PUBLIC BUILDINGS
Dear Readers,
when architecture editors travel they cannot help but make frequent detours to architecturally interesting places and interiors! That’s easily done when visiting churches, since they are mostly open to interested visitors as, for example, the “Pfarrkirche zu unserer lieben Frau”. The most significant Gothic church building in Bamberg (image on the left) is the appropriate introduction to this issue’s topic of “Public Buildings“ – you will find more church projects in this journal. The selected kindergartens, schools, universities, art museums, theatres, and concert halls in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Australia also represent an impressive cross-section of current, culture communicating interiors. Hardly any other building assignment has the huge responsibility to not only provide a protecting room for the users but also create an emotionalising envelope, which perfectly supports the educational content to be conveyed. From an early age through to adulthood there is the possibility to acquire both cultural knowledge and design competence. The budget required for this purpose is, however, not always available. In our article “Klasse Schule” (page 130), we use five exemplary school buildings in Africa, Asia and Latin America to illustrate that exciting learning venues can indeed be implemented with limited means but numerous good ideas. If there are the necessary funds, one can resort to many well-designed products for the very young ones. Our main topic of “Children’s Furniture” (page 72) features many convincing examples! Salone del Mobile in Milan, on the contrary, offered countless stimulations for design-oriented adults last April. After the cold of the Easter holidays, the bright sunshine in Italy’s design capital provided exactly the right ambience for a visit to the trade fair during the
day and inspiring events in the nearby showrooms of renowned manufactures in the evening. Long days and short nights was the motto for all media representatives, but in return, my colleague Uwe Bresan and I (image at the bottom) have found many new solutions and exciting news regarding furniture and luminaire design. After careful selection, we will show the highlights in the next AIT issue, which will be published in early June. For now, we wish you an enjoyable read of the current May issue!
Best wishes
Petra Stephan, Dipl.-Ing.
Chief Editor
Architect