Atlas 02 English

ATLAS ATLAS  1

The world in motion: the gebrĂźder Weiss magazinE

issue 02

Future Rainer Groothuis

Chasing the cat Matthias Politycki

City of lights

Harald Martenstein

Futurists, fantasists and fretters the family competition

How would you like the world to be one day?

Also: Success stories, The new tube, Punk and Soul in the machine.

Back into the future: The Jetsons send greetings from the 1960s.

‘There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.’

Ken Olsen, 1977

Until the early 1970s most computers were the size of cupboards or even entire rooms. Besides a few early tinkerers, nobody was really excited by the idea of personal computers. Ken Olsen – the founder of ­Digital Equipment Corporation, a leading computer company of the time – had been a major force behind IT advances since the 1960s, helping to set the stage for the digital revolution. He deliberately avoided describing his products as ‘computers’ to distinguish them from the competition.

‘The Americans have need of the ­telephone, but we do not.

We have plenty of messenger boys.’

Sir William Preece, 1876

Notwithstanding this statement, William Preece, as head engineer of his country’s postal service, in­stalled the very first telephone in Britain in 1876.

Moreover, he was amongst the first to transmit and receive Morse code across water between two points more than a mile apart. As a pioneer in the field of wireless telegraphy, Preece also paved the way for groundbreaking developments in communi­cations.

Following his retirement he was awarded a knighthood.

‘My money’s on the horse – ­ the automobile is just a passing fad.’

Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II, 1895

The wheel was invented around 4,000 BC – and with it, almost the automobile! From the start of the 20th century, motorized vehicles steadily replaced their horse-drawn counterparts – despite understandable resistance from craftspeople whose businesses revolved around horses, carts and carriages, and whose livelihoods were therefore under threat. Nor was there much enthusiasm among the general ­pop­ulation when the first rattletrap cars started r­ olling through the towns. Ultimately, though, Wilhelm II opted for a motorized fleet as well.

6

Zahlen und Fakten

Part of the Gebrüder Weiss team for 30 years: Klaus Schwärzler, our man for all seasons. He used to drive a truck, then took care of our building services. And although he officially retired in 2005, he is still always there when you need him. Dependable, cheerful – day after day after day.

T

he future really is nothing new. It has ­ existed since the beginning of time – and we can still make something of it. In fact, we have made it a major focus of this issue of ­ TLAS. A We report from China where the future spans just 15 years. We also take time capsules back into the past and the Hyperloop far into the f­ uture. And en route we encounter David Benedek at the Burning Man Festival, meet punks in Beijing and interview the trucker Alois Tement.

We would like to thank you for your responses to the first ATLAS and hope that you enjoy this issue even more. Because there is always room for improvement. And we want to tap our ­potential to the full.

Best wishes Gebrüder Weiss

We’re delighted to have won the Silver Inter­ national Corporate Media Award (icma) for ‘outstanding conception and design’ in the ­‘Customer Magazines B2B’ category.

POPUL AR

BEFRIENDED

SPENT

Total friends of Gebrüder Weiss on Facebook:

Average numbers of friends per user on social networking sites:

Average time spent by users on social networks in hours per week:

6,950

Austria

119

USA

179

Turkey

190

Austria

3.8

USA

4.7

Turkey

7.7

SUPPLIED

SHIPPED

The world’s largest export countries based on export volume in billion USD (2012):

GW land transport services carried 10.2 million dispatches in 2013 with a total weight of over 7.6 million tonnes. That’s equivalent to the weight of this many blue whales:

China

2,049

USA

1,547

Germany

1,407

Japan

799

Netherlands

656

France

569

South Korea

584

40,000

Source Federal Statistical Office, Germany

ACCELERATED

CONSTRUCTED

Changes in personal transport in Austria and China

650,000,000 € was the cost of reconstructing the Austrian alpine village of Hallstatt in the sub­tropical province of Guangdong (China).

4 % Car owners

50 % Car owners

MOVED

At the right place at the right time – every day at GW, thanks to:

6,000 employees 8,192,900 population

1,313,973,800 population 40

40

0

80

Austria

growth 2013 in %

china

– 5.1% new car registrations in 2013

+ 23% new car registrations in 2013

0

CONNECTED 80

growth 2013 in %

Number of days a freight train travels from the port of Zhengzhou (China) to Hamburg (Germany):

18

Source Prof. Stephan Bratzel, Center of Automotive Management, FH Bergisch Gladbach

TRANSPORTED

TRANSFERRED

Goods transported inside China during 2013, broken down by transport mode, in billion tonnes:

A survey of experts shows which trading routes have the greatest ­potential for growth in the future:

31. 885

13 %

asia

cited

europe

24%

cited

4.587 3.904

16% cited

0.5

africa

Source Transport Intelligence – Expert Research & Analysis

Source China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing

The world in motion: Rainer Groothuis

Chasing the cat

10

David Benedek

Burning Man

48

Perspectives

Justus wille

54

How knup culture came to China and stayed

56

28

Matthias Politycki

30

City of lights

32

Between Orient and Occident

33

Update A world in flux

Orange network

Dana Giesecke

Who will I want to have been one day?

