Design in Acrylics 06/2009

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03 Energized:
virtual objects in
stylish design
10 Encased:
historical documents
on tour
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2009 N 6
Deslgn ln Acryllcs
12 Encapsulated:
weather tower with
PLEXIGLAS shell
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18 Enticing:
sweet dreams are
made of this
20 Enlightened:
LED design for
car salesrooms
Magazine of the Acrylic Polymers Business Line
Elegance
Cruise ships always have a very special aura, with a beauty, class and character all of their own.
More and more often, PLEXIGLAS is in on the act. Combined with color and light, it creates an elegant
ambience, particularly through interior design, and makes for an out-of-the-ordinary experience.
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Dear Readers:
Cruise ships are symbolic of perfect holidays. Often, PLEXIGLAS® is on board, in ceiling and
wall elements, doors and staircases on the gigantic vessels built by the Meyer Werft shipyard
in the North German town of Papenburg. PLEXIGLAS® adds an invigorating and characteristic touch to interior design, and has carved a firm place for itself on these majestic oceangoers, where it is used in a huge variety of shapes and colors.
The solar honeycomb façade of an energy-plus house is concerned with function rather
than design. The special feature of the house is that it revolves through 180 degrees in the
course of the day, according to the altitude of the sun. Architect Erwin Kaltenegger chose
PLEXIGLAS® to build the solar façade because of the material's high light transmission,
which is unimpaired even ten years later.
In the Austrian town of Hall, architect Niedrist needed to satisfy optical requirements
first and foremost. He therefore decided to equip a building with a solar façade featuring
foldable sun blinds made of PLEXIGLAS SATINICE®. They provide reliable sun screening
while letting enough diffuse light into the building.
The topic of illuminated signs also has architectural relevance. Here, light-emitting
diodes (LED) are conquering the market. Japanese luxury car manufacturer Lexus placed
LEDS behind sheets of PLEXIGLAS truLED® in South Africa.
Tubes made of PLEXIGLAS® and store fixtures made of PLEXIGLAS SATINICE® have
found an equally tasteful place for themselves. The sweet shop in the Hungarian town of Dunavarsány-Erőspuszta makes many a heart beat faster, not just among children. This dulcet
realm of chocolate, butterscotch and candy sticks transports adults too back to their childhood dreams.
I hope these stories get your creative juices flowing. Enjoy your read!
A Moment in Time
An army of bottles seems to be marching upwards on glowing
green terrain. It's a long way to the top, as the upper echelons go
to show. But every bottle finds its place. The location is the
Fashion TV Bar in South Africa, where the bottles stand on edge-lit
PLEXIGLAS SATINICE®. RGB-LEDs bathe the shelves in a variety
of changing colors. Guests at the bar, which extends over several
stories, are also cocooned in an all-round color experience, because
the LEDs on the ceilings and walls switch color in the same rhythm.
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Michael Träxler,
Senior Vice President
Acrylic Polymers BL
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Holograms hover in space: The HoloCube made of PLEXIGLAS® enables companies to show prototypes to a wider public prior to production.
Almost Weightless
New presentation technology conquers the market
[Innovation] A mobile phone appears to be suspended in mid-air. Not even a gossamer thread can be seen, almost like a conjuror's trick or something out of Starship Enterprise. Only at second glance do viewers recognize the illusion.
What appears like hocus pocus from a distance turns out to be a
hologram.
Visitors to the exhibition booth are amazed and eager to
find out how the image is formed. A three-dimensional object
hovers in a classicist box. To add to the effect, the object revolves
around its own axis and can be viewed in detail from all sides.
The hologram and the cubic form are characteristic and give the
technology its name: HoloCube. This has only been on the market for about one year and has already been adopted by a
number of major companies. Nike, Nokia, BlackBerry, FNAC,
Logitech and others use it to present their products (new models
and prototypes for example, of which only a few copies have so
far been produced) at trade shows.
Perspective is a figment of the brain
Belgian designer and product developer Joris Vanbriel, who
presented his invention for the first time at the Milan “That’s design” exhibition in April 2007, jealously guards the secret of
how exactly HoloCube works. But we are allowed a certain
amount of insight. Vanbriel takes advantage of a sensory delusion. We only perceive several levels in space because our eyes
are close together. Each eye sees its own picture from a different
perspective - only the brain combines these impressions and enables us to judge distances correctly. Vanbriel makes use of this
phenomenon. A camera installed inside the HoloCube on its
base, facing upwards, casts a two-dimensional picture onto a
transparent mirror. This is attached to the top front edge and
rear bottom edge of the housing at a 45 degree angle. The special
material acts as a projection surface for the images that are
stored on the HoloCube's 40 gigabyte hard disk. Depending on
whether the object is a photo or a video, it stands still or revolves
in space.
It appears three-dimensional to the viewer, although the original picture the camera casts onto the mirror is an ordinary
television picture. Only the mirror material and its inclination
give the image its deep-view effect, causing the brain to perceive
the image in three dimensions.
Perfect view of virtual products
The production company B.A.G. Plastics uses black and white
PLEXIGLAS® in different thicknesses, both matte and glossy, for
the elegant and sophisticated design of the exterior housing.
"We opted for PLEXIGLAS® because we can fabricate it most
easily. PLEXIGLAS® also enables us to keep the weight of the HoloCube down and thus reduce transport costs for end customers
around the globe," says Bart Timmers, Project Engineer at B.A.G.
Plastics in the Belgian town of Beringen. The company is considered a specialist for technical fabrication and forming of
plastic materials. The company's founders, husband and wife
Rudy Geerts and Hilde Beerten, began their business in a small
attic studio. Meanwhile, B.A.G. Plastics has 30 employees. Their
expertise extending over more than 20 years now comes to the
fore when producing the HoloCube. The individual sections are
first cut out of a satin sheet using a laser, which removes the elements cleanly from the sheet. Afterwards, the components are
heated and curved to provide the desired angles. "The bending
radius has to be exactly the same in order to fit the parts together
later on," Timmers explains. That is necessary in order to bond
the components to form a stable cube, in this case using the adhesives ACRIFIX® 2R190, ACRIFIX® 1S106 and ACRIFIX® 1S107.
"Unlike other materials, PLEXIGLAS® is a joy to machine. Lasering, bending, seamless bonding and high-gloss polishing are no
problem. In particular, the view of the product is perfectly clear."
More than 100 HoloCubes have already been built and sold
worldwide. cat
www.bag.be
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High Life
on the High Seas
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Shipyards and outfitters are fond of PLEXIGLAS to create pleasant color and lighting effects
on cruise liners
[Design] Seen from outside, cruise ships are towering
hulks of steel, as tall as a skyscraper and as long as a sports arena.
