Tag: Kugel

Artwork “Mother” for Fred Wilson

We were commissioned by renowned American artist Fred Wilson to collaborate on a special work of art, “Mother”. This artwork celebrates the beauty of “Mother Earth”. It is a multi-level sculpture of twelve globes tilted at various angles and surrounded by Fred Wilson’s signature black “drops”. The imposing sculpture extends over several floors as a permanent installation in Terminal C of La Guardia Airport in New York.

This exciting project presented us with a variety of challenges. As a basis for the later earth balls, we first produced 12 hollow spheres from 6-8 mm thick GRP layer. The size of the spheres varied from 0.46 m up to a gigantic diameter of 3.36 m. The spheres had to meet various requirements due to their subsequent placement in the airport terminal: They were to have a non-combustible surface in accordance with ASTM 84 Class A. Furthermore, they were weighted down with additional weights so that they would not sway too much in the event of an earthquake. For the installation of the sphere, a suspension from the ceiling was provided. For this purpose, a very stable internal steel suspension device had to be constructed. The largest sphere had to be divided into four equal sections to make it transportable.

After all the spheres were surface treated and sanded smooth, they were given a coat of black paint, which the artist Fred Wilson intended to be the base color. The next challenge was to turn all the spheres into globes. The contours of a world map were applied to the black surface with the help of a CNC machine: For some only the continents, for others also individual 195 countries of the globe.

The large “drops” that are part of the installation are made of 100 percent aluminum. They were milled at our partner Industrie Mechanik Böger Maschinenbau GmbH and further processed by us to give them a high-gloss black surface.

When the work on the globes had progressed, Fred Wilson personally got a picture of the process on site and worked out the further “tactics” together with our team. During further stays of several weeks, Fred Wilson had added a strong structure to many of the continents on the globes by his own hand. The globes were then all painted differently by hand according to very precise color specifications. The handwork was done by Fred Wilson on site with the help of some creative helpers. This cooperation was a good opportunity to bring the likeable artist also a little piece of Germany and its culture closer 😉

In the end, the globes were given a coat of varnish. The final hurdle was packing and shipping the elements to America and setting up the installation in Terminal C of La Guradia Airport in New York. Our staff was on site in October 2022 to provide technical support and bring the work to a successful conclusion.

The eye-catcher “Mother” at the airport of Delta Airlines will continue to attract the attention of passengers for many years to come. It was a great pleasure for us to get to know Fred Wilson personally and to accompany him on his major art project.

 

Video about Fred Wilson´s artwork “Mother”:

YouTube

By loading the video you accept the Privacy Policy of YouTube.
Read more

Load the video

Images from the production:

Making of Video:

YouTube

By loading the video you accept the Privacy Policy of YouTube.
Read more

Load the video

 

Bericht in The New York Times

Custom-made balls for advertising

By order of Departmentdeluxe we made three balls for the famous TV channel SAT1. These decorative balls in a size from 40 to 150 cm imitate the rainbow colored SAT1 logo. They consist of an inner white ball and seven colored slats above it. The special challenge for us was to place the colored slats on the white ball at an even distance from each other so that they “float” about 5 mm above the ball. They are only connected to the sphere at the two poles. We precisely mastered this tricky task over the course of three weeks. The beautiful 3D logo now interacts with well-known actors such as Dr. Carola Holzner, Jörg Pilawa or Ralf Schmitz in various commercials of the station.

The production – pictures:

 

Domes, cupolas, radoms

Large-sized spheres are used as projection domes for simulators, domes or radoms.

In a projection dome, video recordings, animations or images are projected onto the inside of the spherical surface (dome, spherical section, curved screen). Planetariums are a well-known example.
For this purpose, the surface must be smooth and white in color. A radome (radar dome) is a closed enclosure for measurements or data transmissions. This protects the antennas and sensitive measuring devices from external weather influences. The materials GFRP and CFRP are excellently suited for the production of
such objects.

In principle, the aim is to produce large-format segments so that as few joints and seams as possible are visible. At the same time, large-format segmentation reduces assembly time. The width dimension is limited by the usual transport width (truck width 2.5 m). This results in usual surface sizes of approx. 10 m².

Before a segment can be made from GFRP or CFRP, a production mold must be created. Due to the three-dimensional geometry, it makes most sense for this large production mold to be given a stable substructure (wood-frame construction). Large-sized blocks of STYROPOR are then glued onto this substructure. It is a very economical material and can be milled very well. Nevertheless, STYROPOR has a very poor surface finish after
machining and is not compression resistant. Therefore, the polystyrene structure is milled off with an undersize of 12 mm. Then a special epoxy paste is applied to the premilled surface. This paste hardens within 24 hours and is then milled to the target dimension. The resulting surface is hard and can be brought to a finished state by sanding and painting. This makes it suitable as a production mold.