58

Success stories

62

65

Green Weiss

34

The new tube – Elon Musk’s plans for the Hyperloop

66

Alois Tement

»Romanticism? Forget that.«

36

heike hansen

Time capsule: treasure trove, archive and pop art

44

the Family competition

How would you like the world to be one day?

46

Harald martenstein

Futurists, fantasists and fretters

70

72 Imprint

Chasing the cat Fashions, tempo, moods – following trails in western China

12 CHASING THE CAT

In these parts, strangers still represent welcome oppor­ tunities to marvel at a world so big that there can be people with blonde hair in a realm ­beyond the Middle Kingdom.

reportage: Rainer Groothuis

C

hengdu too has been given a rather rude awakening by ‘GoWest’ in recent years. GoWest – the epithet describing the wholesale strategy to develop western China, christened and created in 1999–2000 by the government in Beijing, a programme designed to modernize the ­underdeveloped western reaches of this sprawling country and move much of its rural population into the cities.

Today Chengdu is synonymous with ‘Money, just make money’ and one of the engines powering economic growth in western China, although the neighbouring city of Chongqing has even more horsepower to drive the dynamic progress.

Chengdu, just 14 million inhabitants, a city with a rich history and heritage, capital of the western Chinese province of S­ichuan, 2,400 kilometres west of Shanghai, 1,900 south of Beijing.

Those who can afford anything and everything have long been able to find it here. The ‘Maison Mode’ with Gucci and Fendi stands proud on Chengdu’s Renmin South Road.

The logos of Vuitton, Dior and Zegna illuminate the row of buildings opposite. Golf and polo are the names of the locals’ games. And at the end of the boulevard, an oversized Mao waves at the limousines – premium German cars welcome – as they arrive to pick up the fine ladies and gentlemen toting shopping bags.

Crossroads in Chengdu outside of peak traffic hours.

14 CHASING THE CAT

Of mice and mass production At the close of the 1970s, Deng Xiaoping succeeded Mao at the hub of Chinese power. He set out to modernize the country and launch an economic revolution. Simultaneously he sought to cement the leadership status of the Party and Communist movement with a ‘democratic dictatorship of the people’.

His famous maxim – ‘It doesn’t matter whether it’s a white cat or a black, … a cat that catches mice is a good cat’ – launched China’s adoption of an unconstrained, exclusively profit-­ oriented brand of capitalism – a monumental about-face that has kept the country breathless until this very day and rendered ‘Old China’ little more than a romantic memory in large swathes of the country.

1989, the year of the demonstrations and their terrible termination at Tiananmen Square, evidently proved traumatic for the Party. ‘Since then it has done much to pacify the people and give them a more positive mind-set’, says Jack, a 43-yearold sales manager at an international logistics company. ­GoWest also partly owes its existence to the attempt to appease the populace with economic and social progress. What conjures up images of wagon trains, John Wayne and Calamity Jane is, in fact, one of the largest economic and political ­programmes known to humankind. And one of the most successful, to judge by the targets achieved.

By 2020, the preconditions for ‘moderate affluence’ are due to be reality in the west of the country too. Under GoWest, 1.74 trillion yuan in total (the equivalent of 0.2 trillion euros) were invested from 1999 to 2009 alone. In roads, public buildings, airports, seaports and train stations. And in huge tax incentives for industrial development in the west, which re­ presents the 71 % of the country’s territory that 400 million ­people call their home. From 1999 to 2008 the region’s gross ­domestic product rose by 370 %. Growth in the west has been above the Chinese average in the past two years.

They still exist – the bicycles that once defined China’s streets but have since given way to motorized cycles and motorbikes.

CHASING THE CAT 17

Left: view of Wangjiang Tower Park in Chengdu.

Above and below: scenes from the People’s Park.

The world, a park Chongqing, the People’s Park: Tai Chi isn’t practiced of a morning alone. There are groups dancing to Western pop and oriental melodies as well; a funky improvised fashion show with classy 50-something women; hip-hoppers, punks and karaoke performers. Western China’s everyday culture is ­infused with a nonchalance that extends to the way people approach traditions like calligraphy, eating on the street in groups and family togetherness. And as parents have to work hard, lots of grandchildren are looked after by lots of grandparents, ensuring that the elders still take an active part in public life.

A virtually toothless man approaches me and scrawls ‘US?’ in chalk on the pavement. When I shake my head, ‘France?’, ‘DK?’ follow. At ‘GER?’ I nod, he beams and adds ‘many’ and ‘Goete’ and ‘Sorrows of Young Werthes’. By now a cluster of curious Chinese has formed, eager to learn what their com­ patriot has gleaned from the ‘long nose’. As everywhere else, a smidgeon of English, a few gestures and facial expressions, above all with the eyes, suffice for communication: The Chinese believe that the soul dwells in the eyes. They take photos of the foreigner, furtively, the children gape and the grownups laugh, joke, exchange a few words – and everyone is happy when this East-West encounter comes to a cheery end after 10 minutes.

That’s how things are in western China. Strangers still ­represent welcome opportunities to marvel at a world so big that there can be people with blonde hair in a realm beyond the Middle Kingdom.

18 CHASING THE CAT

Evening rush hour.

CHASING THE CAT 19

Politics above, commerce below.

A smile at the end of a crazy journey.

Life and fun China covers just 7 % of the world’s surface but needs to sustain 20 % of the planet’s population – 1,400 million people.

