Exhibition Halls

Construction and Design Manual Exhibition Halls

Construction and Design Manual Exhibition Halls Clemens F. Kusch With additional contributions by Anabel Gelhaar and Volkwin Marg

Contents

8

I ntroduction A Short History of Exhibition-Centre Architecture Clemens F. Kusch

56

ecently Built Exhibition Centres R Neue Messe Leipzig > 58 Rimini Fiera > 70 Norges Varemesse, Lillestrøm > 80 Neue Bodensee-Messe Friedrichshafen > 88 Bilbao Exhibition Centre > 98 Fiera Milano > 108 Fiera Roma Congressi > 116 Neue Messe Stuttgart > 126

142

ecently Built Exhibition Halls R Hannover Messe, Hall 26 > 144 Hannover Messe, Hall 4 > 148 Hannover Messe, Halls 8 and 9 > 156 Messe DĂźsseldorf, Hall 6 > 166 Feira Internacional de Lisboa (FIL), Lisbon > 176 Messe Frankfurt am Main, Hall 11 and Portalhaus West > 184 Fiera di Genova, Genoa, Hall B > 196

204

edevelopments and Expansions of Existing Exhibition Sites R Messe Berlin > 206 Lingotto Fiere, Turin > 216 PadovaFiere > 226 Messe Wien, Vienna > 234 Feria Valencia > 240 Hamburg Messe > 250 Fira Barcelona > 256

268

ppendix A Exhibition Centres in Comparison > 270 Experiences of Exhibition-Centre Planning.

A debate between Clemens F. Kusch and Volkwin Marg > 274 Ten Design Parameters for Exhibition Centres > 286

Afterword and Acknowledgements > 270 Index > 300 Bibliography > 301

A Short History of Exhibition-Centre Architecture Clemens F. Kusch

“Even today, the history books are interested more in the destinies of kings than of retailers. But from now on, most history will happen elsewhere: in the birth of an individual merchant order, continually breaking with its own ideals, capable of producing more wealth than anyone ever before.”

Jacques Attali, A brief history of the future (2009)

In the past twenty years, nearly all of Europe’s major ex­h ibition centres have been expanded, rebuilt, or constructed in new locations to replace antiquated and inadequate facilities. Significant amounts have been invested in developments that have often brought radical change to entire city districts. During this period, trade fairs have made the transition from shop windows for goods to forums for the exchange of information and contacts.

Part of the reason for this trend is that the internet has increasingly replaced trade fairs as a forum for the display and sale of goods. But although new technology could have eroded the role of such events by partially replacing them, it has done nothing of the kind. On the contrary: the projects described in this book demonstrate that trade fairs have actually grown in importance. This is undoubted­ly a result of globalisation: as businesses become increasingly international in their geographical reach, they need purpose-built venues both to display their wares and share information.

But globalisation is not the only factor that has increased the importance of trade fairs. Even today, it is often essential for potential buyers to touch products and try them out – though some items, such as books, can now be displayed electronically rather than as a physical product that can be held in the hand.

In the past, if people wanted to buy and sell products and cultivate new business contacts, they had to go to a specific physical location. This is no longer the case, but visitors and exhibitors still spend large sums of money and History of Exhibition-Centre Architecture

travel long distances to spend several often tiring days at a trade fair. They do this not so much to see and try out new products as to talk to existing and potential new customers, and share important information about what they are doing. They want to be there because it is an event.

The continued success of trade fairs is a result of the unchanging and fundamental need for contact with one’s peers. This was why fairs and markets grew up in the first place: they provided a venue to meet others, develop personal relationships with them, exchange goods, share thoughts, information and interests, talk face to face and begin the negotiation process. This need has remained unchanged, despite the gradual historic trend away from direct buying and selling to displays of samples and today’s more information-based events.

For all the high-tech forms of communication available to us, there is still no substitute for direct contact, face-toface discussion, and the specific practices and rituals involved in the exchange of products, ideas and information.

Doing business with other individuals is quicker and simpler if we have had the opportunity to meet them, or been introduced by a mutual acquaintance. It also breaks down the relationship barrier, because we distrust the anonym­ ous communication with which we are bombarded on a daily basis.

Trade fair organisers meet this need for personal contact rather than anonymous information by providing pleasant meeting spaces that facilitate and support communi­ cation. They constantly renovate and rebuild exhibition

Helmut Jahn: Messeturm, Frankfurt / Main (1991).

von Gerkan, Marg und Partner: Messe Leipzig (1996).

Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas: Fiera Milano (2005).

centres not just to increase the available space, but to im- 1. The Origins of Trade Fairs prove its quality and provide additional facilities, such as meeting and conference rooms, for even greater ease of The history of fairs runs in parallel with the history of trade. They provide a period of time and a physical space communication.