From the Cape of Good Hope to the North Cape, from the Caribbean to the Black Sea, they are always a majestic sight and reap
admiration in all of the world's major ports of call. Cruise ships
are growing more elegant and better equipped all the time.
Competition is spurring them on to ever greater heights, as
more and more join the race to the top. This sector is flourishing
and tour operators have been recording growth in cruise bookings for a number of years. Shipyards are turning out new cruise
ships in quick succession, and one material is increasingly in demand for designing their interiors: PLEXIGLAS®.
Margrit Lind confirms this trend, and she should know.
Together with her husband, she runs the Malicryl company in
the North German town of Rhauderfeyn. This PLEXIGLAS® fabricator supplies the Meyer Werft shipyard that builds gigantic
cruise liners in nearby Papenburg, and sends them out to tour
the world via the River Ems to the North Sea, a breathtaking
spectacle with great media impact. People who check in on one
of these leviathans of the seas do more than just head for foreign
climes and an unforgettable vacation, they also enter a world of
modern interior design. Here, innovation is paired with grace.
From shapes and colors to materials, nothing is left to chance.
There is no room for compromises. Cruise ships are luxury hotels put to sea. Everything has to meet the highest demands –
noblesse oblige on the oceans too.
Elegant ambience conducive to well-being
A tour of one of these modern oceangoers shows the variety of
applications for PLEXIGLAS®. Especially in the public areas of
the ships, where people come to dine, celebrate, simply enjoy
the trip or do some shopping, this material is part of the modern, high-quality interior design. Ceiling and wall elements,
tables, paneling in seats, doors and stairs as well as store fixtures
all incorporate the material. Malicryl also made the clear barrier
around a children's swimming pool from PLEXIGLAS®. "One
of the reasons why the material is so prized at Meyer Werft
shipyard is the optical effects that can be achieved with
PLEXIGLAS®," Margrit Lind explains. These include the variety of
colors and forming options and the surface, which can be matte,
glossy or textured. Classy colors and designs with PLEXIGLAS®
are always in demand. The fact that it is extremely tough and
hard-wearing is an added bonus for outfitting ships.
Playing with light and color
"Often, the material's ability to guide light plays a special role,"
says Margrit Lind and estimates that roughly 80 percent of the
installed PLEXIGLAS® is combined with lighting effects for
added glamour and atmosphere inside the ship. Colored acrylic
that emits light via the edges or surfaces is especially in demand.
"Those are effects that can only obtained with PLEXIGLAS®,"
says Ms Lind. In one of the Club ships operated by AIDA Cruises,
which according to its own statements is the leading operator in
terms of turnover and the number of passengers, wall elements
of the photography shop were designed with PLEXIGLAS®. The
combination of lighting and color effects provides a pleasant atmosphere. The same applies to the star shape inlaid in the ceiling of the bar area on one of the AIDA ships, and also to the Celebrity Solstice, which was completed last year and is the largest
cruise liner built so far in Germany. Backlit ceiling panels made
of acrylic with sandblasted sections in many parts of the vessel
add special flair and contribute to the generous and airy effect of
the room that extends over two stories. With backlighting, these
panels create "fantastic lighting effects in a huge variety of colors," says Margrit Lind in a burst of enthusiasm.
The orders come directly from the shipyard or from the
outfitters. Malicryl has made a name for itself over the past 10
years as a PLEXIGLAS® fabricator for different areas, not just on
ships, but also on land. They have become one of the Meyer
Werft shipyard's established partners for outfitting the huge
cruise liners. Sometimes, employees are taken along on board
when a ship leaves the shipyard. Instead of suitcases, they take
their toolbags with them. Often, there are not yet any passengers on the ships. While bystanders applaud the luxurious
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Facts and Figures
on the Celebrity Solstice:
Passenger capacity: 2,850
Cabins: 1,425
Crew: 1,250
Decks: 13
Length: 317.2 meters
Ship width: 36,9 meters
Cruising speed: 24 knots (about 28 mph)
Built in: 2008
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Main dining room:
Theater:
The huge two-story dining room was designed by architect Adam D. Tihany. With its majestic chandeliers, classy atmosphere and phenomenal
view of the sea, it offers the ideal setting for dining in style.
The team at Wilson Butler Architects designed the mega theater on board the
Celebrity Solstice. The play of light and colors offers the ideal scenery for numerous performances on the ship.
vessels as they glide past the banks of the River Ems under their
own steam for the first few miles, the finishing touches are being
added to the interior. Here too, precision is called for. "We
specialize in custom outfitting. Cruise ships are the pride of the
seas and each one is unique."
Less weight pays off
There is another reason, apart from the appearance and the various effects achieved with light and color, why the cruise industry has discovered PLEXIGLAS® and why it is increasingly replacing conventional glass for decorative interior design elements:
the weight. Although the gigantic cruise liners of the 21st century are growing bigger and bigger, they must not become correspondingly heavier. This is because of their draft. An old sailor's
rule says "Always a hand's breadth of water below the keel."
Ships that are too heavy, and lie too deep in the water, have difficulties leaving the shipyard, especially in Papenburg, and are
unable to reach many of the beautiful destinations along the
coasts of the seven seas. And where there is a need to keep an
eye on the kilos (or tonnes, in the case of these ocean giants),
PLEXIGLAS® is very welcome, as Margrit Lind explains. At the
same time, weight savings also cut fuel consumption and are
just as important for reducing costs as for minimizing environmental impact.
On board right from the start
It's a fact that PLEXIGLAS® has proved seaworthy and has carved
a place for itself in the style guide of cruise ship outfitters. Not
only for areas where it soothes the aesthetic sensibilities of passengers and creates a feeling of well-being. "We are in on the act
as soon as the keel is laid," Margrit Lind tells us. PLEXIGLAS®
right down in the belly of the ship, even lower than the huge
ship's engines? Yes, the specialist from Rhauderfehn confirms.
During the laying of the keel (which, similar to laying the foundation stone of a building, marks the ship's birth), a box of coins
is placed in the ship to accompany it on its journeys. This box
contains modern coins and a limited edition to mark the festive
moment. These coins are protected by PLEXIGLAS®: Between
the transparent base sheet and the transparent cover sheet there
is a sheet of dark material with precision-molded depressions for
the coins. This gives PLEXIGLAS® pride of place even in modern
cruise shipbuilding - a true mark of nobility. thz
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Shop:
Shopping in style – on board too, it‘s important to flatter the eye as well as
the figure. PLEXIGLAS combined with light provides the suitable ambience.