Many fail to reach the finishing line in the obstacle race that is rapid economic development. The number of itinerant workers is currently estimated at around 250 million – uprooted rural folk, forced by the central government’s decisions to seek employment, shelter and survival in the cities; women with furrowed faces who shuffle through the shopping malls and across the boulevards, peddling odds and ends that are purchased by compassionate passers-by. Cyclists who weave their way through the traffic, their bicycle racks stacked high with rags or used paper. The hunchbacked old men who laboriously push their carts, or the gaunt ones who carry others’ shopping home from the market on their shoulders for a few yuan. Images of Old China, the logistics of the poor.

The new China, today’s China, is global. Bold colours abound in the design of the 16-channel state-run TV station CCTV – its schedule covers everything from show to soap and back again, possibly with an Italian touch. Attractive actors with Western make-up and styling extol their products in the commercials – powerful, pretty, cool, smart … That isn’t ­Communism speaking. It’s no different to the rest of the ­consumer world. Everyone is a me-magazine and their NBF is their smartphone – which everyone, no matter how old or poor, seems to have.

Symphony of movement If Walther Ruttmann were making his 1927 film Symphony of a Great City today, he would likely choose a Chinese metropolis rather than Berlin as his location. Not least given the amazing traffic: total gridlock seems to reign, yet somehow everything flows.

It’s a pandemonium of pushing, overtaking, crowding, colliding – all backed by a cacophonous crescendo of squeaking, squealing, barking, croaking, buzzing, and roaring; of the honking of mopeds, motorbikes, scooters, cars, trucks, tuktuks and all the hybrid creations in between. This traffic and its various manifestations are not for the faint-hearted who don helmets for trips to the bakery, suspect hepatitis in every shellfish, and need traffic lights to cross a road. There are zebra crossings here, but extreme caution is advised.

In Chengdu the taxis are fluorescent, tree-frog green and usually boxy Volkswagen Jettas. In Chongqing they are yellow like New York cabs and come in a motley variety of brands.

The drivers speak no English and are supremely stubborn.

Taxis are dirt cheap here. You might also try your luck in tuktuks, motorized tricycles with more or less of a metal body – it’s rather like being perched in a theatre box in the midst of the traffic. Not only can you hear all its sounds, you can smell all its fumes and odours first-hand as well. And you get an up-close and personal view of all those pedestrians that you nearly, but never quite, run over.

20 CHASING THE CAT

View from Ciqikou towards the far bank of the Jialing River.

Roundheads and pinheads GoWest has made a difference. Lots of people in western China are better off than years ago. Their flats have baths and running water. There is room for the children. People go on holiday. ‘Ten years ago there was hardly a car to be seen here’, says Will as we exit a packed sardine can of a car park. ‘Now­ adays lots of families even have two.’ And the majority are new.

Yet the Great Empire has lost its heart – its proud culture, traditions and history. Nonstop economic growth and globa­ lization are now extinguishing the final sparks of what the Cultural Revolution failed to stifle – the ‘four relics’ (old ideas, old culture, old customs, old habits). Memorial sites, buildings, squares and streets are disappearing. Legends, myths and old sagas being forgotten. A life devoted solely to money – how would that be in the long run? People view this as a challenge for China’s central government: finding fresh answers to questions about the meaning and purpose of life.

Ten years ago there were no dollar billionaires in China.

Today the number is over 300, plus some 2.8 million millionaires. Along with a growing social mainstream. This middle class, which works hard, is particularly hostile to corruption, welcoming government measures to curb it and impose severe penalties. Because the Chinese, according to surveys, have no problem at all with wealth, but they do have a problem with unearned privileges. In the past, a time when people seemed to be more equal, there was less discontent, less anger, and less shame among those at the bottom of life’s totem pole.

Today a life with too little is often experienced as humiliation.

Fog, forsakenness and knickknacks Old China, in the expanses between the cities? Almost nothing on the train from Chengdu to Chongqing hints of the olden days. You pass farmsteads, settlements, villages built with lots

Sichuan

With a total area of 485,000 km2, Sichuan is larger than Germany and Austria combined. Thanks to its mild climate and fertile soil, agriculture is a core factor in the economy. Sichuan generates over 20 % of the total GDP from all of China’s western provinces.

Capital

Chengdu

Kazakhstan

Russia

Ürümqi

Population NordNorth Korea Korea

Xinjiang Inner Mongolia

Approx. 82 million

Beijing

Density Ningxia Qinghai

Yellow Sea gansu

Shaanxi

Shanghai

Tibet

Approx.

179 residents per km2

Sichuan Nepal

Average life expectancy

Chengdu Yangtzekiang

chongqing

69.7 years

Bhutan

East China Sea

Guizhou

Area

India

Guangdong Yunnan

Burma

Guangxi

Guangzhou (Canton)

Hong Kong Vietnam

485,000 km2

A five-storey restaurant on the Yangtze sparkles at nightfall.

ATLAS 23

24 ATLAS

CHASING THE CAT 25

Life in Jiefangbei.

of concrete, topped with blue corrugated iron roofs. And snaking through these rural settings are yet more elevated road and track beds – where new streets and rail lines will rise on stilts while solitary farmers still cultivate their plots below.