Cities, too, have recognised the huge economic potential in which to match supply and demand, and have much in of exhibition centres. Visitors and exhibitors spend mon- common with other events such as exhibitions and annual ey on services ranging from stand assembly to transport fairs. They have always been markets, venues for commerand hotels, and large-scale investment by local and re- cial activity, and their precise historical origin cannot be gional authorities, who are usually the main shareholders defined. All of these events serve similar purposes: seein management companies, has sparked significant com- ing, meeting, communicating, and doing business, an expetition between the main trade fair venues. They strive change between those who know about a product or have to consolidate the role of existing fairs, and introduce a surplus of it with those who do not know or have a shortnew ones, often in competition with similar events oc­ age of it. Excess is exchanged with necessity. And unlike the various forms of exchange of which society does not curring elsewhere.

Against this highly competitive background, architecture approve, such as theft and plunder, markets are places of plays an increasingly important role. Exhibition centres peaceful, consensual trade that ultimately benefits everymust offer adequate space, infrastructure and stand- one involved. ards of service, and convey a strong, easily recognisable The modern distinction between markets and trade fairs image. As their significance grows, they have taken their grew up in the Middle Ages, when many European cities place alongside other hallmarks of the cities in which began holding fairs that occurred annually or a few times they are located: churches, office buildings, stations, air- a year, unlike daily or weekly markets. These consisted ports, museums. They are a part of the urban identity. The largely, though not exclusively, of wholesale trade between Messeturm in Frankfurt, the glass hall of Leipzig’s merchants, whereas traditional markets were a place at e­x hibition centre and the “sail” of Fiera Milano have be- which to sell to consumers. For this reason, people came come icons not only of trade fairs, but of whole cities. But to them from much greater distances. despite their economic role, and their status as symbols The English word “fair”, and its Italian, French and Spanish of urban pride and identity, they are still primarily places counterparts fiera, foire and fería, have connotations of festivals and celebration. The German Messe was origin­ for people to meet and exchange information. ally a religious event, derived from the Latin missa, at 8 9

A market in the Champagne region, with (inset) a picture of Cosimo de’ Medici, known as Il Vecchio, in around 1300.

Colour lithographs, 1907. Collector’s card distributed by Liebig’s Meat Extract, number 1 in the Famous Merchants series.

which products were sold that were not available at normal markets. Churches were sometimes used as secure warehouses, and local rulers provided protection for the events and special privileges to the monasteries and other religious communities that organised them.

This connection with the church was very important because it conferred a degree of legitimacy on commercial activity. Merchants, previously looked down upon by the clergy, acquired new status during the Middle Ages, and fairs began with church service at which the rules of the event and the penalties for infringements were read out.

Fairs were also exempted by decree from many of the usual tolls and restrictions. There were also strict rules of conduct and safety provisions: in German-speaking countries, the Messefrieden required that order be maintained while a fair was taking place, and other rules governed the sale of goods and ensured that merchants received safe passage. Fairs had their own supervisors and judges who were authorised to intervene in disputes concerning weights and measures or product quality, and to punish dishonest traders and confiscate their wares.

Apart from buying and selling, fairs of this kind also had a much more worldly component, serving as a venue for all kinds of exotic attractions and other entertainment. They became an important part of city life, attracting large numbers of people. In Paris, for example, the plays staged at the city’s annual fairs were referred to collectively as “Théâtre de la foire”, and later resulted in the creation of permanent theatres.

History of Exhibition-Centre Architecture

In the Middle Ages, as today, a fair’s success was largely measured by the number of exhibitors and visitors it brought in. It was therefore important that it be easily accessible. Traditional weekly markets were primarily local events, so there was no particular need for rules to ensure that visitors and exhibitors arrived safely, but the goods on display at annual fairs often came from distant lands, with merchants embarking on long, arduous journeys across Europe to attend. Long-distance travel had previously been largely the preserve of individuals travel­ ling on the instructions of kings and princes, and enjoying royal protection, but visiting a fair was a private endeavour that entailed a degree of risk. Many merchants travelled in convoys, armed with letters of introduction confirming that they were attending a fair and exempting then from tolls, import duties and other taxes when they crossed borders. One important example of this practice is a decree issued by the holy Roman emperor Frederick II in 1240, now in the Frankfurt state archive, providing royal protection to all individuals travelling to and from the Frankfurt trade fair.