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Defying All Winds and
Weathers
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PLEXIGLAS on motorboats, sailing yachts and frigates
[Shipbuilding]
Whether transparent or satin, patterned or
plain, clear or colored, PLEXIGLAS® is found on all cruise ships in
every imaginable variety, with and without lighting effects. The
optical properties and stylish appearance are further benefits. The
material is used for decorative interior design elements.
But sometimes, it is the practical advantages of the material, such
as light weight and durability, that are important for seafaring.
Shipbuilders also turn to PLEXIGLAS® in other parts of the ship,
as Margrit Lind at Malicryl GmbH tells us. Her company not only
supplies PLEXIGLAS® for glazing in motorboats and sailboats, but
also for wind deflectors that protect officers from the elements
on the open sections of the command bridge on German Navy
frigates.
www.malicryl.de
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Mobile sunscreen and means of concealing the number of stories:
the solar façade of PLEXIGLAS SATINICE in the Austrian town of Hall links the historic center with the new town.
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Anything but Old Hat
External sun blinds reconcile the old with the new
[Architecture] Right from the start, architect Walter Niedrist swore he
would not cozy up to the adjacent period architecture. But how should he and the team
of architects at Arch. Orgler ZT-GmbH design an office building at the point where the
historic old town meets the modern residential area, as was the case in the Milsertor
part of Hall, Austria? "The new building of the Raiffeisen Regionalbank in Hall was
meant to stand out from its setting but not outshine either the historic or the more recent buildings," Niedrist explains. He was the one who finally solved the problem
through intelligent façade design. "We realized that the façade somehow had to reconcile different scales - horizontally, it had to be structured so that the height of the different stories couldn't be judged from the outside." That is important for the optical impression because the stories in tiny medieval houses and modern detached homes have
different heights. Thanks to its façade, the new building at Milsertor remains neutral
yet iconic. To achieve this effect, the architects designed a façade system of PLEXIGLAS
SATINICE® sun blinds that can be swung outwards.
All winds and weathers
Depending on the lighting conditions, the blinds can be folded out and lie flat against
the building to protect it from the sun, or folded together to provide an unimpeded
view. Each folding element consists of two sheets connected by hinges. The hinges for
the 1,504 sheets were specially made and are screw-fastened to the sheets on top of
rubber-mounted pointwise fastenings. The position of the folding blinds is centrally
controlled but they can also be individually adjusted. "A special drive system had to be
developed for the design," says Niedrist, who turned to Colt International for help.
Wolfgang Egenberger is the responsible project manager at this company that specializes in sunscreen systems: "The actuation technology was a challenge. No water was
meant to get into the mechanism despite frequent rain and snowfall." For this, he designed a new drive system whose sensitive parts are concealed inside guide rails. The
experts at Colt were also the ones who convinced architect Niedrist to use PLEXIGLAS®.
"The blinds were supposed to withstand all kinds of weather," Egenberger says. He also
had to bear in mind that strong winds are a feature of this region. "Hall is within the
area that is affected by the foehn, so venetian blinds or fabric structures were ruled out
right from the start. PLEXIGLAS® on the other hand has the required structural properties and can be kept very thin, even as a large sheet." The sheets are in fact only six
millimeters thick.
Protection paired with a clear view
Apart from weather resistance, Niedrist's main requirements were for an attractive material. The sun blinds were to ensure protection from the sun while letting enough diffuse light into the building. He explains: "PLEXIGLAS SATINICE® is highly light-diffusing. Its translucency not only provides very pleasant light indoors but also meets the
client's requirement for sight screening." That is especially important for the doctor's
practice on the ground floor of the building. The semi-transparent blinds also look
good from the outside, as Egenberger himself noticed during installation. "Passers-by
kept asking us who this unusual building was being built for. The façade does in fact
produce fascinating light and shade effects when the sun shines through." And
this play of light and shade will be a lasting delight for the people of Hall because
PLEXIGLAS® is UV-resistant. "That was also an important point when choosing the
material – after all, who wants a façade that yellows after just a few years?", says
Niedrist. His aim right from the outset was to prevent the building at Milsertor from
looking its age, also in the future. hf
www.plexiglas.net
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Showcasing America
Traveling exhibition features key documents of America's history
[UV Protection] It all began when the National
Archives building started to show its age. Flaking walls, weaknesses in fire protection and carcinogenic asbestos all spelled a
need for renovation. And this in the building that houses the
most important documents of the United States of America – the
1776 Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the
Bill of Rights dating from 1791. The alarming state of the
archives in Washington D.C. called for rapid action, and this
provided an opportunity to send the precious documents on a
journey right across the North American continent.
A tour of history
The National Archives made an unusual decision. Since no visitors were allowed to enter the archives during renovation, the
exhibits were to visit the people instead. That gave American
citizens who do not live within the Washington area a chance to
see for themselves these defining statements of their national
identity. Despite all the benefits to the public, this put a great
strain on the documents, most of which are over 150 years old.
The most important document to go on tour from 2001 to 2003
was the Emancipation Proclamation, with which Abraham
Lincoln abolished slavery in the southern Confederate States
in 1862/63: "And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose
aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves
within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and
henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government
of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said
persons," the President wrote. Weighty words in a document of
central importance.
The natural enemies of paper
It is an understandable modern reaction to take a snapshot of
anything that appears unusual. Some people even go one step
further and cannot resist touching the object of their interest.
But influences like light, friction and humidity are extremely
dangerous for these venerable manuscripts. And long-term UV
radiation affects them similarly to human beings: they get sunburn. But with paper, this is more than a touch of redness: the
paper turns yellow and brittle, and starts to crumble. The UV
spectrum of daylight is sufficient to produce this reaction.
Friction and humidity are no less aggressive. They can blur the
letters written in flourishing script and lead to irreparable damage.
"Hands off" signs are not enough
Of course, it is explicitly forbidden to photograph or touch the
exhibits, but who would take any notice if there were no barrier
between fingertips and paper? The temptation to touch the
country's core documents would be too great. To protect the exhibits from surreptitious fingering and flashlights, the National
Archives use specially built showcases made of PLEXIGLAS®
Gallery and PLEXIGLAS® Gallery MR. The material that is
less than half an inch thick has a highly resistant layer that protects it against wear and conventional cleaning agents. The
PLEXIGLAS® sheets are beveled at the edges where they join
each other – what engineers call a miter joint. This distributes
impact forces evenly along the sides. What's more, the material
filters out 98 percent of harmful UV light, but retains all of its
optical clarity. "We are perfectly satisfied with the material's
toughness, clarity and UV-filtering properties as demonstrated
in past 'American Originals' tours," sums up Michael Jackson,
Senior Exhibit Designer at the National Archives. "That is why
the exhibitors are using the same material for subsequent traveling exhibitions."