The city-state of Chongqing, responsible directly to central government, and with 30 million inhabitants the largest ­conurbation on earth, is dissected by the Yangtze and Jialing.

Fog often rolls in on the rivers, thus the epithet ‘Fog City’.

Jiefangbei, the shopping quarter for small traders, the poor and still poorer, within walking distance of the Yangtze. ‘Buy, buy!’ resounds through the streets where tens of thousands throng. Beneath the new skyscrapers the old bazaars live on and every hard-haggled yuan counts – to the backdrop of an ear-splitting din. Young men with megaphones sing the praises of polyester jackets and blankets. Mothers, seated, sell ratchets, balloons, feathers. And anyone who has lost his livelihood, has nothing and therefore nothing left to lose, stares vacantly into the maelstrom from behind a sign explaining why he or she above all is deserving of charity. The maimed and malformed squat, stand, lie outside Arhat Temple, on crutches or converted skateboards, in home-made wheelchairs, extending beseeching hands towards the temple’s visitors.

How different things are in Ciqikou, a Disney-style district to the west – set on the Jialing, the second river that flows through Chongqing. On this day the sun is still casting its milky morning light over a remnant of Old China. The windswept half-timbered buildings, the worn cobblestones in the alleyways, in the midst of the hustle and bustle the Pu Lun Temple, now once again home to Buddhist monks. Restored like a monument, Ciqikou has become a magnet for tourists, above all the Chinese who come to absorb impressions of their past, buy bric-a-brac and souvenirs and amble from one food stand to the next.

Ciqikou’s main road terminates at the Jialing. Along the river are dozens of tea kitchens and cook shops, rusting carousels, fortune tellers, seers, two old bumper cars. It’s relaxing here, the people stroll happily along, play and sit in the sunshine. Perhaps things were always like this; perhaps they could stay like this always. The sky has now cleared, but on the far bank the future is already casting its shadow.

26 ATLAS

CHASING THE CAT 27

View of one of Chongqing’s ­container ports.

Go west, go future Chongqing is the driving force behind GoWest. As many as 200 of the world’s 500 largest companies are represented here. More motorcycles are made here than anywhere else in the world. BASF dispatches containers to Shanghai via the Yangtze; other companies supply Mexico and South Africa from their Chongqing factories. Port operations are prospering, now that ships holding 500 and more containers are able to navigate the Yangtze to the city’s inland docks, where the containers are unloaded or transferred to vessels heading further upstream. Freight trains now run between Chongqing and Duisburg in Germany, taking 16 days for a journey that traverses Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland.

Now, during the current decades, China is writing the next chapter in its history as a major trading nation – as recently as 1820 its economic output surpassed Europe’s. And the economy and trading sector will be undergoing yet another change: the country and its companies will be generating and selling more of their own products and less work. While manufac­ turers seeking the cheapest labour are already moving on to Bangladesh and Cambodia, China is developing its own automotive and aerospace industries, and offering competitive high-speed trains, chemicals factories, steelworks and solar solutions on the global market.

Trade needs, seeks and always finds distribution channels if it is to succeed. Channels that can be efficiently exploited with modern logistics. The old Silk Road comes to mind, the overland route from Europe via central Asia to the east of the continent: a vast network which not only transported goods, merchants, sages and soldiers, but also ideas and cultures. Just as Marco Polo found his way to China, Chinese goods will now find their way to Europe and vice-versa. Bringing with them new ideas for the future.

2014 is, incidentally, the Year of the Horse – in China, among other things, a symbol of dynamism and acceleration.

Rainer Groothuis, born in 1959 in Emden / East Friesland, is managing partner at the communications agency ‘Groothuis.’ www.groothuis.de With sincere thanks to Jack Li, Shawn Wang, Will Wu, William Xiong, Quick Zhou and David von Schwerin for their support.

knup culture came to How   China and stayed Or: How discarded cassettes heralded a subculture

In China too, the punk movement is chiefly a statement of values. Its manifestations i­nclude rebellious posturing (left) and non-conformist appearances (right). You can find impressions of the subculture with the QR-Code.

text: Justus Wille photos: Matthew Niederhauser

T

hey were actually surplus goods, the cassette tapes with the unusual holes – known as dakou (‘to hole­ punch’) in Chinese – that the major Western record companies sold overseas as electronic scrap during the 1990s.

Lots of them found their way on highways and byways to southern China. The fingernail-sized holes should really have rendered them useless, but the majority were still playable with a little effort. Soon enough, clever Chinese businessmen spotted the brisk demand on the black market for this colourful mix of Western music which had been unexpectedly ‘washed ashore’. And so it didn’t take long for the sounds of the ‘Spice Girls’, ‘Morrissey’, ‘Einstürzende Neubauten’ and ‘Sting’ to be echoing from loudspeakers in Chinese living rooms and student quarters alike. They were joined by recordings of top punk groups from the 1970s and 1980s – ‘The ­R amones’, ‘The Sex Pistols’, ‘The Clash’ and ‘The Cure’. ­Together with the punk music imported by foreign students, these c­ assettes represented zero hour for Chinese punk. The first groups had formed during the mid-1990s – sporting memo­rable names like the ‘Anarchy Boys’, ‘Shitdog’, ‘Brain Failure’, ‘Underbaby’, ‘Hang on the Box’ and ‘New Pants’ – with rebellious attitudes, leather jackets, studded belts and mohawk thrown in for good measure.