Guesthouses were built specially to accommodate visiting merchants, and were also often used to store and display goods. Today’s banking industry has many of its roots in trade fairs. Transporting one’s takings across Europe was a dangerous business, so merchants attending fairs in the Champagne region during the 12th to 14th cen­ turies paid for goods with credit notes or bills of exchange, which could then be redeemed in their home locations

A fair at Guibray, near Falaise, France. A series of low stands divides the fairground into roads and courtyards, each devoted to a specific type of goods (engraving, 1658).

or at the next fair, or exchanged with other merchants. and the east-west connection between the western Holy One predecessor of the mediaeval fair was that of Saint Roman Empire and central France. The Frankfurt trade Denis, founded by the Frankish king Dagobert I in 629. fair, which grew in importance after the decline of the Before this, trading within the walls of Paris had been Champagne events in the early fourteenth century, was banned by decree for one month from 9 October, St Denis’s located in the heart of Europe, at the intersection of major day. Instead, a marketplace was set up along the road from trade routes and on the banks of the River Main, close to its the Abbey of St Denis to Paris, and granted privileges that confluence with the Rhine. Then, as now, these were important transport arteries. The book fair, still Frankfurt’s soon attracted sellers from far and wide.

But the biggest development occurred in the late Middle most important annual event, first took place in 1485 and Ages with the Champagne fairs, held six times a year in was an immediate success. the small towns of Lagny­s ur-Marne, Bar-sur-Aube, Provins Further east, Leipzig profited from its geographical lo­ and Troyes, which reached their peak in the twelfth cen- cation at the intersection of the Via Regia, which linked tury. Champagne, a historic region in the northeast of the Rhineland with Eastern Europe, and the Via Imperii, what is now France, enjoyed a central position on main connecting the North Sea with Italy. As a result, it betrading routes and was independent both from France came an important venue for fairs, which are first menand Germany. Local regents administered the system of tioned in 1190, and in 1497 Emperor Maximilian I granted commercial tolls and trading restrictions, and granted Leipzig’s fairs imperial status, preventing similar events special conditions and privileges to maximise the number from being held nearby. of visitors and traders. These important events brought A number of fairs were also held in mediaeval Italy. Many merchants from most adjoining countries and a number towns, particularly on the plain of the River Po, organof Italian cities, earning significant income for the small ised them regularly, though their importance was largely regional, attracting fewer visitors than those in northern fiefdoms of Champagne.

As fairs increased in number and grew ever more com­ Europe. However, trading with the orient was controlled petitive, geographical location became an increasingly by the Venetians, who brooked no competition. important factor in their growth and success of fairs. The Early mediaeval fairs had no fixed premises: instead, temmap of mediaeval fair locations shows that the largest porary stands were normally erected on the edge of a town or in the countryside and taken down afterwards. Some concentration was in central regions of Europe.

Those in Champagne, for example, were at the crossroads towns had market areas with semi-permanent structures between the main route from Holland to southern Italy, for displaying goods, a practice still common today.

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The market square in Kraków, the easternmost trading city on the Via Regia during the Middle Ages.

The Sukiennice (cloth hall) in Kraków, rebuilt in 1875 – 1 878 to a design by the architect Tomasz Pryli´n ski with neo-Gothic arcades being added to the long sides.

History of Exhibition-Centre Architecture

Aleksander Gryglewski: The Kraków cloth hall from outside the Tomasz Pryli´n ski restaurant (1869).

The Altes Rathaus (old city hall) on Marktplatz (market square) in Leipzig.

Leipzig: Marktplatz (market square) during a fair, c. 1800 (bpk).

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History of Exhibition-Centre Architecture

The Nizhny Novgorod Exhibition Centre The Nizhny Novgorod exhibition centre occupies a special position in the history of exhibition-centre architecture because it was built at such an early stage and on such a grand scale, with a frame structure that was well ahead of its time. It was constructed in 1758 by the engineer Agustín de Betancourt, who was born on the island of Tenerife. He worked in Russia from 1810 onwards, having earned a distinguished reputation in Spain and France for his wide range of designs.

In 1817, Betancourt visited the Nizhny Novgorod site to which the Makaryev trade fair, dating back to the Middle Ages, was to be transferred after the previous location was destroyed by fire. He proposed an expansive layout that can be seen as a forerunner of later designs for trade exhibitions and world’s fairs, creating an artificial peninsula by diverting a tributary of the Oka River. On this strictly symmetrical site, the various exhibition halls are arranged parallel to a central axis. A bridge across a side channel led to a large courtyard dominated by the monumental entrance building. Through this, visitors entered the exhibition site from the side, where a large number of halls of the same size were connected by a regular grid of avenues. The central axis ended at the cathedral. Betancourt was responsible for the overall site and the engineering, while the French architect Auguste de Montferrand designed the individual buildings, including the main structure, which still exists today.

