Atmospheric space of light and color
PLANET M”, whose name means “Media for People”, provided the approximately 7 million people in the region with the opportunity to learn more about the company. The Bertelsmann Group, which is one of the world’s largest media companies, presented its field of activity to Expo visitors as well as viewers and readers connected to the media worldwide. The pavilion is now used as an auditorium for the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts, which is located on the Expo Plaza. The pavilion was created in collaboration with the Triad agency and BGKK, as well as with the artist James Turrell, who developed the unique lighting design for the building envelope.
The pavilion, which is still covered with a stainless steel mesh today, constantly changed its shape as a result of the lighting. During the day, the sunlight refracts on the fine fabric structure of the outer skin, which can lead to shimmering interference phenomena.
While the company divisions were presented in a three-storey high rack in the cube, the “blob” was welded together from sheet steel using shipbuilding techniques and designed as a multimedia room inside. The sophisticated structural design of the multi-layered steel structure, in which frames and ribs were used as in shipbuilding, was created in collaboration with the engineering firm Arup.
Visitors were lifted into the interior of the “blob” by a hydraulic lifting platform. After the multimedia event with the presentation of the Group’s media activities, the visitors went over a stoop into the cube, from where they walked past the individual Group divisions to the first floor, where the store concluded the visit. Visitors were guided down the 3 floors by the media technology of the high rack, in which panes of “Privalite” were installed, which could change from a milky to a transparent state by inducing electricity.
The building is now used by the Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts – Faculty of Design and Media. The light installation by James Turrell has not yet been restored.
Address: Expo Plaza 2, 30539 Hanover
