showroom training seminars also
offer much more. Alongside gaining theoretical
knowledge and hands-on experience
of the brand and the products ,
seminar participants can visit the Frank
Lloyd Wright Foundation School of
Architecture (Taliesin) in Scottsdale,
which brings to life a major period in the
history of architecture and design.
BSH Showroom and Training Center
8435 North 90th St., Suite 2
Scottsdale, AZ 85258, USA
Tel.: +1 480 278 8107
Opening times: Monday – Friday
9 a.m. – 4 p.m. (only by appointment)
Contact: Amber Carlson
Luxembourg
Welcome to
the Display Window
Gaggenau has been operating in
Luxembourg since 2009 under the
umbrella of the newly founded company
BSH Electroménagers S. A. To
mark this development, the company
has created a new display window for
it’s brand: the spacious showroom
in the Breedewues industrial area in
Senningerberg offers customers the
opportunity to attend exclusive cooking
shows and training courses.
13-15 Zone Industrielle
Breedewues, 1259 Senningerberg,
Luxembourg
Tel. +352 26349-1
Opening hours: Monday to Friday
8 a.m. to 12 noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Lisbon
New Brand Image
with Historic Charm
Gaggenau has set up a new showroom
in the most picturesque part of Lisbon,
Portugal — the elegant Chiado district.
Here, amid splendid boulevards and elegant
shopping streets, it’s easy to indulge
one’s love of cooking and enjoy fi ne food.
In the 240 square metre bulthaup and
Gaggenau showroom, visitors can get to
know the appliances on offer and try
them out in two fully equipped cooking
areas. This generously proportioned
space offers a great view of the historic
city centre, the royal palace and the
sea — while expressing individuality, a
high level of comfort, and aesthetic quality
that satisfi es the highest standards.
www.bulthaupchiado.com
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