Fall Semester 2019/2020
Topic: BDA Facade Competition
Draft: Robin Günther and Hermann Zepp
Association of German Architects (BDA) - Study Award (Award Winner)
The Institute for New Technical Forms in Darmstadt is getting a new facade – it is both display and curtain. It attracts attention, creates privacy and lets enough light into the building.
Printed graphics create a striking effect, depending on the viewers angle, and the building recedes into the background. Up close, you can clearly see the abstraction.
A teamwork of Hermann Zepp and Robin Günther.
The new facade wraps around the building like a second skin. Since it acts like a fence, new „inner courtyards“ are formed at certain locations. These serve as a small forecourt to the south or conceal the escape staircase to the north, garbage cans and the building services yard.
The facade consists of lightweight aluminum square tubes which are vertically erected at a 90° angle to each other and partially suspended in front of the old facade. The square tubes are held in position by a horizontal aluminum batten. The profiles are reddish-sandstone colored on the short front side and graphically printed on the long sides. Depending on the viewers angle, a different impression is always created.