Seeing for oneself
The National Archives are currently on tour with the "Eyewitness" exhibition. In January 2009, this reached its last stop before
the journey home, at Durham Western Heritage Museum in
Omaha, Nebraska. There, visitors can read authentic documents
by eye witnesses, hear original recordings and gain a deep insight
into the historical reality of the United States. One example is
the recorded broadcast by Herbert Morrison, who watched the
Hindenburg zeppelin explode: "It's burst into flames, and it's falling, it's crashing … Get this, Charlie; get this, Charlie! … […]
this is the worst of the worst catastrophes in the world."
Unlike the other documents, the Charters of Freedom never left
their original place. While the archives were being renovated,
the Charters were restored at the same time in order to withstand future years in the showcase. This was essential because in
the past they had suffered too much exposure to light. tim
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Documents that wrote history:
The historical developmentof the
United States of America forged
the country's very identity.
The original historical documents
are therefore all the more precious.
Protected by PLEXIGLAS Gallery
showcases, the central manuscripts
can travel the USA without being
damaged by curious fingers or
destructive UV light.
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UV-Resistant
Weather Tower
New landmark at Munich's Technical University:
PLEXIGLAS outside, reinforced concrete inside
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[Architecture] The structure presently being erected on the
campus of the Technical University of Munich in Garching will look like a
gigantic cocoon. The 50-meter tower, whose transparent PLEXIGLAS® shell
offers a glimpse of the reinforced concrete structure inside, will be the new
landmark at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). With its futuristic
design, it fits in well with its neighbor, the Allianz Arena. But this eyecatcher mainly has a very practical use as a weather tower, which will collect
meteorological data such as the temperature, humidity, sunlight and wind
speed – both for research and as a monitoring facility for TUM's neutron
source.
Combining function and aesthetics
So far, these tasks have been performed by a rather unattractive meteorological mast that now has to make way to the new congress center in the
middle of Garching's high-tech campus.
As well as being equipped with state-of-the-art technology, the new
weather tower is also to present an optical contrast to its predecessor. This
commission was given to the firm of Munich architects Deubzer König +
Rimmel: "Our idea was to give the building a transparent shell that shows
the loadbearing structure and can also be illuminated," Maximilian Rimmel
explains. Weather data, current information on campus events and scientific pictures are to be projected onto the illuminated façade from the inside. The shell has to transmit a very high proportion of light so that the
projected image is perfectly visible on the outside: "Originally we chose
glassfiber-reinforced plastic (GRP) as the façade material. But GRP had too
low transmission for our purposes – it doesn't let in enough light," Rimmel
says. Finally, the search for a suitable material bore fruit: "We came across
PLEXIGLAS®, which has far better optical properties than other plastics - in
2007, the guarantee for weather resistance and UV resistance was extended
to 30 years." Although the structural analyses for a GRP façade were almost
complete, the architects decided to revise their draft and use PLEXIGLAS®
instead.
New fastening system needed
Horizontal roof-bearing structures like Munich's Olympic Stadium have
long been built with PLEXIGLAS®. It was a different story with vertical façade panels like those of TUM's new weather tower. Rimmel and his colleagues had to venture into new territory with this project. To prevent
aluminum girders from disturbing the material's graceful appearance, they
developed pointwise fastenings together with the supporting structure
planners Barthel + Maus. This type of construction using PLEXIGLAS® is
completely new. Rimmel tells us: "The sheets are only fixed by means of
slim pointwise fastenings, which reduce the butt joints between the façade
rings to an absolute minimum. We even needed a special license because no
one had built this way before." Meanwhile, the structural engineers have
approved the draft.
All a matter of form
The architects' draft posed a further challenge for the façade material: "Because of the shape we chose, there were no flat surfaces on the shell of the
building," Rimmel says. So the 152 façade elements had to be curved. The
largest of the 25mm thick PLEXIGLAS® sheets are 6.30 meters long and 1.60
meters high. "Even in this size, it's no problem getting the right shape, because PLEXIGLAS® is easy to thermoform," Rimmel explains. Despite its
size, the elliptical shape gives the tower a graceful appearance. The transparency of the façade has a lot to do with this, says Rimmel: "The sheets
contain a low concentration of special pigments that allow them to transmit 88% of light. That explains the ethereal impression they make." hf
www.plexiglas.net
Future new landmark at TU Munich: a 50-meter weather tower with
a transparent PLEXIGLAS shell
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Detail of pointwise fastening:
for the first time, sheets of
PLEXIGLAS are fastened to the
façade by means of almost
invisible pointwise fastenings.
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10 cm
Interview with TUM President
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang A. Herrmann
Why did TUM decide to make its new weather tower a landmark project?
The "old landmark," the legendary "atomic egg" dating from 1957, which even made its way
into Garching's coat of arms, is no longer in operation. Besides, due to the location's building
development, it is now hard to see from a distance.
Does the new landmark have anything to do with your award as a University of Excellence?
Yes, the time was right. Garching won the most trophies in the Excellence initiative! Garching
is TUM's natural sciences and technology center, and the campus is probably the largest of its
kind in Europe. So why hide it? In fact, the 50-meter tower makes us visible from afar, even at
night, because we are installing state-of-the-art LED technology.
Why did TUM opt for the draft that has now been realized?
There are several reasons. The existing meteorological mast had to be moved because of the
new congress center building project in central Garching. The new location was specified by
TÜV, the Technical Supervision Association, and is prominently placed right next to the campus entrance. So it was an obvious thought to erect a structure that was not only utilitarian but
had a sophisticated architectural design, to combine "business" (the need for a meteorological
mast) with "pleasure" (a new landmark). Our professor of architecture Hannelore Deubzer and
her colleagues were commissioned to handle the project. The draft that has now been implemented successfully combines elegance, expedience and high tech. TUM wants to show itself
in the best possible light. The TUM campus has become an eyecatching sight. Today, Garching
has almost 10,000 students and 5,000 employees. As a professor of chemistry, I wanted the
building to have a shell made of high-tech synthetic material also to underline the German
chemical industry's leading position worldwide. PLEXIGLAS® has no equal in this context. I'm
proud of this solution!
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang A. Herrmann, President of TU Munich
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No Holds Barred in the NHL
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Panoramic PLEXIGLAS shields protect spectators at National Hockey League games
[Safety]
A hockey puck can
fly over the ice at a speed of over 90 miles
an hour. That can not only smash hockey sticks,
but also the glass shields between the rink and the grandstands.
Shields made from PLEXIGLAS® RinkShield® are more difficult
to break, and enhance safety at the National Hockey League
rinks in Canada and the USA.
