Issue 12 | 2016


BANKS AND AUTHORITY BUILDINGS

Dear Readers,

with their “Afterwork workout” exhibition, the students of the PBSA (Peter Behrends School of Architecture) breathed new life into the halls of Köln Messe, where 671 companies made their contribution to modern working environments at the end of October. Their heretical thesis “The office is dead” was, of course, corrected to “… will never die!” – and this was actively demonstrated by the large number of exhibitors at the Orgatec. All the remarkable products and concepts which caught the attention of my colleagues and myself, have been compiled in our comprehensive follow-up report on the Orgatec starting on page 36. Back in our editorial office, we had to recognise that – despite intensive research for our December issue on bank and authority buildings – we had only managed to find few really outstanding bank projects. If this is down to the fact that the banking industry is occupied with scandals, legal disputes or reclaiming bonuses rather than with the planning of prestigious new buildings cannot be confirmed, it can be assumed at best. Therefore, we directed our focus on recently completed authorities – on courthouses and council buildings. Our colleague Uwe Bresan sounded out the situation in Brussels and looked around in the centre of power. The ensemble of the EU Commission Building and the EU Council Building was recently extended with the so-called Europa Building (p. 92). We also found remarkable examples in the Netherlands, Switzerland and France (starting on p. 98). That our columnists Dominik and Benjamin Reding can also make profound comments on relevant criminal topics is only a surprise for those who have not yet read their new book (p. 155) – which could be a Christmas present! Just like the recommendations on calendars, children’s books (p. 88) and all sorts of beautiful objects for (interior) architects (p. 161). As we also like to give you a present, we once again feature “Christmas with AIT” (p. 90). If you send us an email to weihnachten@ait-online.de until 16 December you will participate in the raffle. Good luck, have a relaxed Christmas and a brilliant 2017!

Best wishes
Petra Stephan, Dipl.-Ing.
Chief Editor
Architect

Uwe Bresan in Brüssel vor dem Sitz der EU-Kommission


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