The Pan-Russian Exhibition of Industry and Art was held in 1896 on the site and an adjoining area of land. It was the largest prerevolutionary exhibition of its kind in Russia, with almost seventy exhibition buildings and pavilions being commissioned and financed by Tsar Nicholas II, and another 120 pavilions built by private companies. Among the large number of innovations on display was the world’s first radio receiver, built by Alexander Popov.

Of the various exhibition buildings, the eight halls by Vladimir Shukhov are particularly worthy of note. The halls, roofed with networks of cables, and the viewing tower were the world’s first single-shell hyperboloid constructions, designed to provide large roof large areas with the minimum number of supports. The tent-like suspended structure in the Nizhny Novgorod halls was supported by only two central pillars, which meant that each hall could have several entrances on each side.

This unusual architecture, consisting purely of structural elements with no ornamentation or reference to historic buildings, was part of a contemporary trend towards purpose-built structures, the first important examples of which were being built at the time.

Left-hand page: Location plan of the Nizhny Novgorod fair (1857).

Nizhny Novgorod: The harbour on the River Oka, wood engraving (1877).

Alexander von Hohen, G. Trambitsky, Karl Treiman: The main exhibition building at the Nizhny Novgorod fair (1890), postcard, c. 1910.

The world’s first membrane roof, on the steel rotunda of the Nizhny Novgorod fairground. It was designed by Vladimir G. Shukhov and completed in 1895.

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The St-Germain fair, Paris (copper engraving, 17th century).

A 1658 engraving of the fair at Guibray, near Falaise in trading and accommodation throughout the year, but benorthern France, (page 11) shows what an early event of came much busier whenever a fair took place, and additional this kind would have looked like. A large area of streets tempor­a ry display structures were erected in the streets. and courtyards are lined with stands, with each area The Zeughaus, a warehouse whose first floor was used for devoted to a particular type of product. There are also trading in cloth and woollen goods, was built in 1498. The performance venues and food stalls for exhibitors. This whole building later became known as the Gewandhaus, was probably a halfway point between temporary build- or garment house, and gave its name to the now worldings erected for the duration of the fair, and the permanent famous orchestra based there from 1781 to 1884. The cloth hall (sukiennice) on the market square in Kraków dated structures that began to be built shortly afterwards.

As some cities began to consolidate their role as fair ven- from about the same period, and looked similar to the ues, there was a growing need for permanent buildings Gewandhaus. It is still used for trading today. with their own specific architecture. In Paris, the Saint- In tsarist Russia, the village of Makaryev was home to Germain fair, first mentioned in 1176, was held regularly one of the country’s most important retail markets. This near the monastery of the same name outside the city walls. was replaced by the fair in Nizhny Novgorod, where a spaA seventeenth-century engraving shows that a whole cious fairground designed by the engineer Agustín de district is devoted to the event, with a network of street Betancourt grew up from 1817 onwards. The project inmarkets spanning twenty blocks, each consisting of two- cluded an artificial peninsula and monumental exhibition storey buildings with inner courtyards, and various areas buildings overlooking the Oka River, two administration devoted to specific categories of product. The whole area buildings, eight market halls, and 48 pavilions along a is enclosed by a linear structure with a small number of central axis. This ambitious project was a forerunner of entrances, clearly not a temporary structure that was taken later world’s fairs and large-scale exhibition centres. down after the event, but rather a site for year-round com- In the nineteenth century, traditional fairs gradually lost their importance as a place for buying and selling goods. merce that came to a peak during the fair itself.

As well as devoting specific areas to fairs from the Middle As transport and communications technology improved Ages onwards, some cities devoted specific buildings or and mass production became more widespread, they were parts of buildings to this purpose. These served as meet- instead used to advertise inventions, innovations, protoing places for merchants throughout the year, and were types, patterns, models and similar items. This was also also used as inns when fairs were held. In Leipzig, for the era of the highly successful world’s fairs, the first of example, multipurpose buildings were used for storage, which was held in London in 1851.

History of Exhibition-Centre Architecture

The Crystal Palace, London (contemporary colour print by George Baxter, 1851).

2. World’s Fairs From the mid-19th century onwards, world’s fairs became the most important showcase for art, crafts and manu­ factured products. Traditional fairs were eclipsed by these events: instead of buying, selling and exchanging goods, the goods themselves became objects of admiration. The huge success of world’s fairs not only helped to drive economic and technological change, but also significantly affected the architecture and engineering of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Large numbers of exhibition buildings, varying greatly in size, style and construction technology, were erected for these events, which were held at irregular intervals. They were a form of experimentation: spacious sites built using innovative techniques, and often reinterpreting the styles of historical eras or distant lands.

