ENTERING IMAGES

OFFICE SPACE CONVERSION OF THE INSURANCE COMPANY "ASPECTA", HAMBURG, GERMANY, 1999.

the ground floor shape of the building is a cross with offices on each facade in each branch. on the 24th floor the job was to establish an open foyer and lobby space within this basically very narrow spatial condition and to introduce the cultural aspect of art, representing the new corporate identity the company is about to get.

we broad the implicit potential of this idea and use it for the architectural proposal itself. to simply limit the cultural self understatement of the insurance company "aspecta" down to art hanging on the walls can be avoided by integrating all the spatial interfaces of the adjoining office spaces as conceptual spatial images ready to be stepped onto and entered. in this company people really walk through screens. art is equally treated as the work being practiced by the personnel of the firm. the company as a whole is part of the social sculpture of our society.

the enlargement of the foyer therefore cuts through the existing structure within the logic and concept of producing spatial, functional images of the office spaces laying behind the screens. the projection of real activity on a screen widens and reflects the perception of art to the point, that the company behind this experience is worth being considered as a real representative of cultural aspects of life and being trust. it includes the staff of the company in the overall understanding of its activity and social competence. last but not least it might give the firm a deeper belief and motivation of work in all aspects of services they provide as the staff itself is defining and fulfilling through its activities the wholeness of the appearance of the oeuvre "aspecta".