More than just building technology

“We need to promote people’s understanding of complex relationships so they aren't chasing after simplifiers.”

Gabriele Siedle talking to Anh-Linh Ngo

ARCH+ features: Images

Siedle Engagement für Architektur
Siedle Engagement für Architektur
Siedle Engagement für Architektur
Siedle Engagement für Architektur
Siedle Engagement für Architektur
Siedle Engagement für Architektur
Siedle Engagement für Architektur
Siedle Engagement für Architektur
Siedle Engagement für Architektur
Siedle Engagement für Architektur

Why we get involved

What change in meaning has the concept of the entrance, the threshold, undergone in recent years? What effects do megatrends such as globalization and digitization have on architecture and building technology? To what extent are the boundaries shifting between the public and the private, between the virtual and the real world? Do we want more security - or do we prefer to keep more freedom? The questions that a building communications manufacturer is confronted with in the 21st century are more complex than ever. That is why Siedle is addressing these questions. And promotes organizations and formats that deal with these topics.

“Don’t chase after simplifiers”

Gabriele Siedle talking to Anh-Linh Ngo, Editor-In-Chief and Co-Editor of ARCH+.

Gabriele Siedle im Gespräch mit Anh-Linh Ngo

To mark the tenth anniversary of ARCH+ features, Gabriele Siedle spoke to Anh-Linh Ngo about architectural stimuli, socio-political developments, and the significance of value-based action and education in an increasingly complex world:

Download Interview  (in German)

Siedle and ARCH+ features

With the ARCH+ features event series, ARCH+ and Siedle are presenting an innovative generation of architects and authors, who are taking a special approach to contemporary architectural scene. This collaboration gives Siedle an insight into the present-day production conditions of architecture whilst also providing essential stimuli for innovations.

More about ARCH+ features

Vitra Design museum

Siedle sponsors the Vitra Design Museum exhibition “Together! The New Architecture of the Community "

Interactive touchscreen

Inside, five video panels with touchscreen displays also feature the new interface. If someone is out or does not wish to be disturbed, the door call can also be taken in the communal area.

Siedle sponsors the Vitra Design Museum exhibition “Together! The New Architecture of the Community "

Communal living

Siedle supported the Vitra Design Museum’s exhibition “Together! The New Architecture of the Collective” and played an active role in it. A Siedle system is installed in an implied multi-generational house with communal area. This innovative communication concept is a product study, which has been specially developed by Siedle for this purpose. In 2018, the German Design Council presented Siedle with the renowned German Innovation Award for this study.

Siedle sponsors the Vitra Design Museum exhibition “Together! The New Architecture of the Community "

The threshold is going hybrid

The demands placed on door communication in new residential forms, such as those put forth in the exhibition, are different to those for single-family and apartment buildings. Communication in the collective home does not simply distinguish between “inside” and “outside”. The entrance develops a hybrid nature and demands a communication concept that deals with the specific needs of communal zones.

Siedle sponsors the Vitra Design Museum exhibition “Together! The New Architecture of the Community "

Innovative interface design

Siedle has developed an application with a completely new interface design and innovative range of functions for the exhibition curated by Ilka and Andreas Ruby and EM2N architects. The prototype, high-resolution monitor on the door displays an intuitive user interface, specially designed for the needs of a collective multi-generational house.

Siedle sponsors the Vitra Design Museum exhibition “Together! The New Architecture of the Community "

Digital doorbells

The residents’ names and images are shown, like the contacts on a smartphone. Visitors can decide whether to dial a private or communal area – useful for when they only need to make a delivery. The interface visually indicates the current status. And of course barrier-free access has also been incorporated in this multi-generational house: with a button for wheelchair users and a Braille button.

Siedle sponsors the Vitra Design Museum exhibition “Together! The New Architecture of the Community "

Interactive touchscreen

Inside, five video panels with touchscreen displays also feature the new interface. If someone is out or does not wish to be disturbed, the door call can also be taken in the communal area.

Siedle sponsors the Vitra Design Museum exhibition “Together! The New Architecture of the Community "

Communal living

Siedle supported the Vitra Design Museum’s exhibition “Together! The New Architecture of the Collective” and played an active role in it. A Siedle system is installed in an implied multi-generational house with communal area. This innovative communication concept is a product study, which has been specially developed by Siedle for this purpose. In 2018, the German Design Council presented Siedle with the renowned German Innovation Award for this study.

Architecture Museum in Munich

Architecture Museum Munich Paul Schneider-Esleben

Siedle as a sponsor

Siedle supported the production of the films, joined with the Museum of Architecture to initiate the discussion event on the subject of "Architecture and Oral History" and issued an invitation to several exclusive guided tours.

Francis Kéré: „Radically simple“

Francis Kéré: „Radically simple“

Siedle supported the “Radically simple” exhibition in the Architecture Museum of the TU Munich. It offered a comprehensive overview of the life and work of one of the most interesting contemporary architects.

