Gruber + Kleine-Kraneburg: MainForum - best architects 07

Gruber + Kleine-Kraneburg

MainForum

best architects 07

office/administrative buildings

Place

Main

Photos

Stefan Müller

Description

The architectonic theme of the MainForum is follows the idea to smoothly incorporate the “high house” into the urban context. The ideal of a European city with its urban structure of interlinked streets and places serving the needs of its population, served as model for the concept of the architectonic design. The philosophy of the project builds on the idea of making the “human scale” the paramount factor of the design. The arrangement of the building masses (the high-rise being ‘set’ in a ‘ring’ of lower buildings) made it possible to create the outer ‘Forum’ and the inner ‘Atrium’ as the most important spaces. The Forum is an essential instrument of the trade union’s public relations while the Atrium is oriented to and focuses on the interior functions of the building. In this place, the transition between the horizontal and the vertical can be experienced visually.