A ‘marmite’ building explained

The brief was simple - find an engaging way to get GEZE's sales team in front of a large number of architects in London for a networking opportunity and means of communicating the 150th anniversary of the business.

Knowing how much architects like to hear their contemporaries speak and also debate controversial buildings, we recommended a speaker event and suggested German-based Korean architect Eun Young Yi, who subsequently agreed to travel to the UK and speak about his signature building, the new Stuttgart Library - which happens to have GEZE UK product used throughout.

The building is a monolithic cube with two floors underground and nine above. Essentially all of the building, both inside and out is white. The main library floors circle an open-plan with the levels connected by open staircases. It is a pantheon at the heart of a concentric plan, crowned by an inverted ziggurat reading room, iced with rotating photovoltaic roof panels and encased in a seamless nine-by-nine grid that emits blue light at night.

Often hailed as the most modern library in Europe, the building continues to be a source of debate within the architectural community.

We devised the initial speaker event concept and approached Eun Young Yi, as well as promoting and filming the event on the day.

Nearly 200 architects attended and had the chance to hear Eun Young Yi explain his architectural philosophy, see his work, pose questions directly to him as well as pick up some valuable CPD points at the event at St Katherine’s Dock.