Jason Blake glides purposefully over the ice, making a beeline for the Ottawa Senators goal. He is so fast that his opponents have no chance of stopping him. Goalie Alex Auld
crouches and tenses his whole body. Blake, now only a few yards
from the goal, hits the puck with all his might. Goal! Goal for
the Toronto Maple Leafs! The arena vibrates with the enthusiastic yells of the team's supporters.
These encounters are always turbulent, both on the ice and
on the grandstands. The Air Canada Center in Toronto, Ontario,
the home ground of the Maple Leafs, is perfectly designed for
the ice hockey matches that take place six times a month. What
else would you expect in the homeland of hockey, the Canadian
national sport? The number of players, trainers, official and voluntary staff comes to 4.5 million. Canada has around 3,000 stadiums where 1.5 million games are played each year. So it comes
as no surprise that PLEXIGLAS® RinkShield® was invented in the
country whose national team heads the list of World Championship medal winners.
Peak speed: 101 mph
Carmen Mammoliti, who has played ice hockey himself since
he was a child, is the product manager for PLEXIGLAS® RinkShield® and the man who came up with the idea for the product
in the first place. He knows the incredible forces that are generated by hockey and that can put both players and spectators at
risk. A puck can be propelled across the field for a shot on goal at
a speed of over 90 miles per hour. In fact, the world speed record
is 101 miles an hour. The impact is so great that even a wooden
hockey stick can break during the shot. But flying pucks are not
the only danger. A key element of the game is the body check,
when one player pushes another aside with his body. Things can
get rough, say when a player is checked up against the shield,
which is a big part of the game..
Because of such actions, the teams are well armored, from
helmets to neck guards, chest pads and shin guards. The shields
ensure the required safety between the ice and the grandstands.
At the Air Canada Center in Toronto and most of the North
American National Hockey League (NHL) arenas, they are made
from PLEXIGLAS®. "The shields used to be made of tempered
glass. But on hard impact, they exploded into thousands of dangerous slivers that could hit players and spectators. And just
think how long the game had to be interrupted to install a new
sheet of glass. That was a torment for every coach, TV viewer
and commentator," says Carmen Mammoliti. So one benefit of
RinkShield®, which is offered in
an abrasion resistant coated and an
uncoated version, is its high flexibility. The
shield vibrates slightly upon impact and the flex softens the
blow. Unlike tempered glass, though, the shield cannot break
into slivers, which makes the game safer both for teams and
spectators.
From concert hall to stadium in no time
The safety aspect also applies to installers. Since many arenas are
designed to host a variety of functions, with basketball games
and concerts besides ice hockey, conversion work is the order of
the day. And shifting heavy panes of glass used to constitute a
risk factor. The PLEXIGLAS® sheets are simpler and safer to install and dismantle. One sheet weighs about 100 pounds less
than the previous glass variety. So installation takes half the
time. Because the sheets are lighter, fewer workers need to lend
a hand. That makes a big difference in terms of labor costs.
PLEXIGLAS® allowed Mammoliti to redesign the normal 4’ x 6’
side board shields to create a panoramic 6’ x 8’ viewing panel.
"The idea was revolutionary to the National Hockey
League. Many people said such a design with this material
couldn't be produced," Mammoliti says. As an enthusiastic
hockey fan, he realized that cast material is less susceptible to
breakage. Mammoliti knew that arenas were in need of this kind
of product, and presented his idea to NHL. “The abrasion resistant coating makes it easy to remove puck marks and glue from
stick tape, so the shield stays crystal clear. Those were my sales
shots, apart from the superior safety, of course." The first sheets
of this kind were installed in 2002. "The new panoramic panels
using RinkShield® were able to reduce the number of supports by
30% and panels by 30%, which leads to faster conversions from
hockey to other events and back to hockey. This meant significant cost savings," says Mammoliti. Meanwhile, the RinkShield®
is also catching on in Europe. London's O2 concerts and sports
arena has also installed the safety shields.
The exciting sound of ice hockey
The Toronto Maple Leafs won their January game against
the Ottawa Senators with 3:1. "It sounds exciting when players
or the puck collide with the acrylic sheet. The rattling of the
RinkShield® creates excitement and entertainment for the fans.
Glass sounds a lot flatter because it doesn't vibrate," says Mammoliti. cat
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[ D l A]
15
"It sounds really exciting when players or the
puck collide with the acrylic sheet. Fans find
that sound thrilling and entertaining. Glass
sounds a lot flatter because it doesn't vibrate."
Carmen Mammoliti, Product Manager Acrylic Polymers BL
Not only the puck, but players too often collide with the RinkShields in the heat of the moment- stability and a good view are crucial.
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From yellow to transparent:
The different PLEXIGLAS colors
are one way to start the guided
search in the redesigned online
shop.
®
www.plexiglas-shop.com
Online Shop with Extended Functions and New Design
[Service] Designers who want to purchase on the Internet are usually faced with the following problem: Although
they can order specific products, sifting through them or searching for ideas turns out to be difficult. That is why the new
PLEXIGLAS® online shop has chosen a different approach. It
offers designers and creative professionals the means of finding
the right product even for abstract ideas. This is made possible
by a guided search. Starting with a shape, color, surface texture
or product property, online purchasers click their way through
to the suitable product. There are nine hits, for instance, for a
red material with a matte surface, from PLEXIGLAS SATINICE®
Cherry 3C01 DC to PLEXIGLAS® Textured Sheet Strawberry
3C04 TU. Additionally, the buyer is informed about further material properties like light transmission or sheet thickness and
can read up further details in the product data sheet. Then all
that remains to do is state the required dimensions and the material can be placed in the virtual shopping trolley. There, the
purchaser receives more useful information, for example on the
suitable adhesive or drill bits for PLEXIGLAS®.
"The online shop was very successful in its previous incarnation," says Michael Fleck, Product Manager Acrylic Polymers.
"With its new design and new software, we want to adapt the
technology to growing demands and enhance user friendliness
at the same time." That also includes showing video clips on
how to achieve clean bonds with PLEXIGLAS® and how to drill
holes and saw the sheets.
Searching for ideas online
Users who as yet have no ideas of their own can derive inspiration from the online shop. Project examples from architecture,
furniture making, illuminated signs, exhibition booth building
and store fixtures, art and design show the versatile uses to
which PLEXIGLAS® can be put: illuminated displays made from
PLEXIGLAS® EndLighten in South Africa, the complete furnishing of a shoe store with PLEXIGLAS SATINICE® in New Zealand or
illuminated presentation tables made from PLEXIGLAS RESIST®.
