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18.11.2024

Start of the AI Conference 2024

Our AI and ARCHITECTURE CONFERENCE begins this Thursday 21.11. @ 9.30 in the EXHIBITION HALL (D6.001) in the German University in Cairo and will run until Sunday 24.11. Over the three days we will have the pleasure to hear from TOP international architects, artists and academics working with AI from NEW YORK, LONDON, BERLIN, BARCELONA, ORANGE COUNTY/CALIFORNIA, JEDDAH and from CAIRO. We will also have an AI EXHIBITION of students work from the 9th Semester’s Design Studio “SCHINKEL WETTBEWERB” for the “SUDKREUZ BAHNHOF in BERLIN. On Sunday we will finish with a WORKSHOP on AI and ARCHITECTURE.

Dresden International Airport – Departure terminal lighting concept

Dresden International Airport – Lighting concept for the departure terminal

Our lighting concept for Terminal 1 at Dresden International Airport aims to build a bridge to the future. In addition to technical lighting to ensure traffic safety, precise light differentiation of individual areas, levels and elements helps travellers find their way around.

The architectural lighting design emphasises the spatial quality and the unmistakable industrial architecture of the terminal and underlines the uniqueness of Dresden Airport. It supports the positioning of the airport as a modern, open and future-orientated location of international stature.

The lighting concept combines technical lighting and light art to visually depict themes such as flying, the sky and mobility and to create a symbolic link between the past, present and future. This concept gives the previously anonymous hall a narrative dimension that offers a special experience for air travellers from all over the world.

The flying carpet“,(a carpet of light) consisting of numerous curved downlights under the hall roof, creatively provides adequate illumination of the floor and creates a unique aesthetic. A “cloud of light immerses the entrance hall in dynamically changing lighting moods and uses reflective moving elements to create a constantly changing interplay of light and shadow, which has a fascinating effect both in natural daylight and with artificial lighting.

A light and glass sculpture, made of holographic and dichroic elements, enables visitors to be symbolically beamed into the universe.

Client: Flughafen Dresden GmbH

Services provided: Terminal 2017 lighting concept

Design guidelines for Lehnin Monastery

23.08.2024

Design guidelines for Lehnin Monastery

Kloster Lehnin is a municipality in Brandenburg, about an hour from Berlin city centre. The district of Lehnin owes its origins to the former Cistercian monastery, the oldest monastery in the Mark Brandenburg, which was founded in 1180 and secularised during the Reformation in 1542. Since 1911, it has been home to the Luise-Henrietten-Stift, a Protestant deaconess house.

Our task is to draw up a design guideline for the town planning office to guide the future development of the neighbouring buildings, houses and businesses in the small town of Lehnin in harmony with the listed monastery ensemble. The aim is to preserve the architectural heritage and at the same time enable the use of contemporary technologies, such as the integration of photovoltaics. A key issue is the sensitive positioning and installation of solar modules in the historic roofscape and the preservation of Lehnin’s special street character, including the protection and adaptation of the vegetation in the townscape with regard to climatic changes.

We carry out the necessary on-site surveys and inspections and liaise with specialist authorities. In addition, we support the municipality in the implementation of the process, assist with public and official participation, prepare draft texts for announcements and meeting documents and analyse the comments. The project period runs from April 2024 to December 2024.

Lauchhammer, lighting concept Transformation 1.535°

20.08.2024

Education and experience centre for art casting and industrial culture

Architectural Lighting Design in Lauchhammer

We are thrilled to announce that we have been selected to be part of the expert team for the ambitious “Transformation 1.535°” project in Lauchhammer, Brandenburg. This large-scale project comprises two sites: “ERZ” (ORE) with the Kunstgussmuseum, the Kunstgießerei and the Friedenskirche in Lauchhammer-Ost (13.8 ha) and “KOHLE” (COAL) with the biotowers, activated sludge basins and the Reliquienpark in Lauchhammer-West (32.2 ha).

Our role in the planning and development team includes the design and implementation of the lighting for public spaces, landscaping, the art casting museum, the emerging “Education and Experience Centre for Art Casting and Industrial Culture” and the listed bio-towers (see image).

The “Transformation 1.535°” project is one of the most ambitious cultural and tourism projects in Germany and possibly even in Europe. The aim is to transform the remains of the East German coal industry into a vibrant centre for art, education and tourism.

A central aspect of this project is the expansion of the Lauchhammer Art Casting Museum into an “Education and Experience Centre for Art Casting and Industrial Culture”. This centre will honour the region’s industrial heritage while promoting modern educational and cultural experiences.

The bio-towers, an impressive testimony to East German industrial culture, are at the centre of this transformation.

These buildings, once symbols of the region’s industrial strength, are being revitalised through exhibitions, information programmes and innovative lighting concepts so that they can be preserved and experienced by future generations.

We are proud to contribute to this ground-breaking project and bring our expertise in the communicative and aesthetic impact of architectural lighting design to ensure its sustainable and holistic success. Stay tuned for further updates on this exciting development!

Old Cotton Flöha

Old Cotton Flöha

lighting design presented for urban development funding day

On Saturday, May 4th, 2024, the City Funding Day took place again across Germany. Always a good opportunity to experience the funded projects directly on site.

We supported the city of Flöha with visualizations, the redesign of the Old Cotton with the day and night lighting concept by Ruairí O’Brien. Presenting lighting design to the public.

