Architecture and the S-Printing Horse
The Building
The Print Media Academy is an impressive building in the heart of Heidelberg. This 50-meter-high glass cube is not only beautiful, but also chock full of metaphors and symbols alluding to printing processes and the history of printing
The moment you enter the building, you grasp its credo: thinking requires space. From the lobby, you can look all the way up to the 11th floor. There is room for legs to stretch and ideas to grow. The two towers containing meeting rooms clearly represent the cylinders found in printing presses. And in the basement, a dome-shaped red auditorium rests in a pool of water, depicting the two most important elements in offset printing: ink and water.
The building was constructed between March 1998 and March 2000. It is square, measuring 37 meters on each side, and 50 meters high. The façade has a double-shell construction, and it is possible to walk through the space between the shells.
The following elements can be seen from the outside through the transparent façade: the two "cylinder towers" holding seminar rooms, the auditorium surrounded by a pool of water, four glass elevators, escalators and the angular shapes of the office floors.
Architects:
Hensel-Bechtloff-Partner, Hamburg;
H.J. Schröder, Architect BDA/Partner H.P. Stichs, Heidelberg
S-Printing Horse
In stark contrast to the building's geometrical shapes, the "S-Printing Horse" in the open area in front of the Print Media Academy makes a playful impression. Measuring 13 meters in height, 15 meters in length and four meters in width and weighing 90 metric tons, it is one of the world's largest horse sculptures.
The horse consists of stainless steel elements that represent parts of a printing press and the printing process. For example, the holes in the neck allude to the holes drilled in the side panels of a press to receive the bearings for the cylinders. The rotating elements on the horse's flanks symbolize the rotation that is characteristic of the print process. The process chain is completed by the tail of the "S-Printing Horse", which consists of an abstract book that is alternately illuminated at night in the three process colors: cyan, magenta and yellow. Finally, the book is read by a stylized face.
The sculpture also symbolizes the symbiotic relationship between thinking and printing: its allusions to Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology that all poets ride, are impossible to overlook. To this day, a winged horse stands for flights of poetic imagination. But inspiration alone isn't enough for poets; they also have to publicize their thoughts. The invention of letterpress printing by Gutenberg enabled this on a large scale for the first time.
Created: 1998 - 2000
Measurements: 13 meters high, 15 meters long, four meters wide, 90 metric tons
Artist: Jürgen Goertz
Contact
Online Reservation
Tel.: +49 (0)6221 92 66 66
Fax: +49 (0)6221 92 46 29
E-mail: pma-location@heidelberg.com
The Print Media Academy is an impressive building in the heart of Heidelberg. This 50-meter-high glass cube is not only beautiful, but also chock full of metaphors and symbols alluding to printing processes and the history of printing
The moment you enter the building, you grasp its credo: thinking requires space. From the lobby, you can look all the way up to the 11th floor. There is room for legs to stretch and ideas to grow. The two towers containing meeting rooms clearly represent the cylinders found in printing presses. And in the basement, a dome-shaped red auditorium rests in a pool of water, depicting the two most important elements in offset printing: ink and water.
The building was constructed between March 1998 and March 2000. It is square, measuring 37 meters on each side, and 50 meters high. The façade has a double-shell construction, and it is possible to walk through the space between the shells.
The following elements can be seen from the outside through the transparent façade: the two "cylinder towers" holding seminar rooms, the auditorium surrounded by a pool of water, four glass elevators, escalators and the angular shapes of the office floors.
Architects:
Hensel-Bechtloff-Partner, Hamburg;
H.J. Schröder, Architect BDA/Partner H.P. Stichs, Heidelberg
S-Printing Horse
In stark contrast to the building's geometrical shapes, the "S-Printing Horse" in the open area in front of the Print Media Academy makes a playful impression. Measuring 13 meters in height, 15 meters in length and four meters in width and weighing 90 metric tons, it is one of the world's largest horse sculptures.
The horse consists of stainless steel elements that represent parts of a printing press and the printing process. For example, the holes in the neck allude to the holes drilled in the side panels of a press to receive the bearings for the cylinders. The rotating elements on the horse's flanks symbolize the rotation that is characteristic of the print process. The process chain is completed by the tail of the "S-Printing Horse", which consists of an abstract book that is alternately illuminated at night in the three process colors: cyan, magenta and yellow. Finally, the book is read by a stylized face.
The sculpture also symbolizes the symbiotic relationship between thinking and printing: its allusions to Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology that all poets ride, are impossible to overlook. To this day, a winged horse stands for flights of poetic imagination. But inspiration alone isn't enough for poets; they also have to publicize their thoughts. The invention of letterpress printing by Gutenberg enabled this on a large scale for the first time.
Created: 1998 - 2000
Measurements: 13 meters high, 15 meters long, four meters wide, 90 metric tons
Artist: Jürgen Goertz
Contact
Online Reservation
Tel.: +49 (0)6221 92 66 66
Fax: +49 (0)6221 92 46 29
E-mail: pma-location@heidelberg.com
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