design awards |
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SILVER AWARD |
Category: International Designer
Exhibitor: Kohlhaas Messebau GmbH & Co. KG
Design/Fabrication: Kohlhaas Messebau GmbH & Co. KG,
Hannover, Germany,
49-511-450-89-70,
www.kohlhaas-messebau.de
Show: EuroShop, 2008
Budget: $80,000
Size: 40-by-23 feet
Cost/Square Foot: $87
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 reating a space that is both open and enclosed sounds like a design oxymoron. But that’s exactly what Kohlhaas Messebau GmbH & Co. KG achieved with its fabric-and-wood-frame exhibit at EuroShop 2008. For the Hannover, Germany-based exhibit house, the 920-square-foot booth needed to communicate the company’s slogan — “more space, more vision” — while creating an architecturally precise structure that evoked a visceral feeling from attendees.
To accomplish that goal, designer Florian Dorsch wanted to meld an enveloping, curving space with sharp, hard lines. So he designed a structure that brought to mind the rib cage of some enormous beast. “This rib cage idea should go back to human instinct, a feeling of wellness, like being back in the womb,” Dorsch said.
The interior of the roughly 15-foot-tall inline exhibit embraced attendees via 27 4-inch-wide, fabric-covered, wooden-framed partitions that hung from the ceiling in intervals like ribs on a dinosaur skeleton. A welcoming orange glow lent a slight luminosity to the slats, further adding to the perception of warmth and encapsulation. Wood-laminate flooring reflected the orange color, while a white area rug echoed the amorphous overhead structure. Tucked into one corner of the space, the walls of a small conference room featured text that touched on Kohlhaas’ expertise in design, project management, fabrication, and international marketing efforts.
The exhibit’s welcoming design impressed the Exhibit Design Awards judges, one of whom commented, “It was a fantastic, cavernous space, yet it still felt warm and open.” So while this open-yet-enclosed exhibit might be a an oxymoron, it’s a well-executed one that left an indelible impression on attendees.e
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Exhibit Anatomy
This cavernous exhibit for Kohlhaas Messebau GmbH & Co. KG used high-precision tools such as a computer-aided design (CAD) program and a computer numerical controlled (CNC) machine. The exhibit’s interior featured 27 4-inch-wide, fabric-covered partitions that gave the design a decidedly Jurassic aesthetic that both attracted and embraced attendees.
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23rd ANNUAL DESIGN AWARDS: THE WINNERS
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