With the help of QR codes on four different banners that were hung around the construction site, visitors could and can take a look into the future and explore the new marketplace for themselves, day and night, from four different perspectives in 3D format. The banners and perspectives will continue to be visible in the future. View here

Food Court GUC-German University in Cairo

Food Court GUC

Shade roof Food Court GUC

The images show our design proposals for a shade roof on the central square in the university campus of the German University in Cairo to optimize the conditions of use there.
The space is primarily used for catering for students and employees. It is a popular meeting place and location for meetings and presentations. Current information about university operations runs on the large screen. Due to the climatic conditions, it is often not possible to use the food court during the day, especially in summer, as the temperatures are too high and people therefore tend to seek out closed rooms or the shade. It was against this background that the project to build a shade roof came about.
The following goals are associated with this:
• Improvement of the heat situation during the day through shading (shade roof)
• Enabling use in the evening by illuminating the square from the shade roof
• Increase appeal – more guests use the food court
• Increased length of stay – guests stay longer
Our work consisted of the architectural concept for a large-scale roofing in several variants. By Ruairí O'Brien. For this purpose, a suitable lighting concept was developed for the attractive staging of the room below.

Further information can be found at the following link.

Eternity Art Competition Frechen Central Memorial

Eternity

Competition entry by Ruairí O’Brien for the Frechen Central Memorial

Ruairí O'Brien's work of art "Eternity", with its striking and at the same time simple elements in a material and metaphorical sense, forms a dignified space for remembering all victims of the National Socialist tyranny. The two vertical masts and the line of light floating horizontally between them mark and house the real Fre¬chen green space; At the same time, through the immaterial spaces in between, they inspire an unlimited mental wandering between times, spaces and events. A line crosses the sky and illuminates the ground below. At the same time, reference is made to the spatial and temporal significance of the topic. The meta-level created in this way, which can be perceived haptically / visually / with the senses, forms an expansion space and yet an ensemble with the information board designed for concrete, authoritative verbal information about the history. 
“Simplicity gives complexity” - Simplicity allows and harbors great complexity here. 
The work of art brings public attention to the central memorial site. It marks this central square as a central memorial day and night and symbolically refers to the places where the events took place. The work encourages you to linger, to pause, and offers flexible space for mediation work by institutions, groups and individual actors. 
The line of light (bridge) that invites you to look, think and remember, it remains, it is always there.
The work of art has a noticeable day and night effect. Depending on the viewer's location, depending on the time of year and day, depending on the weather, lighting conditions, environment and individual visitor's condition, it develops its effect - sometimes more delicate, sometimes more intense, always with a long-distance and close-up effect.
Anyone who approaches the work of art opens up different perspectives and perceptions. Viewers are reflected in the masts, their gaze connecting their own self with the surroundings and the subject matter. The environment is reflected in it, light is reflected and directed.

Dublin Embassy

German Embassy Dublin

Outdoor facilities-concept for the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ireland

In this project, our three focus areas of architecture, light and art/spatial art complement each other in an ideal combination for solving a demanding task. Suggestions were sought to give the courtyard area, which had been severely affected by various renovation work on the embassy building, a representative appearance again in the short term. As an interim farm improvement, we have developed suggestions for effective and easy-to-implement measures that give the farm area an attractive design and enable it to continue to be used. 

Our concept proposals with a design idea that spans the different courtyard areas serve as the basis for the redesign. The total area of ​​the farm is approximately 1,200 m².

Client: Federal Office of Foreign Affairs

Tharandt

Tharandt

The House of Sustainability is an architectural study as the result of a multi-stage participatory planning process for the future use/development of a central area in the center of the forestry town of Tharandt. In the past, the German House (host cities, cultural hall, cinema) was located on this area. With the demolition of the former Deutsches Haus hotel and inn in 2014, a central inner-city fallow or empty area was created. The design presented here (tree house / house of sustainability) is the result of a feasibility study on the district development of the central inner-city location in the forestry town of Tharandt from 2014. The House of Sustainability design for Tharandt reflects the genius loci of the forestry town of Tharandt, brings together modern hi-tech and original nature and creates a symbiosis of city and natural landscape in dialogue with the traditional architecture of the surrounding area (church, castle, town hall). The glass facade creates transparency and draws attention into the interior. There is a large space there for trees and plants that need special protection in our climatic conditions or their own climate. In this way, the building also creates a link to the forest botanical garden, which can be expanded with the tree house/house of sustainability to include plants and plants from other latitudes on earth.

Lighting concept for the city center of Bad Vilbel

Lighting concept for the city center of Bad Vilbel

Current completion of the lighting concept

The well-known mineral water town of BAD VILBEL is getting a lighting concept for its city center. The development of the content has been completed and a first rough version has now been handed over to the city administration. Final completion is planned for the end of the year and the concept will be officially presented at the beginning of the new year.

The Handbook serves as an important tool to engage citizens, business owners, investors and city representatives in the decision-making processes necessary to ensure a future “people and nature” friendly, innovative and sustainable lighting strategy for its unique historic city center and riverfront .

The city of BAD VILBEL is located in the south of the state of Hesse, in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis of Frankfurt am Main and is known for its mineral water springs. With the concept, which was implemented as part of the nationwide “Living Centers” program in Germany, the historic city receives an attractive, innovative and sustainable lighting concept to improve the evening ambience.

Contents:

    Staging the historical building structure in the appropriate architectural lighting scenarios.

    Improving citizens’ sense of security at night.

    Development of a light guidance system inspired by the unique motif of the city’s natural spring water.

    Development of identity-related “City Light Art” scenarios for the riverfront.

The lighting concept for Bad Vilbel is the seventh lighting master plan that we have developed for a city, a city district or a local center in recent years.

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