At first the punks struggled for recognition on the domestic music scene. During the 1980s, Cui Jian, the so-called ‘god­ father of Chinese Rock’, had popularized rock music among the country’s youth, and rock and heavy metal continued to dominate in the following decade.

One important guiding star for punk musicians was Beijing’s Scream Club – its owner later became one of the first record producers of Chinese punk. Alongside Beijing, the early hubs of punk culture included Wuhan and Nanning in the southern provinces of Hubei and Guangxi. Today the – still relatively compact – scene is concentrated in the capital.

At the turn of the millennium, the Chinese music industry too was hit by a financial crisis – one sparked by digitalization and pirated copies. Young punk bands found it increasingly difficult to find producers for their records. The scene

­ evertheless continued to evolve, growing both in terms of n ener­gy and variety. At this point the West also registered the phenomenon of ‘Chinese punk’. Major labels sealed contracts with these bands, dispatching them on tours of Europe and the US as supporting acts for internationally established stars.

‘On the black market there was a brisk demand for this colourful mix of Western music.’

Film documentaries served to familiarize flabbergasted Western audiences with these angry young men and their caco­ phony of sounds – none of which fit with the stereotypical image of the dutifully diligent Asian.

The stars of the movement’s early days have long been superseded by new bands like ‘Carsick Cars’ and ‘Snapline’.

And today – both in Beijing and beyond – tens of thousands of fans attend major festivals where globally renowned bands share headline status with the stars of the Chinese scene.

China has been catching up at a breathtaking pace. Even when it comes to punk culture.

Justus Wille, born in 1981, studied Sinology and Music in Oxford, Hamburg and Beijing. He is particularly fascinated by Chinese music. He works as an artist manager at the Konzertdirektion Dr. Rudolf Goette in Hamburg.

30 ET CETERA: CHINA

City of lights Matthias Politycki on Canton – a city that everyone should know

W

hen I first visited in May of 1985, Canton – a. k. a Guangzhou – was a sleepy village, albeit with one million inhabitants. The only true attraction was Qingping Market: a huge area packed with dogs, cats, owls, eagles and even beetles, millipedes, snakes and turtles – all of them in cages or other containers, all of them for sale, all of them alive of course, and all destined for local dining tables.

Today, almost 30 years on, Qingping Market still merits a mention in every guide book, but aside from the Qingping Drug Market, which is even signposted for tourists (who will, however, find only dried and shredded marine animals there), attempts to locate it are doomed to failure. The real sights, the walking entrées just waiting to be snapped up, have disappeared – along with the spitoons, the ubiquitous standardized bicycles with their tuneful bells, and the teacups for China’s ‘working-class heroes’. They’ve removed to the suburbs, some assert; to the inner courtyards, claim others.

All this despite the fact that the old city of Canton hasn’t been modernized anywhere near as radically as Beijing or Shanghai: you still see pensioners performing exercises in the streets, the shop signs are still in sunshine yellow and cherry red and, if luck fails you, your passage can still be blocked by a pile of skinned goats, lying limp and bleached white on the pavement.

The only living animals around seem to be the chicken, fish and dogs, live dogs, albeit in the form of pets on leashes: the nouveau riche like to parade their new status symbols.

Dogs that people actually feed rather than eat? The moment they pause, a gaping crowd forms around them.

Beyond that, nobody has any time to spare in the once so sleepy town of Canton, even in the lanes and alleyways of its historic centre. Every other bicycle is powered by an electric motor. In China, size and speed earn the right of way.

And nowhere is that more true than on the major thoroughfares, some of which now carve a channel through the city in the form of multi-level highways supported by 10 to 15-metre tall pillars. During rush hour I watch three police officers ­struggling to secure a pedestrian crossing – ensuring that drivers really do stop if the traffic light turns red.

The losers in China’s dynamic new economy have congregated in large camps beneath the urban highways. The beggars in the streets are new too. Supposedly, on Sundays, when half of the residents are out and about, every cripple in the region converges on the city. A man with one leg demonstrates ­gymnastics exercises on a small platform. As if in slow motion, he pushes up his legs and rear to perform a handstand, all to the accompaniment of Chinese pop music. On the promenade lining the Pearl River, entertainment is provided by a threeman band in wheelchairs and on crutches – an equally bizarre and dispiriting sight.

Anyone wishing to attract attention amid the constant flurry of activity needs to come up with something good. That applies to the women too – the current favourites are bulky black-and-white shoes by ‘Hello Kitty’, worn with mesh stockings, cloche hats or martial-looking costumes from role plays ranging from Gothic to Harry Potter. The girlie look is often offset by a face mask: it’s only on your second day, when you wake up hoarse, that you realize that these aren’t worn to ward off infections but to filter out the fine particles in the air.

Smog has now become a spectacular photographic motif in other Chinese megacities and has already dyed the sky pale yellow in Canton.

The moment your subway train arrives at Canton’s new city centre on the River Pearl’s south bank, you are overwhelmed by the dynamic spectacle of the city: Zhujiang New Town ­materialized out of nowhere in 1997, based on the No soup is on the menu as the slimline tower can sway up to 1.5 metres to and fro in the wind.