The photo gallery is rounded off by information on the projects
and the materials used.
Direct access for experts
People who know exactly which product they want to buy, or
which product group is the right one, can still access the shop
directly. "Many commercial clients already order specific cut-tosize sections via the shop," Fleck explains. "And in the future, it
will also be possible to buy sample collections online." At present, customers from Germany, Austria, France and the Benelux
countries can use the shop, but there are plans to extend access
to other European countries, and a similar offering will soon go
online also in the USA. ck
www.plexiglas-shop.com
The new online shop: It offers designers and creative professionals the means of finding the right product even for abstract ideas.
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®
PARAPAN Helps Create
Panoramic View
Panoramic scene integrated into kitchen
[Interior Design] When nature lovers David and
Sherry Miller built a custom home outside Santa Fe, New Mexico
they wanted to be able to enjoy the outdoor scenery from as
many vantage points as possible. In fact, Sherry thought the
Sangre de Cristo Mountains were so beautiful she wanted to integrate the panoramic scene into her kitchen. Designing cabinetry with a mirror-like reflective surface has made all of that
possible.
The new cabinets are designed with PARAPAN®, a brilliant,
high-gloss, durable solid surface. The reflective qualities of
PARAPAN® serve as a perfect complement to the two sets of
windows – one set facing east and the other north – in the
kitchen.
Creating that visual was only part of the challenge for Jeff
Carbine, owner of Carbine Woodworks, a custom cabinet maker
based in Santa Fe. Carbine and his team also had to make sure
that the cabinets were of the highest quality, so they were consistent with the Millers’ overall kitchen design. The Millers
chose Anthracite gray, one of 17 distinctive PARAPAN® colors, to
offset the natural elements of their surroundings. Though Carbine works almost exclusively with wood-based products, he
came away duly impressed with PARAPAN®. “I like it a lot. It has
a very even and consistent color, and it is very tough” said Carbine. It even held up to the toughest challenge of the cabinets,
the pantry pullout drawers.
More than a beautiful look
Aesthetics are only part of the reason why PARAPAN® has
worked so well in the Miller’s kitchen. The durability, UV and
water resistance of PARAPAN® were key elements for the Millers
when choosing the perfect surface for their kitchen cabinets.
Toughness was one major consideration. Obviously, the
durable solid surface had to be able to withstand everyday use.
The windows let in a tremendous amount of sunlight. The
UV resistance of PARAPAN® protects the lustrous color of the
cabinetry ensuring that the high-gloss surface will continue to
reflect the vista for years to come. Unlike finishes, PARAPAN® is
resistant to moisture, thereby eliminating the potential for the
cabinets to shrink or swell. The Millers also appreciated the fact
that PARAPAN® is well suited for green designs. It does not
contain formaldehyde or VOCs, which can result in the release
of harmful vapors or gases, and is free of plasticizers and
bisphenol A.
Ultimately, the Millers are pleased with their choice. “The
ability to enjoy the view, even when my back is turned to the
windows, is great,” said Sherry. “When I see the reflection in the
cabinets, it’s so clear it almost looks like a photograph.” ck
www.plexiglas.net
®
Panoramic kitchen: Nature is reflected in the high-gloss PARAPAN surface.
®
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Another Candy Stick,
Anyone?
A Hungarian sweet shop recreates our childhood dreams
[Shop Design] A paradise of candies, lollies and
gumdrops awaits patrons of these premises in DunavarsányErőspuszta, a town near Budapest. Here, in a very special sweet
shop, candy of every shape and size is stacked up to the ceiling
in transparent acrylic tubes. The seating area tempts visitors
with colored walls, and even the candy stripe seats look good
enough to eat. It takes a strong will to reach a decision in such an
environment.
Our preference for sweet things is an instinct that goes
back to Stone Age days. The probability of eating a poisonous
fruit was much smaller if it tasted really sweet. Hunters and
gatherers derived the energy they needed from the sugar content of sweet fruit. "Our fascination with sweet foods is also
based on the fact that even embryos prefer the basic taste 'sweet'
to all others. That has genetic reasons and is reinforced by the
sweetness of amniotic fluid and mother's milk," says Prof. Dr.
Angelika Ploeger in Kassel University's Department of Organic
Food Quality and Food Culture. The taste buds at the tip of our
tongue are especially happy when we eat something sweet – that
is the only place we perceive sweetness.
The lure of the chocolate fix
Chocolate is the food of predilection for everyone with a sweet
tooth. We have the Olmec to thank for that. This tribe from the
rainforests of Central America grew the first cocoa tree in 250
BC. In the course of the centuries, cocoa beans were not only in
demand as a form of currency, but also for preparing drinking
chocolate with cold water and ground cocoa. The Aztec ruler
Montezuma II was extremely fond of this beverage. But it was far
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[ D l A]
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from sweet back then. That is why the Aztecs called it Xocolatl:
sour, bitter water. Not until cocoa made its way into European
courts did the lords and ladies decide to sweeten it and add milk,
vanilla and jasmine to the new drink. A succession of kings succumbed to this sweet temptation. "Sweets have derived their
special status because they were always special and costly; they
were used as rewards and as status symbols," Dr. Ploeger says.
The common people also coveted the delicious drink, but chocolate remained very much a luxury. And grew all the more desirable for that.
Sweet delicacies in elegant packaging
Years later, everyone has access to these sweet delights. They are
available in a myriad different forms, as gifts, rewards and incentives. Sweets lend hope in moments of despair, for instance
amid the destruction of Berlin after World War II. American
pilots airdropped chocolate to the besieged city. To make sure
the bars drifted gently to earth, they were attached to mini parachutes. To children, they seemed like gifts from heaven, and
that earned the aircraft their new name: Candy Bombers.
Even today, it is a real experience to visit a candy store.
Everyone knows the expression "to have eyes bigger than your
belly." Hundreds of colors, countless aromas – almost like paradise. The sweet shop in the Hungarian town of DunavarsányEröspuszta has ensconced its sugary treats in tubes made of
PLEXIGLAS®. Customers can admire the candy in every detail
through the crystal-clear containers. "The clarity is due to the
tube extrusion process," explains Susanne Mirk, Product
Manager Acrylic Polymers BL. The extruder forms molten
PLEXIGLAS® into tubes that are slowly cooled and thus remain
stress-free and highly transparent. That also makes them easy to
fabricate. "We are the market leaders in tube and rod extrusion,
in terms of roundness and optical requirements," Ms. Mirk says.
The round shape is important so that the tubes fit perfectly on
top of each other or in the metal fastener profiles that keep
the popular sweets safely in their place. Interlocking profiles can
be used to connect several tubes, for example. And since
PLEXIGLAS® comes with a declaration of food compliance, it is
perfectly suited for storing candy, gumdrops and the like.