The buildings used for ordinary trade exhibitions and world’s fairs need to meet very similar structural requirements, with large f loor areas and the minimum of roof supports so that stands can be laid out f lexibly and visitors and exhibitors have the access and services they need.

The main difference between the architecture of world’s fairs and that of modern exhibition centres is the former tends to have a short lifespan, as the events take place at irregular intervals and in different locations. The buildings used for world’s fairs placed the emphasis on grandeur, since they had to be as impressive as the innovations displayed inside. They were expressions of

particular periods, styles, or national identities, and in most cases could not be reused or repurposed after the exhibition. They were designed for demolition, so they had to meet different functional and structural requirements than buildings designed for long-term use that had to keep pace with changing needs.

However, the great architectural experimentation of the world’s fairs made a major contribution to the development of modern trade-fair architecture. In some cases, such as Milan, Brussels, Vienna and Barcelona, the buildings were converted into exhibition sites, and some were preserved.

In the mid-nineteenth century, and in the absence of other effective forms of communication, world’s fairs were the main shop window for the latest technological and artistic developments: steam engines, electric light, factory machinery, lifts, photography, modern art. Many of the discoveries and innovations they displayed changed modern life forever; others were forgotten, or never got past the novelty stage.

People went to world’s fairs to satisfy their curiosity, discover new things, seek inspiration for new products of their own, or simply copy what others were already making. The main purpose of traditional fairs was a commercial one, and direct and indirect exchanges of information played a secondary role, but at world’s fairs this latter function moved into the foreground. They were a major driver of technological and artistic process, ensuring that innovations spread quickly and playing an important part 16 17

Joseph Paxton: The Crystal Palace (1851).

The Crystal Palace being assembled from prefabricated components (1850).

Opposite: World’s fairs 1 London, 1851 (Crystal Palace) 2 Paris, 1855 (Palais de l’Industrie) 3 Vienna, 1873 (Rotunda) 4 Chicago, 1893 (US pavilion)

in changing consumer behaviour. Competition between assemble and, because it needed to be as lightweight and the participating countries became a major force in indus- inexpensive as possible, used the minimum of ornamentrial development, and ensured that people were rapidly tation. It became the benchmark for all subsequent ex­ made aware of new artistic trends and fashions. The need hibition buildings, and exerted a major influence on nineto keep coming up with new products to impress visitors, teenth-century architecture. and publicise the creativity of particular companies or Compared to this, the subsequent exhibitions, held in Paris in 1855 and London in 1862, were far less inf luential. countries, created a highly competitive environment.

A great deal has been written about the history of world’s The organisers competed to build the biggest structure: the fairs. This particular book focuses mainly on buildings huge Palais de l’Industrie in Paris, and a 125,000-squarethat have exerted a lasting inf luence on the design and metre exhibition hall with two large metal domes in construction of modern exhibition centres. The architec- London. In contrast to the simple, functional architecture ture of early world’s fairs is of particular interest: the most of the Crystal Palace, there was a return to more tradition­ prominent example was the Crystal Palace, built for the al designs and historic styles of architecture, and the large first such event, the Great Exhibition, held in London’s metal structures required to cover such huge spans were combined with neoclassical stone facades. The intention Hyde Park in 1851.

The building needed to provide as much indoor space as was to reuse these buildings for subsequent exhibitions, possible, with the minimum of roof supports, while pre- but the plans went largely unrealised. They were simply serving the existing trees. The project was entrusted to too huge for any long-term use, and were demolished a Joseph Paxton, an architect who specialised in building few years later. greenhouses. His huge prefabricated iron structure was The Paris exhibition of 1867 marked another turning point. completed in just seventeen weeks, with a 33-metre-high The idea of a central building divided into sections concentral aisle and 75,000 square metres of exhibition space, taining individual small pavilions remained, but instead enough for 17,000 exhibitors from twenty-eight countries. of being classically influenced, simple, functional designs The first Great Exhibition attracted more than six million were used to bring order to an increasingly large number people and successfully paved the way for further events of exhibits.

A large oval building, the Omnibus, was constructed on of this kind.

The most distinctive feature of the Crystal Palace was the Champ de Mars, with a series of enclosed galleries its method of construction, using prefabricated parts providing 150,000 square metres of display space; seeing made from a limited number of materials. It was easy to everything would have required a 74-kilometre walk. It History of Exhibition-Centre Architecture

1

2

3

4 Source: F. A . Brockhaus in Leipzig, Berlin / Vienna 1894 – 1896 (14th ed.)

18 19

The London Great Exhibition in 1862, contemporary engraving.