ET CETERA: CHINA 31

symmet­rical layout with two central axes that is typical of Chinese cities. Anyone exiting the local subway station will emerge at the exact intersection of these two roads. The view is awe-­inspiring. No few of the surrounding office blocks are listed among the world’s tallest buildings. And as I have ­witnessed, cranes can be seen atop six of the closest 15 skyscrapers. So the buildings are being extended upwards at the same time as people are working in the floors below and shopping in the spacious ­underground malls on the two or three subterranean levels.

In 1985 I only saw wasteland and fields here and the occasional scattered village. In 1997, the Party reached a decision that catapulted this swathe of countryside out of its Com­ munist slumber – and straight into the ultramodern era. The ­photographer Xu Peiwu, who has impressively documented the area’s redevelopment, has commented: ‘A pig sty was ­replaced by a museum, the fishermen’s houses yielded to the opera house, and the international finance centre now stands on the site of the former orchard.’ * For Xo Peiwu the new city centre remains a symbol of ­paradise lost. But for tourists it represents a lesson in ‘turbo urbanization’, and graphically demonstrates how major western cities – in relative terms – appear to be standing still. In Canton, you get the impression that everything is being built from scratch. All the time. Printing a city map is a waste of time. Even the subway network, I am assured, will be unrec­ ognizable in just three years.

One thing that will definitely remain unchanged for ­decades is standing opposite on the river's northern bank: the Canton Tower. At six hundred metres, it may now only be the second-highest television tower in the world, but it certainly is the best looking. Deliberately designed by its architects as a ‘female’ tower, it captivates visitors at first glance with its ­elegantly tapered silhouette. The interior is concealed beneath a skin of twirling steel tubes which create the impression of a net draped loosely around it. From an aesthetic point of view, it is nothing less than a modern wonder of the world. From an array of viewing platforms, visitors seeking the ultimate thrill can walk out into fully-glazed bays for a bird’s-eye glimpse of the ground far below. And finally they can take a so-called ‘bubble tour’ in all-glass cubicles around the highest platform – and gaze outwards at whatever the future might hold.

But, as always, the best is saved for last! As soon as the sun sets, the city is illuminated in every colour of the rainbow. The neon decorations on the office blocks are increased threefold and set in mesmerizing motion, constantly changing colour to create a kaleidoscope of images. It is as if the buildings them­ selves are beginning to dance. Observers soon find themselves lulled into a kind of neon trance. The bridges over the Pearl River and even the pleasure steamers join in, metamorphosing into light sculptures. Some bridges change colour completely, others only in sections. Here in China, too, people reveal their true selves at play.

From the automated people mover travelling back to the south bank, the Canton Tower is now a sight to see in its neon costume. Its outer skin gradually changes colour: if it has just glowed in a shade of violet, it will soon turn green or blue.

Its incomparable daytime grace is but a distant memory.

For now, it’s showtime.

Matthias Politycki, born in 1955, has always numbered among the globetrotters in German journalism and now ranks among its leading lights. Since 1987 he has been writing novels, short stories, ­essays and poems, his most recent work being the adventure novel Samarkand ­Samarkand. His literary output is published by H ­ offmann und Campe. www.matthias-politycki.de * Catalogue for From Berlin to Guangzhou – Two Cities in Flux. A photographic exhibition by Peter Frischmuth and Xu Peiwu. Published by the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Canton 2009; quotation from page 48

32 ET CETERA: CHINA

Between Orient and Occident Gebrüder Weiss on the ‘New Silk Road’

G

ebrüder Weiss has maintained a presence in China since 1992. Gaining a foothold in the Far East took several attempts, an unshakeable belief in the ­economic and political development of the country, and a strong personal commitment on the part of the pioneers who embraced this challenge.

Meanwhile Gebrüder Weiss is firmly established in China.

It currently has 17 locations – in alliance with the Air & Sea specialist Röhlig Logistics since 2000. The company employs more than 340 people, many of whom have been there since day one. The Weiss-Röhlig network even extends to the ­remote reaches of the autonomous Uyghur region: Ürümqi, the capital of Xinjiang Province, is the furthest inland major city in the whole world, being 2,000 kilometres from the ­nearest coast. But trade has always allowed Ürümqi a window on the world. It is located on the Silk Road.

Trade on the Silk Road, the oldest of all trading routes ­connecting Europe and Asia, is booming as always, and gaining added prominence within the global flow of merchandise.

The so-called ‘New Silk Road’ is taking shape today along a path through isolated deserts and rugged mountain ranges that was once travelled by caravans conveying spices, jade, furs and ceramics along with silk from the Orient to the ­Occident.

Local governments and international organizations have ­recognized that investments in infrastructure are vital to countries’ sustainable social and economic development. Numerous new traffic routes and transport systems connecting Europe, central Asia and the Far East have been created or are in the

planning stage. One major focus is on building and expanding the rail network running from China through central Asia to Europe. The prospect of extending the broad-gauge network of the Trans-Siberian Railway to Vienna is also being reviewed. Studies suggest that this route would carry 16–24 million tonnes of freight each year by 2050.

