Only one example, the development site in Takatsuki (p. 178), is situated in an urban context. But modern computer technology requires highly qualified, creative staff, and such people prefer more and more to live in attractive cities. With the Future Urban Industries project, therefore, the team of scientists about Martin Schössler is suggesting linking industrial concerns more closely again with the creative potential of urban society. Even with new greenfield developments, though, communication is decisive, and today, many concerns are uniting their scattered departments in a single location. Attractive outdoor areas foster informal exchanges, as in the hydraulic works in Kaufbeuren (p. 173) and the Bobst plant near Lausanne (p. 183). The mechatronics specialists in Igersheim conceived their central hall as a “marketplace” of ideas with visual links to different departments (p. 190). In the production of monitors, the efficient use of floor area is more important than the flexibility of large structural spans. In Bubikon, therefore, by using a tight grid, it was possible to stack the heavy-load floor vertically (p. 186).
An important aspect of all eight projects is the relationship of the building skin to the particular range of products. The banded precast concrete facade in Udine suggests a curtain system (p. 188), while the sculptural form of the concrete roof in Saint-Emilion possesses the seductive curves of a wine glass (p. 180). In contrast, the hall of a woodworking concern in the Allgäu simply seeks to be an efficient, sustainable and flexible container offering a view of the landscape (p. 176).
