Munich, 9. July 2010 - A city balancing a variety of requirements was the theme of the german contribution to EXPO 2010. The office Schmidhuber + Kaindl was able to find the balance between planning and implementation using Allplan software from Nemetschek.
"balancity" is the name and the theme of the German pavilion in Shanghai. The message: "A city is a good place to live if it strikes a balance between renewal and preservation, innovation and tradition, urbanity and nature, community and individual development, and work and leisure."
Architecture office Schmidhuber + Kaindl was able to achieve this balance with a pavilion made of four exhibition elements exploiting the interplay between carrying and being carried, leaning on and being supported. The key visual element is a conical structure, housing an "energy center". By shouting together, visitors can cause a 1000 kilogram ball to swing - a symbol that people can get things moving by working together, and the highlight of the exhibition.
2D planning as the common denominator - 3D as an enhancement
When planning "balancity", Schmidhuber + Kaindl used the Allplan planning software from Nemtschek Allplan. It was used for all 2D planning, i.e. the creation of plan layouts, sections, views and detailed planning. Even though the 2D plans were the common denominator for all communication with partners, 3D also played an important role: via an interface to the Rhinoceros modeling tool, data was transferred from the 3D model for steel construction, building services, interior work and the outer membrane to 2D plans. The 2D plans were assigned the 3D coordinates for height details - which was an extremely valuable aid for the trades.
Optimum information exchange thanks to standard formats
Allplan has proved particularly valuable for information exchange with other parties involved in the building process: "The interdisciplinary coordination e.g. with structural engineers or building service providers worked very well with the exchange formats DWG and PDF," states Lennart Wiechell, project manager and one of the general managers of Schmidhuber + Partner. "Even components such as the solar facade, the individual panels of which have to be recorded to the exact millimeter, could be achieved with ease."
As in earlier projects, the architecture office once again benefited from the software's team functionality when designing the German pavilion: in the peak phases of the projects, up to 12 employees worked in parallel on different plan sections with the help of the Workgroup Manager.
Positive interim result
"After two months of Expo 2010, we can say that our concept has been a resounding success," says Lennart Wiechell. "The German pavilion is one of the most well-known structures on the site. It not only shows the variety of life in German cities and the countryside, its architecture is also able to communicate interculturality. It's an enormous pleasure for us to see how well visitors have received it."
Project participants
The pavilion client is the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, which commissioned Koelnmesse International to coordinate the preparations and running of the German pavilion. The Deutscher Pavillon EXPO 2010 Shanghai consortium (ARGE) is the general contractor for the planning and construction of balancity. Schmidhuber + Kaindl from Munich is responsible for the architecture of the pavilion and its general planning. Milla und Partner from Stuttgart is responsible for organizing the exhibition and media. NÜSSLI (Germany) from Roth, near Nuremberg, is responsible for project management and construction work.
About Nemetschek Allplan
Nemetschek Allplan GmbH, with headquarters in Munich, is a leading European vendor of software for the design and management of buildings. As a one-hundred percent subsidiary of Nemetschek AG, the company develops intelligent IT solutions for architects, engineers, building contractors and facility managers. The flagship product, Allplan, optimizes the entire creation process for buildings with regard to quality, costs and time and is used by more than 60,000 customers in 16 languages. Allplan covers all levels of a modern CAD system: from simple 2D drafting and 3D design to object-oriented building modeling with cost determination and quantity takeoff. Additional information is available at www.allplan.com
NEMETSCHEK Allplan GmbH
Maisberger GmbH, Isabelle Lissel-Erhard
Kirchenstraße 15
81675 München
Tel. +49 (0)89 / 41 95 99 61
Fax +49 089 92793-5308
nemetschek@maisberger.com