The countries along the ‘New Silk Road’ undoubtedly ­offer great potential for the trade of tomorrow. Above-average growth rates are being projected, above all for the countries of central Asia. And China’s economy is growing faster than ever too. Domestic demand and intra-regional trade are both ­increasing, with the Asian countries’ positions at the heart of logistics networks growing in importance. Gebrüder Weiss too is expanding its network on the Silk Road. It has maintained a branch in Georgia since 2013 and opened a new site in Turkey at the start of this year. | ib

Part of the Weiss-Röhlig team, from left: Jack Li and Will Wu (Chengdu), Quick Zhou, ­William Xlong, Candy Xie, Shawn Wang, Kelly Wang (Chongqing).

the new Silk road

Parts of the old Silk Road Russia

Existing railway line

Moscow Brest Duisburg

Slawkow

Germany

Vienna

Kiev

Volgograd Astana

Chop Ürümqi

Istanbul Rome

Planned railway line

Andijan Beijing Kashgar China

Gwadar

Xi’an

Chongqing

33

Update »The baby works« We were awaiting the big moment in the last issue of ATLAS: the opening of the new Gebrüder Weiss logistics centre in Tbilisi, Georgia. And in September 2013 the waiting was finally over: leading Georgian politicians, supervisory board members and the current GW Management Board attended the opening ceremony.

Today, the 50 employees to date have already settled in at the new hub – where they manage operations spanning Europe and the Caucasus from their 600 m2 office area and 10,500 m2 of logistics space. Gebrüder Weiss is already transporting ­special freight around Tbilisi – including a helicopter for ­heli-skiing in the mountains of Caucasia and, most recently, 150 tractors for the Georgian Ministry of Agriculture.

Madelaine

Borisz and Rajmund

Incidentally, in 2018 Georgia will be the featured country at the Frankfurt Book Fair. As such it will have a unique oppor­ tunity to familiarize a large international audience with its lit­erature and culture.

Winners of our first ATLAS ­family competition announced We received some really awesome aeroplanes for our com­ petition. The winning entries were submitted by Madelaine from Romania, Borisz and Rajmund from ­Hungary and the siblings Patricia, Cornelius and Linus from Austria.

Our congratulations go out to them all!

‘On behalf of my wife and children, I’d like to express my thanks for the first prize that you sent us. Our three children have never won a competition before. So, as you can imagine, they were absolutely delighted to be getting another present just after Christmas. There was no stopping them assembling the great cargo plane with all of its accessories.’

Robert Janschek, father of Patricia, Cornelius und Linus Look out for the new family competition on page 46 of this issue! Here’s wishing your children lots of fun entering!

Above: George Kvirikashvili, Georgia’s Minister of Commerce (l.) and Aleksander Kharlamov, CEO of GW Georgia ­ Below, from left: Wolfram and Heidi Senger-Weiss, Caspar Einem with his wife Sylvia Krieger-Einem, Paul S ­ enger-Weiss, Sophie with her husband Heinz ­Senger-Weiss.

34

A world in flux Broadening flows of merchandise: on tomorrow’s logistics

35

T

rade is as old as the human race. The Romans were drawn north by the salt, the Teutons south by the wine.

Marco Polo journeyed to China, to the land of the golden rooftops. But he brought pasta, not precious metals, back to Italy. And Christopher Columbus failed to find another trading route to India. When Sir Francis Drake sailed around the world, it proved a success despite losing two ships: the cargo hold of the Elcano, the vessel that returned to Plymouth in 1580, was full of exotic spices from the Moluccas. The financial return on his three-year adventure totaled an incredible 4,700 %. Cloves, nutmeg and ginger proved to be the taste of the English – and became one of the driving forces that propelled the Europeans out into the wider world.

Today our consumer behaviour has been globalized, along with the flow of goods, and it is difficult to predict the future.

However, because logistics is a business that responds to people’s changing needs and desires, several trends can be identified.

Fine distribution During the past five years, e-com­ merce sales in Germany have more than doubled – from 15 to over 30 billion euros per year and rising. For logistics operations, this means new communication channels, particularly in the so­ cial media sector. It means new infrastructures consisting of web shops, call centres and parcel shops with sufficient storage area. And it means new systems of local distribution all the way to the end customer. All of these trends will keep the industry on the move in the next few years.

Gebrüder Weiss is meeting these challenges and adapting to changing circumstances by expanding its e-commerce op­ erations – a segment in which the company can draw on a wealth of experience gained over many years and partner its customers all the way from setting up a web shop through to warehousing sensitive goods and local distribution. www.gw-world.com/en/­ ecommerce

A final inspection while packing the exhaust-driven turbocharger.

Entering the supply chain Logistics in the automotive industry used to mean moving components and spare parts from A to B and, in the end, transporting the finished vehicle from B to C. Nowadays logistics specialists need to handle a lot in between – some of it directly from their workbenches, as illustrated by the partnership with the automotive supplier Bosch Mahle Turbo Systems (BMTS).

In close cooperation with BMTS, Gebrüder Weiss supplies the material for the construction of the exhaust-driven turbochargers and tailors its warehouse logistics to manufacturing conditions – an incursion into the value-added chain that extends far beyond the ambit of conventional logistics services.