The opening of the Vienna world’s fair in 1873: woodcut after a drawing

by Vinzenz Katzler (1873).

was designed so that different galleries could be devoted The layout of the exhibition spaces in the main building to specific themes or types of product, and the sections received immediate praise for its ease of access and navicreated by paths radiating outwards from the central gar- gation, and for the fact that it could be expanded on a den each represented a particular country. This made it modular basis. It was still being used as a prototype for easy to compare countries and products. The central gar- European exhibition centres nearly a century later. The den was a place of relaxation, and the park surrounding double comb arrangement, in which individual halls are the main building contained a series of smaller pavilions, placed along a main axis and interspersed with open courtyards, is the most common layout for today’s fairmainly used as restaurants and for smaller exhibitions.

Responses varied: some observers initially doubted grounds, since it allows flexible division into small units whether an exhibition of this size could continue to be ac- and facilitates access and orientation. commodated in a single building and whether the layout The huge self-contained exhibition building still dom­ of the Omnibus was sufficient to accommodate all the dif- inated the Paris world’s fair of 1878. The Champ de Mars, used for the previous three international events, was exferent types of product.

The world’s fair of 1873, held in the Prater in Vienna, had a tended across the Seine to the Place du Trocadéro. single main building and a number of themed pavilions. The A large part of the site between the École Militaire and domed circular central structure was surrounded by a series the Seine was occupied by the 700-metre long, 340-metreof pavilions arranged in a comb pattern along a 900-metre wide Palais des Expositions. This was divided into nine east-west axis. These were allocated to the participating parallel galleries of different heights, with avenues running countries and included courtyards for outdoor exhibitions. through them in both directions. Here, the main analogy There were two secondary entrances, one at either end of with modern exhibition centres lay in the size and underthe east-west axis, and the main entrance led straight to lying geometry of the design. A comparison between the the central rotunda. The northern part of the site housed site plans of the 1878 Paris world’s fair and today’s Fiera more themed pavilions and the great Maschinenhalle, Milano shows that the two sites are almost exactly the 800 metres long with 40,000 square metres of exhibition same size, around one kilometre long and five hundred space. The station, connected to the main building by two metres wide. The composition is also similar: a symmetric covered paths, was centrally located on the north side, arrangement along an axis, serving as the backbone of while storage areas were placed on the east and west sides. the building, and a main avenue along which the various The other areas of the site housed more than 200 more pa- functions are located. Other paths lead off on either side of the axis to the exhibition areas, which are interspersed vilions, smaller structures, and food kiosks.

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History of Exhibition-Centre Architecture

The Champ de Mars was used as the site for world’s fairs in 1867, 1878, 1889, 1900 and 1937. This former parade ground was first used for a national industrial exhibition in 1798.

Left: The Champ de Mars today.

Below: The Omnibus exhibition building.

The construction of the Eiffel Tower for the 1889 Paris world’s fair.

Photograph, 1888.

by wider paths in a larger rectangle; these in turn are supports, and to build more quickly and cost effectively, divided into smaller areas. The site is accessed from both resulted in significant innovation within the engineerends of the central axis and secondary entrances on the ing and metallurgy sectors. This was ref lected in a large number of buildings, including the Maschinenhalle, a long sides.

In subsequent world’s fairs, smaller pavilions devoted to 110-metre column-free metal construction, and more esspecific themes or countries, rather than one large central pecially the Eiffel Tower, both built for the Paris world’s building, became increasingly common. Beginning with fair of 1889. the Paris world’s fair of 1889, celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution, the exhibition 3. Modern European Exhibition Centres and event areas were continually expanded, marking the The resounding success of world’s fairs from the mid-ninefinal move away from a single large exhibition area.

Increasingly, exhibitions took place in individual pavilions, teenth century onwards increasingly pushed traditional each devoted to a company, country or theme, and be- trade fairs into the background. Their longer-term survival came architectural displays in their own right. The build- was not at risk, but their character changed significantly ings were designed mainly to impress, and became more as they moved away from being markets and became first bizarre and eclectic, drawing on a wide variety of styles shop windows and ultimately meetings of minds. and fashions. This trend towards architectural statements The structure of today’s exhibition centres dates back to reached its culmination towards the end of the 1800s, and the turn of the twentieth century. Although most were continued into the mid-twentieth century. It could some- built before then, it was during this period that they times result in extreme contrasts, for example at the 1929 evolved into fixed entities with sites and buildings deworld’s fair in Barcelona. In addition to the monumentally signed for long-term exhibition use. neoclassical Palau Nacional, designed by Enrique Catá The main European centres can be divided into two basic and Pedro Cendoya, and other similar buildings, the site types: those which have evolved over time as a result of also included Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s avant-garde expansion, demolition and reconstruction, and those that are new and purpose built to a master plan. Some of the German pavilion.