Sandwich structure

The individual segments for a dome can then be molded from this large-format production mold. First, a gelcoat with a layer thickness of approx. 0.7 mm is applied to the production mold. Then the glass fiber reinforced plastic is laminated on. The layer thicknesses vary between 4 – 8 mm, depending on the application. If higher demands are placed on the object (dynamic dome), a sandwich structure is executed. The individual segments of a dome are attached to the flange at the site by means of a screw connection or glued.

Pictures from the production:

 


Reference Projection sphere

Movement Sculptures

Please touch!

This is the name of the participatory art action initiated by the Paderborn artist Manfred Webel. He sees a sculpture first and foremost as a social object that interacts with the viewer not just by looking at it but by touching it. Unlike a visit to a museum, his rolling works of art may and should be touched and moved. Thus, Manfred Webel makes art not only visible, but tangible for ALL on his tour through all of North Rhine-Westphalia.

We at ACCENTFORM were allowed to contribute to this wonderful action by producing a total of nine objects by Manfred Webel in different sizes. The movement sculptures with their own names “Quattroporte, Monami, Bubble and Chair” were first CNC milled from Styrofoam and then coated with fiberglass reinforced plastic using a laminating process. Some of the sculptureser Some of the sculptures received a monochrome red paint finish, while others were further finished by the artist himself.

The constructive cooperation with the sympathetic artist was a great pleasure for us!

“I really enjoy working with Accentform, not only because they have a deep technical understanding and work in a very solution-oriented way, but also because they have a heart for new issues and innovations to be developed for them. I also like the old school of concluding contracts with a handshake and the absolute binding nature of verbally exchanged agreements”.
Manfred Webel

Pictures from the production:

Video-Links:

YouTube

By loading the video you accept the Privacy Policy of YouTube.
Read more

Load the video

YouTube

By loading the video you accept the Privacy Policy of YouTube.
Read more

Load the video

 

 

Fascinating projection sphere

At first glance, it looks like a conventional white GRP sphere – but this impression is deceptive! Thanks to a special surface coating, this 2.5 m sphere can have an infinite number of “faces” by means of beamer projections and create breathtaking effects.

A sphere of this kind – produced by ACCENTFORM – was used at the large Garbicz Arts & Music Festival 2019 in Poland. The customer (Armin Sachs) projected visual effects onto the surface of the sphere using a beamer. With a magical and fascinating effect! Even the black colour is reproduced brilliantly.

Such spheres are also well suited for scientific purposes, e.g. for a realistic, very plastic 3D representation of planets or our blue earth with its atmosphere. Here you get a real astronaut feeling!

 

YouTube

By loading the video you accept the Privacy Policy of YouTube.
Read more

Load the video

YouTube

By loading the video you accept the Privacy Policy of YouTube.
Read more

Load the video

Projection sphere for future Museum

We made this projection sphere with a diameter of almost 3 m from GRP for the Deutsches Museum in Nuremberg. It was made of four segments and mounted on the 8 m high concrete ceiling on site.

First, a mould had to be milled for a ¼ sphere segment. This shape was then moulded with GRP in a thickness of 4 mm. Each of the four spherical segments has an inner flange so that they could later be screwed together. A mounting hole with a diameter of 450 mm was provided.

To suspend the sphere, three chains are attached to the sphere to prevent it from swinging back and forth. Three movable eyebolts were mounted on the ceiling to suspend the sphere at a distance of 2 metres from the ceiling. Lifting chains, according to DIN EN 812-2 quality class 8 with a load capacity of 1,120 kg, were used for the fastening.

The sphere was painted in RAL 7035. And weighs approx. 300 kg.

The projection sphere is intended as an oversized globe in the exhibition area “System Earth”. By means of projection from 10 beamers, a simulation of the earth with its oceans, landscapes and cloud fields will be created.

Microbes – Bionic Spheres

bionik-kugel-3d-modell

Custom made microbes – the new shape diversity of pharmaceutical company

With bold, powerful colors in stimulating combinations, the new brand identity of a leading pharmaceutical company presents the true nature of science instead of the clichéd world of sterile laboratories. And the organic world of form, inspired by cell structures, is always fascinating and unusually shaped.

In order to stage this variety of colors and shapes spatially and haptically at international congresses, strong partners are needed – no problem with ACCENTFORM, even in a short time.

