Architects from Germany and across Europe meet at contractworld in Hannover
Date: 17. - 20. January 2009
Venue: Hannover
Europe's leading architectural forum "contractworld" will be taking
place again in Hannover from Saturday, 17 January to Tuesday, 20 January. This
unique opportunity for architects, interior designers and project managers to
meet and exchange expertise takes place within the context of the unrivalled
DOMOTEX HANNOVER 2009. The combination of a top-notch congress, exhibition and
the presentation of an esteemed architectural prize never fails to earn the
praise of trade visitors and professionals. contractworld, which offers a mix of
architecture and product information, with many opportunities for making new
contacts and exchanging ideas, comprises the following:
- contractworld.congress: Lectures and seminars on the keynote topics Offices,
Hotels, Shops and Conversion projects
- contractworld.exhibition: Manufacturers present innovative products from the
floor coverings sector and contracting business
- contractworld.award: International Architectural Prize for Innovative Interior
Design Concepts
contractworld.congress
At contractworld.congress some of the best-known and most highly regarded
architects and designers of our time will be talking about the latest
developments and trends in designing Offices, Hotels and Shops. In addition to
these three standard categories, the Congress boasts a fourth topical category,
which alternates from year to year. This year's topical category is Change of
use/Conversion, which focuses on the transformation of existing buildings on the
basis of new concepts or fundamental reconstruction work.
Next year, contractworld will again confirm its reputation as the leading
platform for knowledge transfer and networking. Every day there will be four
lectures on the keynote themes of the event from well-known architects. For the
first time experts from other fields have also been invited to speak so that
they can offer their views. Lectures by occupational psychologists,
communication experts and hoteliers will give professional people who are not
architects the opportunity to say what they think should be required of modern
architecture. Talks chaired by professionals and panel discussions will also
provide ample opportunity for dialogue and debate between trade visitors and
speakers.
The topics of the 2009 contractworld.congress are:
Saturday, 17 January 2009:
Offices: The office and work environment in corporate branding
Sunday, 18 January 2009:
Hotels: Hotel strategies and architectural tourism - the Hotel as a cultural
statement in town and in the country
Monday, 19 January 2009:
Shops: Consumer worlds - Interior design and the creation of settings for
consumer products
Tuesday, 20 January 2009:
Change of use / Conversion: New buildings within old walls
The list of illustrious speakers includes Prof. Meinhard von Gerkan of gmp
Architekten, Hamburg, an office of architects perhaps best known for their
design of the Berlin central railway station and numerous urban development
projects and studies in and outside Germany. Another speaker at contractworld
will be Kim Herforth Nielsen from Architekturbüro 3XN, Copenhagen, a winner of
various architectural prizes and responsible for several renowned projects in
various countries. This Danish office caused quite a stir in Germany with its
concept for the headquarters of Deutsche Bahn AG (German Railways) in Berlin.
Jacob van Rijs from the Netherlands and Mario Botta of Mario Botta Architekts,
Switzerland, are also among the top professionals addressing the Congress.
Some exciting conversion projects will be presented in this new Congress
category on the Tuesday of the event. One of the most interesting is a project
that will be occupying students of architecture from Lower Saxony over the
coming months. Their brief is to develop concepts for the conversion of a
building in Hannover. The results of this academic project will be presented at
contractworld and discussed with experts.
contractworld.award
Another highlight of contractworld will be the presentation of the
contractworld.award, Europe's most important architectural award for interior
design. Valued at a total of 60,000 euros, it is the most lucrative prize of its
kind in Europe. The winners have already been selected out of a total of 570
projects by a panel of expert judges. 293 projects came from outside Germany (from
36 countries, including Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Belgium, the USA, Japan and South Korea). The final order of
the winning entries will be announced on 17 January 2009 during contractworld at
the award presentation in Hall 4. Numerous renowned architectural and design
offices have submitted their projects, so it is not surprising that the standard
of the entries is again very high. In view of the exceptional quality of the
projects entered for the competition, the judges have decided to repeat last
year's practice and not only name the prize-winning entries and the winners of
the special awards, but also to shortlist the best in each category.
contractworld.exhibition
At the Exhibition numerous international companies will be showcasing their
latest products, materials and trend-setting ideas for contracting and
commercial projects. Thus visitors can not only discover a large array of
quality floor coverings and products for contracting projects, but also have
excellent opportunities for making new contacts with leading companies.
Further information and the complete program of contractworld can be found at:
http://www.contractworld.com/ .
german version 