As well as leading to the emergence of many different ver- most important have grown up on sites originally used for sions of exhibition buildings, world’s fairs played a major world’s fairs, such as Barcelona, Milan and Vienna, while part in the development of monumental metal structures. others are simple permanent buildings replacing tempoThe need to span increasingly large distances with no rary ones. At first, they were no-frills structures intended 22 23

The Galerie des Machines, Paris. Charles Louis Ferdinand Dutert (architect) and Victor Contamin (engineer), 1889.

Contemporary postcard of the Galerie des Machines (1889).

Right-hand page: Location plan of the 1900 Paris world’s fair, colour print.

History of Exhibition-Centre Architecture

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Recently Built Exhibition Centres

58 70 80 88 98 108 116 126

Neue Messe Leipzig Rimini Fiera Norges Varemesse, Lillestrøm Neue Messe Friedrichshafen Bilbao Exhibition Centre Fiera Milano Fiera Roma Congressi Neue Messe Stuttgart

Neue Messe Leipzig

Architects gmp · Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partner, Hamburg Structural engineering design Polonyi und Partner, Berlin Schlaich, Bergermann und Partner, Stuttgart Steel and glass structures in glass hall gmp · Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partner and Ian Ritchie Architects, London Structural engineering design Polonyi und Partner, Berlin Landscape architects Wehberg, Eppinger, Schmidtke, Hamburg Client Leipziger Messegesellschaft mbH Competition 1992, first prize Awards Sächsischer Architektur- und Konstruktionspreis, 1996 Deutscher Architekturpreis, honourable mention, 1997 Deutscher Stahlbaupreis, honourable mention 1998 Architekturpreis der Stadt Leipzig, 1999 Built 1993 – 1 995 Gross floor area 273,000 square metres Number of halls 5 Exhibition space 102,500 square metres Cost DM 1,335 billion (1995) Photographs Busam / Richter, Marcus Bredt, Hans-Christian Schink, Hans-Georg Esch

The decision by Leipziger Messegesellschaft to build a new exhibition centre on the northern edge of the city shortly after German reunification marked another new beginning in its long history. Neue Messe Leipzig was constructed on the site of a former airport, with very good infrastructure connections.

The previously derelict site was transformed into a large area of parkland, with an artificial valley nearly two kilo­ metres long and 100 metres wide, which determined the lo­ cation of the compact site and acts as a central axis. A flat area lowered by five metres serves as a reception, lounge and concourse for visitors. Here, the western entrance hall takes the form of a glass pavilion, and the eastern entrance is a hall of columns. From here, glass connect­ ing tunnels leads to the five exhibition halls on the up­ per level of the site: four standard buildings, and a higher, naturally lit multipurpose hall, and a conference centre with seven halls and numerous seminar rooms. The ex­ hibition centre’s trademark is the monumental central glass hall, designed in close cooperation with British arch­i tect Ian Ritchie and inf luenced by the Crystal Palace

built for the London great exhibition of 1851. Like its pre­ decessor, it uses highly innovative technology. To create the impression of a soaring glass vault, frameless glass panes were suspended by “frog fingers” from a steel framework shell, which in turn is attached to ten lattice arches spanning the hall. The external structure provides shade, and the ceramic glass print in exposed locations contributes to the natural air conditioning.

On hot days, evaporative cooling from the water used in the window washing system, and cold air stored by the underfloor heating, provide a pleasant interior temperature.

The hall is drenched in light, and the east and west sides are edged with self-supporting glass gable facades whose radial structure is a reference to sunrise and sunset. Unlike the glass and steel used for the main structure, the materi­ als more easily visible to visitors are of natural origin: shell limestone, coconut matting and wood. These are juxta­ posed with plants, streams and ponds to create a relax­ ing oasis for visitors. The filigree freestanding Messeturm tower serves both as a chimney and as a trademark of the new exhibition centre, visible from a considerable distance.

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Recently Built Exhibition Centres Leipzig

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Recently Built Exhibition Centres Leipzig

Landmark of the new Leipziger Messe: a tower serving as a chimney is visible from a long way away, and decorated with the traditional logo of two overlapping letter Ms, short for Mustermesse, meaning “sample fair”.

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60 – 6 1 The exhibition site, with its artificial lake and fountains, western entrance hall and exhibition halls, connected by tunnels.

The central glass hall, which bears unmistakable similarities to Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace (1851).

