Frozen music: Busch-Jaeger

It’s fair to say that successful architecture usually has some kind of sculptural quality, one that makes it appear dynamic and full of movement despite its static anchoring. The best building designs appear different and extraordinary when viewed from a particular angle – just think of the Ronchamp Chapel, the Sydney Opera House or the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

This phenomenon is best documented through the medium of film. Quiet, careful tracking shots are the ideal means of showing different perspectives and capturing the movement of a building, the dialogue of forms and materials. This is precisely the aim of a new film series that Busch-Jaeger has recently launched.

The Lüdenscheid-based company sees itself as a reliable partner for architects and has long been committed to building automation in so many of its aspects. Busch-Jaeger was founded in 1926, but its roots go back as far as 1879. The new film series, however, is entirely dedicated to contemporary architecture – hardly conceivable without the use of intelligent control systems.

The title of the series, Frozen Music, illustrates the compositional nature of architectural designs. The first episode takes us to Düsseldorf, where the new headquarters of L'Oréal Germany, designed by local firm HPP Architekten, is presented. Situated not far from the Rhine, the office building reflects L'Oréal's values – transparency, sustainability and innovation – both inside and out.

For the headquarters, the architects chose the future linear switch range from Busch-Jaeger. The design and technical sophistication of the range and its cradle-to-cradle certification were key factors in this decision. The KNX building system technology installed here, which is used to control light and shade, also comes from Busch-Jaeger.

The second instalment of the film series, which focuses on outstanding architectural projects in Germany, Austria and Holland, will go online in mid-December. What has already been revealed is that it will include seven new villas in Frankfurt, which Daniel Libeskind and his team have designed – an ensemble that Libeskind himself describes as a ‘composition’…

The Frozen Music film project stretches even further afield, however. After all, Busch-Jaeger is a part of the ABB group, whose website already features seven very different, architecturally relevant buildings from all over the world. In the films, Katrin Förster, International Key Account Manager for Architects and Interior Designers at ABB/Busch-Jaeger, presents the buildings and their creators.

The third episode of Frozen Music on the ABB website features a successful symbiosis of old and new, as we are shown how Estonian architectural firm Koko Architects transformed the Maritime Museum in Tallinn into a modern exhibition complex based on a medieval fortification.

ABB supported the architects in implementing all aspects of the museum's climatic and lighting automation. And as with all building forms, the ABB-KNX system technology used here also makes a significant contribution to reducing energy consumption.

‘By using our technologies, architects can better meet today's demands for environmentally friendly building design. Functions and processes in the building are optimised and at the same time, safety and comfort for the users and residents of these buildings are increased,’ says Förster.

Another important factor that speaks for choosing automation systems from Busch-Jaeger or ABB, is the simplification of control through clear design. Both the unit-housing itself as well as the respective interfaces follow the principle of reducing things to their essentials – creating intelligent systems that are designed for human dimensions.

There is no doubt that aspects such as sustainability, comfort and safety have global relevance today. Therefore, further documentaries on architectural designs in Russia, Vietnam, India or Chile show how building services engineering can help to reduce carbon footprints.

If you don't want to miss any future episodes of Frozen Music, all you have to do is subscribe to the newsletter on the Frozen Music landing pages of Busch-Jaeger and ABB. At a time when we all have to limit our movements more than we would ordinarily like to, digital journeys to distant countries and visits to exciting architectural projects are a really welcome invitation. So, what are you waiting for?

© Architonic