Woodbox

WOODDAYS are “best practice events” devoted to the theme of timber construction for greener, expanding cities. The core element of the “road-show” is a mobile exhibition box measuring 3 x 3 x 12 metres. The first stops on this tour initiated by proHolz Austria and planned to extend over a period of several years are Bratislava, Ljubljana and Milan, where a start was made on 21 March 2014. In terms of content the exhibition aims to present the evident potential of timber construction; in terms of communication it addresses the material’s thematic presence in urban space, its direct appeal and how it is encountered ; in design terms the focus is on eliminating the folksy quality, on the material’s haptic quality and elegance, while in terms of function the show concentrates on mobility and autarchy (through the photovoltaic supply of energy). On one side wall of the interior pioneering developments in the field of timber building are shown. Vertical text bars and illuminated panels showing examples of projects are inserted rhythmically in the timber structure. The wall opposite communicates the ecological arguments for forests and wood. This is done by means of eye-catching graffiti with in-depth messages that relate to the pictograms on the external facades. The entrance and exit at the ends of the box contain introductory texts, labels and display windows featuring attractive exhibits. The starting point for this action was the exciting exhibition “Bauen mit Holz” in the Pinakothek der Moderne. It was initiated and curated by Hermann Kaufmann, TU München and designed in collaboration with Atelier Gassner. The innovative German timber building expert Alexander Gumpp, gumpp&maier, working in collaboration with the department of timber construction at the TU Munich, was responsible for condensing the large exhibition for this small mobile exhibition box. This show is the predecessor of the WOODBOX and was awarded the Gold Medal for Exhibition Design in the European Design Awards 2013. The new box is optimized in terms of content and design and equipped for different languages. The event label created by Andrea Gassner is a further development of the trademark created in 2005 by Stefan Gassner for “european wood”. The striking façade logo on the outside wall is made by incisions in the black wooden cladding of the box, accentuated by a restrained use of colour. The line grid produced as a result is continued graphically in various marketing communication applications. Poster subjects with “forests of battens” and folders with bar charts are created.