Taking a closer look around the Hungarian sweet shop,
one discovers more and more elements made of PLEXIGLAS®,
like the multicolored partitions that create a cheerful atmosphere. With its hard-wearing surface, PLEXIGLAS SATINICE®
can also cope with children's sticky finger marks. So the sweets
can remain a tempting sight every day. cat
www.plexiglas.net
®
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The Light of the Future
Efficient signage under the South African sun
[Signage] Very different requirements have to be met
when creating illuminated signs, from design and luminosity to
energy efficiency and low maintenance. Whereas fluorescent
tubes used to be the first choice for lighting, light-emitting
diodes (LEDs) are now gaining a growing share of the illuminants
market. LEDs are more flexible and have a much longer service
life than fluorescent tubes. Sheets of PLEXIGLAS truLED® are
used to design extremely effective LED striplights, for example
by Japanese luxury car manufacturer Lexus in South Africa.
Wilmans names another advantage of LEDs: "The light boxes
can be made much slimmer, only 56 mm deep with LEDs. Fluorescent tubes, on the other hand, require a depth of 150 mm.
The flatter the boxes, the more material can be saved." These
benefits mean LEDs are winning an increasing share of the market.
"I think the market will continue to grow. We started at a low
level, but we have seen steady growth of ten to fifteen percent
per year. LEDs definitely look like the light of the future,"
Wilmans says.
Long service life, low maintenance
Innovative image
Lexus made a conscious decision against fluorescent tubes and
in favor of LEDs for the illuminated signs at its South African
showrooms. For convincing economic reasons: the lower maintenance costs. LEDs offer up to 50,000 hours of illumination, as
compared with fluorescent tubes, which have an average service
life of about 31,000 hours. Osram, which manufactures both
types of illuminant, has already delivered 140,000 LEDs to
Lexus for the first construction phase. Wallie Wilmans is Technical Marketing Manager at Osram and explains the cost advantage: "LEDs are more expensive to start with, but they are worth
it in the long run because of their lower maintenance costs. The
higher initial investment pays off after only two to three years.“
This is because LEDs are highly vibration-resistant and less temperature-sensitive. Added to this, if one LED fails, this has hardly
any effect on the overall optical output of a unit. If a fluorescent
tube fails, it is obvious straight away.
Lexus is of the same opinion. LEDs perfectly match the image
the Japanese car manufacturer would like to cultivate, with vehicles that place emphasis on innovation. That can be seen from
the series of models with the hybrid engine, a combination of
gasoline engine and electric motor with low emissions and consumption. So it was important for Lexus to use innovative technology when it came to the signs for its branches. This task was
handled by Terri-Lynn Matthyser, Creative Director at The
Brand Union, a brand design agency. She explains her brief thus:
"Lexus is an aspirational premium brand. The brand expression
as such is a pursuit of perfection. For us, the pursuit of perfection
goes hand in hand with pursuit of the most advanced intelligent
and engaging technology. And that obviously has to be used in
the vehicles as well as in the showroom."
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[ D l A]
21
®
Large striplights made of PLEXIGLAS truLED combined with LEDs light up Lexus car showrooms in South Africa, cost-effectively and with energy savings.
Looking good both day and night
At the same time, very explicit requirements had to be met
when designing the signs. Ms. Matthyser received clear specifications from her Japanese clients: "The signage needed to provide excellent lighting results and look equally good both day
and night. In terms of the challenges, the South African sunlight
was obviously very different from the Japanese sunlight." So
the unit needed to offer particularly high luminosity. "The
PLEXIGLAS truLED® sheets provided good results. The material
makes for strong light features and achieves the desired
effect both during the day and at night," Ms. Matthyser says.
PLEXIGLAS truLED® was specially developed for modern LED
technology and is precisely adjusted to the color point of the individual LEDs. This means the light is not converted to heat inside the sheet, but reaches the viewer. "That is unique in the
market and distinguishes this grade from all standard products,"
Ms. Matthyser adds.
Martin Hoffmann, Product Manager at the Acrylic
Polymers BL, agrees: "PLEXIGLAS truLED® offers very good
transmission. That means it has better light transmission than
conventional acrylic, combined with excellent light diffusion."
It provides optimum lighting results at minimum power consumption. "In the case of the Lexus branches, it would have
taken a lot more LEDs to provide the same lighting effect with
conventional acrylic. That would have increased power consumption unnecessarily, and with it the carbon emissions,"
Hoffmann says. hf
www.plexiglas-and-energy.com
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[ D l A]
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Holding Back the Hands
of Time
Solar honeycomb façade for energy-plus house looks as good as new ten years on
[Architecture] This house in the
Austrian town of Weiz is like a live-in satellite.
Like one of these man-made celestial bodies, it
is round, draws its energy from solar panels
and, although it does not orbit around the
sun, it does follow its trajectory. The Gemini
energy-plus house revolves through 180 degrees in the course of a day, and by the evening
it has returned to its original position. In this
way it captures maximum solar radiation for
the solar collectors that provide electricity, the
sun windows that heat the rooms, and the
heat-insulating solar honeycomb façade made
of PLEXIGLAS®. Such is the power of motion – the Gemini house
produces more energy than it consumes, and has been performing this feat for two decades.
In the beginning was the figure
The house was developed back in the early 1990s by programmer Roland Mösl. His design received an award at the 1993
world exhibition on innovation, research and technology 'Brussels Eureka.' One year later, Mösl was awarded the European
Order of Merit for his efforts to promote solar energy. But the
house was built by someone else: "I had already heard of Mösl's
design and read his book on the subject,"
Erwin Kaltenegger recalls. He is the architect
commissioned with building the Gemini
house by the town of Weiz in 1998. "Mr. Mösl
calculated the house very efficiently and provided impressive energy production and heat
insulation figures. But I had to introduce a few
changes, like room division and window size,
to make the house more comfortable," Kaltenegger adds. But even with these changes, the
Gemini house retains its positive energy balance.
Dynamic façade
The house's heat insulation is crucial to the energy balance,
apart from power generation by the solar collectors. "Originally,
the design specified aluminum paneling. Then the Gemini
house really would have looked like a satellite," says Kaltenegger, who searched for a more attractive and more efficient
solution. This he found in the so-called solar honeycomb façade. The light-transmitting cover material consisting of
PLEXIGLAS® corrugated sheet conceals small tubes that are five
centimeters long and five millimeters in diameter. The tubes are
closely aligned side by side, rather like honeycombs. Their front
®
Turning toward the sun through its own energy: The house has been generating its own power for more than ten years with a solar honeycomb façade made of PLEXIGLAS .