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The frameless glass panes are suspended from inside a steel framework shell using “frog fingers”

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The radial gable facades of the central hall are reminders of sunrise and sunset.

Bottom

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64 Top A small room in the conference centre, which can be naturally lit or completely blacked out.

Bottom The ceiling of the small room.

The entrance plaza, with a lake and treecovered island, and behind it the conference centre and Messeturm.

Bottom left The conference centre and entrance colonnades.

Bottom right The glass-roofed atrium and baroque spiral staircase of the conference centre.

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Ground plan

Site plan

Recently Built Exhibition Centres Leipzig

67 Top Model of the exhibition centre, designed in the form of a large park. The artificial valley that runs through this compact site and forms its central axis is clearly visible.

Middle The hall of columns at the eastern entrance.

Bottom Model of the glass arch forming the western entrance hall

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Cross-section glass hall

Cross-section entrance area, central entrance hall

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Rimini Fiera

Architects gmp · Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partner, Hamburg Principal architect Clemens F. Kusch, Venedig Structural engineering design Favero e Milan Ingegneria, Mirano – Venezia; Schlaich, Bergermann und Partner, Stuttgart Client Ente Autonomo Fiera di Rimini Competition 1997, first prize Built 1999 – 2 001 Gross floor area 130,134 square metres Number of halls 12 Exhibition space 109,000 square metres Cost approx. € 93 million (2001) Expanded 2003, two double halls Photographs Klaus Frahm, Heiner Leiska

gmp Architekten won the competition for Rimini Fiera They are tied together by smaller connecting buildings immediately following the completion of the Leipziger and the surrounding colonnades, so that it is possible to Messe, providing a further opportunity to build a com­ walk through the entire site without being exposed to pletely new exhibition centre. In the homeland of classical the elements. architecture, the architects drew heavily on its stylistic All of the halls are barrel vaulted with laminated wooden vocabulary, both in the axial overall layout and in the use beams, giving their interiors a warm, friendly feel. The of individual elements of form to create functional, mod­ reticulated vaulting is influenced by the work of the Ger­ man engineer Friedrich Zollinger in the 1920s, and by the ern structural solutions.

The highly prominent trademarks of the site are four slen­ Italian engineer Pier Luigi Nervi. The beams are all the der steel and glass towers, illuminated in blue at night, same size at just over 80 centimetres, forming a uniform which are references to the traditional towers built by network of lozenge shapes spanning the entire 60-metre wealthy families in Italy’s mediaeval towns. These greet width of the halls unsupported. Because this structure is visitors as they pass beneath the railway line, where a based on the repetition of identical small prefabricated new station was built specifically for the site, and reach parts, it is ideal for serial construction and also visually attractive. The roofs are separated from the outer walls the main entrance.

The site is symmetrical, with a main entrance on its cen­ by bands of windows along the sides, making them f loat tral axis leading through a hall of columns in the foyer to elegantly above the structures. They are made from sim­ a series of conference rooms, restaurants and other ser­ ple but attractively decorated materials, serving as an vices. To the side, the single-storey halls are ranged along eyecatcher and leitmotif at the same time. colonnaded water features in a double comb format. This The dome forming the heart of the complex uses an even clearly defined structure makes it easier for visitors to find more sophisticated version of the construction technique their way around, and creates a sense of order amid the employed for the hall roofs. The components are of differ­ hubbub of the exhibition. The site has been expanded to ent sizes, forming a repeated pattern of lozenge shapes include two additional double halls, so there are now six­ that reduce in size as they approach the central skylight teen halls, providing ample space even when trade fairs of the rotunda, which is 30 metres in diameter. Their and other events are being held simultaneously. These are ceramic tile floors, sunk a few steps below the normal reached by three entrances. The glazed fronts admit plen­ level, are decorated with reproductions of the motif of the ty of daylight, and some halls can be completely darkened. capitol square in Rome.

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The dome consists of components of different sizes, forming a repeated pattern of lozenge shapes that reduce in size as they approach the central skylight.

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73 Four slender glass and steel towers, attractively illuminated at night, prominently mark the main entrance to the exhibition centre.

Along the longitudinal axis, water features are lined with colonnades.

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Recently Built Exhibition Centres Rimini

The roofs of the exhibition halls are barrel vaulted with laminated wooden beams, forming an even pattern of lozenge shapes.

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75 The central rotunda, with its impressive ceramic f loor, is used for concerts and other cultural events.

76  –   7 7 A model of the whole complex, including the two new double halls at the east and west ends.

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Ground plan

Longitudinal section

Cross-section

Recently Built Exhibition Centres Rimini

Site plan

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