Francis Kéré in Architecture Museum Munich

Socially committed architecture

Francis Kéré is one of the most important proponents of socially engaged building design. He translates the strong cultural influences of his home country Burkina Faso and the experiences he has accrued in Germany into a new form of architecture combining ethical and aesthetic principles. This has made him one of the exceptional talents working in the field of architecture today, and an important role model for the coming generation.

Francis Kéré in Architecture Museum Munich

Siedle as a sponsor

“I am delighted to be working with Siedle as our sponsor once again”, says Andres Lepik, Director of the Architecture Museum. “Collaborative activities help to spread the word about our topics to a broader public.” Siedle sponsored the exhibition, initiated a discussion event with Francis Kéré and Chris Dercon in collaboration with the Architecture Museum and issued invitations to take part in exclusive guided tours.

Architecture Museum Munich Paul Schneider-Esleben

Paul Schneider-Esleben

Paul Schneider-Esleben is one of the most important German architects of the 20th century. On the occasion of his 100th birthday, the Museum of Architecture of the Technical University of Munich staged a major retrospective exhibition of his work, covering his entire creative bandwidth. Alongside high-profile projects such as the Mannesmann high-rise building in Düsseldorf or the Cologne-Bonn airport, visitors had the opportunity to become acquainted with the lesser well known designs as well as his water colours, furniture and jewellery designs.

Architecture Museum Munich Paul Schneider-Esleben

Innovative approach

As part of the exhibition, the Architecture Museum presented an innovative approach to architectural history: interviews with contemporaries and companions of Paul Schneider-Esleben as well as the present-day users of his constructions create a new gateway to the person and his work. The filmed interviews were presented in the exhibition for the first time. They form the basis for a future collection of the Museum of Architecture.

Architecture Museum Munich Paul Schneider-Esleben

Siedle as a sponsor

Siedle supported the production of the films, joined with the Museum of Architecture to initiate the discussion event on the subject of "Architecture and Oral History" and issued an invitation to several exclusive guided tours.

Francis Kéré: „Radically simple“

Francis Kéré: „Radically simple“

Siedle supported the “Radically simple” exhibition in the Architecture Museum of the TU Munich. It offered a comprehensive overview of the life and work of one of the most interesting contemporary architects.

Bauhaus University

Till Boettger, Professur Entwerfen und Raumgestaltung, und Peter Strobel, Leiter der Unternehmenskommunikation bei Siedle

Every threshold is communication

An initial conclusion can be drawn: every threshold is communication. Not simply because of the integrated technology, but also due to its pure existence. It emits versatile signals, it can be inviting or absent, it opens itself and the building up, or it closes it. It does all that whether we want, plan or design it or not. We would be well advised to choose the language that an entrance speaks carefully.

In the photo: Till Boettger, Professor for Design and Spatial Design, and Peter Strobel, Head of Corporate Communications at Siedle.

Photo: David von Becker

Bauhaus University

Threshold spaces

What happens when we enter or leave a building? What do people experience? What is the role of architecture? What influence does technology have? Students from the Bauhaus University in Weimar have been examining these questions together with Siedle. The book “Threshold Spaces” presents the results.

The model shows one of the student designs: the Welcomebooth by Christian Müller responds to today’s needs for individuality, communication and security. Photo: Tobias Adam

Bauhaus University

Threshold spaces as a seminar

The architecture faculty in the Bauhaus University in Weimar dedicated a seminar in its Master’s course to “Threshold spaces”. 25 budding architects examined complex questions regarding the subject of thresholds:

What is an architectural threshold?
How can a threshold space be defined?
What tasks does a threshold space assume when we enter and experience architecture?

The students analysed real architectures first of all before designing their own models of threshold spaces. Siedle initiated the event, provided insight into developing and producing systems for building communication, and examined the designs.

Photo: David von Becker.

Bauhaus University, Threshold space by Ekaterina Galinka

Space as access

The threshold space from Ekaterina Galinka provides a staged entrance to a cube-shaped exhibition room. Slits in the exterior wall bring rhythmical light inside. This effect is intensified by constrictions; modifications to the inner walls and the ceiling create a tiered, funnel-shaped room.

Photo: Tobias Adam

Till Boettger, Professur Entwerfen und Raumgestaltung, und Peter Strobel, Leiter der Unternehmenskommunikation bei Siedle

Every threshold is communication

An initial conclusion can be drawn: every threshold is communication. Not simply because of the integrated technology, but also due to its pure existence. It emits versatile signals, it can be inviting or absent, it opens itself and the building up, or it closes it. It does all that whether we want, plan or design it or not. We would be well advised to choose the language that an entrance speaks carefully.

In the photo: Till Boettger, Professor for Design and Spatial Design, and Peter Strobel, Head of Corporate Communications at Siedle.

Photo: David von Becker

Bauhaus University

Threshold spaces

What happens when we enter or leave a building? What do people experience? What is the role of architecture? What influence does technology have? Students from the Bauhaus University in Weimar have been examining these questions together with Siedle. The book “Threshold Spaces” presents the results.

The model shows one of the student designs: the Welcomebooth by Christian Müller responds to today’s needs for individuality, communication and security. Photo: Tobias Adam

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