More than just building technology

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.

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 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.

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.

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 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 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 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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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