To make the most of the available sunlight, the energy-plus house revolves through 180 degrees in the course of the day.
®
[ D l A]
23
®
PLEXIGLAS shows no yellowing despite being exposed to strong sunlight, as is meanwhile guaranteed for 30 years. The UV resistance of the material has paid off here too.
end is covered by the sheet, whereas the other end abuts on the
house's actual insulation layer. "A microclimate prevails inside
the tubes, which enables them to provide a dynamic U-value,"
Kaltenegger explains. U-value is the term use to describe the
heat transfer. If the U-value is dynamic, the heat transfer is
opposite to the outdoor climate. If it is cold outside, the air
entrapped in the tubes has an insulating effect. This is because
air is a poor heat conductor. When the entrapped air is heated by
sunlight during the day, it releases this heat very slowly overnight. The opposite happens on hot days – the air that cools
down overnight takes a long time to heat up during the day. "For
this principle to work, the cover sheet must transmit light.
Otherwise, not enough sunlight gets in. That's why we chose
PLEXIGLAS®, which looks good too," Kaltenegger underlines.
required any cleaning either," Kaltenegger tells us. Weather resistance was one of his main reasons for choosing PLEXIGLAS®
ten years ago. "I was assured the material would not yellow even
when exposed to strong sunlight, unlike other plastics. And that
has proved true," the architect says. What was promised to
Kaltenegger back then is now guaranteed. PLEXIGLAS® now
comes with a 30-year guarantee of weather resistance and UV
resistance. So the Gemini house can keep on turning without
the fear of losing energy. hf
www.plexiglas.net
Youthful skin
The outer skin of the façade has to withstand wind, rain, snow
and the prevailing temperatures of the Austrian climate. That is
no big challenge for the cover material. "I myself am surprised
that the sheets transmit just as much light today as on day one.
They show no signs of weathering, and so far they have not
A Toast to Cool Blue!
[Product] Is there anyone who doesn't look forward to the
summer sun after a long, cold winter? But transparent roofs over
patios, conservatories and carports can quickly turn enjoyment
of fine weather into a feeling of being hot and bothered.
The problem is that when solar heat radiation, so-called infrared light, passes through the roof unfiltered, it leads to heat
buildup.
roof makes for a cool and pleasant atmosphere. Seen from outside, the sheet has a golden sheen in incident light. This opens
up a raft of new design options, while improving the heat-shield
effect still further. Up to 75 percent of solar energy is screened
out.
Who keeps their cool?
The Cool Blue sheet makes it easy to relax, even if there is no real
need to. A study by the University of Surrey in Guildford, UK,
shows that blue-colored light heightens awareness and reduces
fatigue. At the same time, it is mood-enhancing and boosts performance and concentration. Ideal conditions for soaking up
the summer sun, minus the heat! hf
Anyone who wants to reduce temperatures a little in their conservatory but still enjoy the sunshine, without installing an expensive air conditioning unit, can now turn to PLEXIGLAS
HEATSTOP®. These corrugated and multi-skin sheets are
equipped with infrared-reflecting pigments. Although these
pigments reflect the heat, they still let in most of the visible
light. Now there is a new grade for a special lighting experience,
PLEXIGLAS HEATSTOP® Cool Blue. Novel pigments give transmitted light a trendy blue tinge. The color impression below the
Chilling out
®
PLEXIGLAS HEATSTOP Cool Blue. Available from the first quarter of 2009: WP
76/18 corrugated sheets and SDP 16/980 and SDP 16/1200 multi-skin sheets
Credits:
®
[DIA] Design in Acrylics
This is a publication of the
Acrylic Polymers Business Line of
Evonik Industries
®
[DIA] Design in Acrylics
is published three times a year by:
Evonik Röhm GmbH
Acrylic Polymers Business Line
Kirschenallee
D-64293 Darmstadt
Germany
Phone +49-6151-18-01
Fax +49-6151-18-02
www.plexiglas.net
www.design-in-acrylics.com
Please send notice of changes in address to:
[email protected]
Edited by: Profilwerkstatt,
64295 Darmstadt, Germany
Phone +49-6151-599020
www.profilwerkstatt.de
Editors in Chief:
Dr. Ulrich Kläres,
Performance Polymers Business Unit
(responsible under Journalists’ Law)
Susanne Diehl,
Acrylic Polymers Business Line
Martina Keller, Profilwerkstatt
Dr. Claudia Klemm, Profilwerkstatt
English Translation: Mitzi Morgan
Art Direction: Holger Giebeler
Typesetting/Layout: Profilwerkstatt
Managing Editor: Ralf Ansorge
Printed by: Zarbock GmbH & Co. KG, Frankfurt
Printed on paper bleached without chlorine.
Photos:
Aida Cruises: page 4
Team of architects Deubzer König+Rimmel: cover,
pages 12 and 13
Architect‘s office Kaltenegger, pages 22, 23
B.A.G. Plastics: cover, page 3
BluAppel, page 2
Evonik Industries: cover, pages 11, 15, 17, 18,
19, 20, 21, 23
Fotolia, pages 14, 15, 16
Malicryl GmbH, page 7
Meyer-Werft: cover, pages 6 and 7
Private Banking Hall: page 8
TU Munich: page 13
Illustration:
Sandra Kreuzer, Profilwerkstatt: page 19
Evonik’s Performance Polymers Business Unit is
a worldwide supplier of PMMA semifinished
products sold under the PLEXIGLAS
trademark on the European, Asian,
African and Australian Continents and under
the trademarks ACRYLITE , DEGLAS ,
PARAGLAS SOUNDSTOP and ROHAGLAS in the
Americas.
®
®
®
®
®
® = registered trademark
DiA, PLEXIGLAS and PLEXICOR
are registered trademarks of
Evonik Röhm GmbH, Darmstadt, Germany.
ACRYLITE is a registered trademark of
Evonik Cyro LLC, Rockaway, NJ, USA.
This information and all further technical advice is
based on our present knowledge and
experience. However, it implies no liability or
other legal responsibility on our part, also with regard to existing third party intellectual
property rights, especially patent rights. In
particular, no warranty, whether express or
implied, or guarantee of product properties in the
legal sense is intended or implied. We
reserve the right to make any changes according
to technological progress or further developments.
The customer is not released from the obligation
to conduct careful inspection and
testing of incoming goods.
Performance of the product described herein
should be verified by testing, which should be carried out only by qualified experts in the sole responsibility of a customer. Reference to trade
names used by other companies is neither a
recommendation, nor does it imply that similar
products could not be used.
(Status: May 2003)