With the commissioning of the construction of a total of 24 bionically shaped spheres, the challenge of creating the almost impossible within 17 working days was born. This was because the following special features had to be thought through in the approach to production:

  • bionik-kugelthe bionically shaped surface
  • for ø 1m – despite 15 mm wall thickness, keep the weight as low as possible
  • at ø 2m – division into quarters with invisible connection

Thanks to perfect cooperation with CNC model making, ACCENTFORM was able to start preparing the 1m models of the northern and southern hemispheres for mold making after just four days. After another four days, the last models for the 2-m sphere were machined, which had to be built up much more complex with its inner as well as outer shell.


Bionische Kugel ø 1 m

For the small sphere, an adhesive resin was used after the first layers of laminate in order to achieve a wall thickness of approx. 15mm after sealing with further layers of laminate. After curing, the halves were demolded and handed over to the grinder, which brought the individual cutouts to size. After joining and fine-tuning the northern and southern hemispheres, the leveling work and painting preparations began. Thus, already on the eighth day, the first 1 m spheres could be painted in the exciting color palette of the company.

Kugel ø 2 m

For the large spheres, the approach was somewhat more complex: After completion of a total of four production molds (north-south hemisphere / inner-outer shell), the individual shells were laminated as usual. After a complex mold construction, the hemispheres were cut in half again to meet the requirement of an easily transportable quarter division. Another requirement was to “hide” the joints as well as possible and, in addition, to make them tradable worldwide. Here, ACCENTFORM engineers developed a simple and easy-to-use connection that allows the individual parts to be fixed or released in a concealed manner using a special tool and a simple handle. The final paint job in the bright corporate colors brought the Merkroben to life.

Die Produktion in Bildern:

Conclusion:
Despite a tight schedule and certain challenges, the ACCENTFORM team was able to master this special order very well. The 24 globes are on the road as eye-catchers at various events around the world.

bionik-kugeln

Spheres for the cityquartier domaquarée

kugeln-cad-zeichnung

As a business and leisure location, the DomAquarée brings people from different areas together. Whether art, music or business – with a variety of activities, the DomAquarée presents itself as a place where people like to be surprised and entertained in an extraordinary way. At its prominent location between the Brandenburg Gate and
Alexanderplatz, the DomAquarée CityQuartier has developed into a center for IT, creative industries and new media. Quality of work, quality of life and quality of living are inseparable here.

The sought-after office and residential location has exclusive spaces and light, wide passages that provide first-class access to the various areas of the building. As part of the interior design in the entrance area of the new building, ACCENTFORM manufactured an ensemble of 57 spheres in sizes ranging from Ø 600mm to Ø 1500 mm on behalf of two Berlin garden and landscape architecture firms.

The spheres were manufactured in a wall thickness of approx. 4mm in hand laminate and then painted in structurally coordinated shades of green-blue and pearl-beige. Some of the components could stand on their own due to a base plate, others were screwed to a metal stand. Some spheres were ordered with central openings in the top, which would serve as plant troughs.en.

After completion, ACCENTFORM delivered the spheres to Berlin and, with its assemblers, took over the professional assembly on metal stands on site. The new ensemble of spheres with its well-coordinated proportions and colors welcomes residents, office workers and visitors with an ambience of positive energy and is an original, effective enhancement of the interior.

Fibreglass Boulders

Project: Five-Star Hotel Kameha Grand  blumenmuster-11-bl


For the atrium of the new hotel building and for the traffic circle in Bonn, ACCENTform produced, supplied and coated 14 different sized fibreglass boulders of 1000 mm (3.3 ft), 1500 mm (5 ft) and 2500 mm (8.2 ft) in diameter. The fibreglass boulders have polystyrene – rigid foam core that, due to the fibreglass 5 mm (0.2 in) thick coating, is weather resistant.

The designer Marcel Wanders (moooi) from Amsterdam, developed the exclusive design of fibreglass boulders. They were carried out, according to for the Five-Star Hotel Kameha Grand typical flower design.

 

Fibreglass Christmas Balls

Christmas Ornaments for the Friedrichstadt-Palast

Elegant Design for the Festival!

With ACCENTform, the Christmas fairytale came true: Just in time for the Christmas Season, we were commissioned to build spectacular oversized Christmas ornaments for the Friedrichstadt-Palast in Berlin ​​. These ornaments in their spherical shape were from 1.25 m (4 feet) to 1.95 m (6 feet) in diameter and had a wall thickness of less than 5 mm (almost ¼ inch).Finished with a striking, clear varnish coat, the Christmas ornaments shone in silver, gold, and violet and were a feast for the eyes, and also warmed the hearts of Berlin’s visitors.  Guests of the Friedrichstadt-Palast experienced a fascinating Christmas spectacle: From the perfect Revue to the impressive decoration, it was a “well-rounded” event!