Good lines of communication and an understanding of the customer are indispensable here, as they are when GW provides system solutions – as it does in Romania for the OMV oil company as part of an extensive package of quality assurance controls and other safeguards. www.gw-world.com/en/logistics-solutions Maritime trade up by 100 % By the year 2030, the world’s population is due to pass the eight billion mark. Numerous new ports are already mushrooming and gateways opening to once remote areas – such as Asia Minor – that once seemed all but inaccessible. ­Consumption and production output in the BRIC economies ­(Brazil, Russia, India and China) will increase, above all ­impacting maritime trade. According to current forecasts, it will double by 2030 and lead to a corresponding expansion of port and loading capacities. By the way: even though the company is headquartered in landlocked Austria, Gebrüder Weiss is a proven specialist in sea freight. GW ships to every port around the world and imports mainly through the gateways of Antwerp (Belgium), Hamburg (Germany), Constanta (Romania), and Koper (Slovenia) (see ATLAS 1). It has earmarked investments of more than 100 million euros for the latter’s expansion by 2016.

For one thing is for certain: goods will continue to flow in the future as well and logistics will continue to build the bridges that make this possible. www.gw-world.com/­en/consolution | fh

36 ATLAS

‘Romanticism?

Forget that.’

GW driver Alois Tement on discipline, the right diet on the road, and the future of driving

»ON THE ROAD« 37

interview: Frank Haas Mr Tement, you’ve been driving for Gebrüder Weiss for 34 years. How did you get into the job?

It all started when I trained as a car mechanic. Back then, that set you up for a career as a truck driver. The vehicles you drove in those days weren’t always reliable. It helped if you were handy with repairs. That's far less important today.

Did the ‘travel bug’ influence your decision?

Yes, of course. I always felt drawn to faraway places. I couldn’t imagine being in a regular nine-to-five job. I’ve seen more of the world than most people. I’ve been in every country in Europe except Finland – I don’t spend much time in one place but I see a lot on the road. I don’t just drive along mindlessly, without looking at what I’m passing on either side. That’s not my way. Some of my colleagues may differ in that respect.

If you compare your trips with a vacation – what are the ­differences?

I don’t expect anything when I set out – after all, it’s my job.

That’s probably the biggest difference to a vacation. Holidaymakers want to experience something out of the ordinary; they have specific expectations. In Ireland you can look forward to lush green fields and tasty, salted butter. If that isn’t how it turns out, you’re disappointed. If I encounter things like that on my travels, it’s always a pleasant surprise.

Have you had any really memorable experiences on your travels?

Many. For example, I still vividly remember ferry journeys to Mallorca and Sweden. Nobody else goes on those. I’m lucky enough that I can drive different routes and see lots of different things. The driving itself is always the same. Techno­logy has made it better, but otherwise nothing has changed. The things I see and hear around me, that’s what I like. Above all because it’s always so spontaneous.

Has your view of people changed over the years?

It has indeed. I’ve always been the type to mix, and I enjoy talking to people. Even if it means that you have to communicate using improvised sign language.

38 »ON THE ROAD«

It’s always interesting to see how different they are, to observe the way they behave and understand the way they think.

For me, it’s important to engage others with an open mind.

Which country do you enjoy driving in most?

I really like travelling in Britain, but every country has its own charms and appeals. The countries in Eastern Europe are interesting, too. Over the years I’ve seen how their cities have changed and their economies have blossomed. If you are driving through a country, you really get a front row seat.

What attracts you to Britain?

People treat each other with a lot of respect. There’s no tail­ gating, and everyone tries to help you. Unfortunately that isn’t the case everywhere. In German-speaking countries – and particularly in Germany – the law of the jungle prevails. ­Nobody is willing to wait even 30 seconds. Drivers flash their lights, shake their fists at you … and throwing your weight around is standard practice. If you try to keep a safe distance from the car in front, somebody is sure to squeeze in the gap.

The races you see when one truck tries to overtake another are pure madness. If one trucker is driving 2 km/h faster than another, there’s no need to pass. It’s a complete waste of time.

With his dog in Holland in the late 1990s.

Apropos ‘racing’, where do truckers learn road etiquette?

That’s something that everyone has to decide for themselves.

There are always one or two black sheep around. In my view, culture is a factor here. In England everybody simply plays by

‘The further north you are, the more respectful and relaxed drivers get.’ the rules. Even in the most densely populated centres – like Manchester, Birmingham and London – people always leave space for my truck to filter in and overtake. In our country we could learn a lot from the English and the Benelux countries.

You might say: the further north you are, the more respectful and relaxed drivers get.

Telematics have become increasingly important in recent years. How does that impact your work?

There have been lots of changes! In the past you used to head off and you were really gone and away. There were no SatNavs and no cell phones. If you wanted to reach your family, you had to find a phone box. In those days, having a radio was the

On the ferry to Mallorca.

definition of being ‘mobile’. Today’s telematics systems mean you are much more closely connected with your headquarters.

The delivery note arrives electronically, the address is recorded digitally. As a driver I hardly have to do anything – I don’t need to know anything about countries, borders or customs. The system does it all for me.

So there were fewer constraints on what you could do in the past?

Yes, you could say that. Nowadays the system records exactly how much fuel I am using, when I apply the brakes, how fast I am driving, how long I need for a route etc. In the old days, you had more freedom. But you also had more to think about.

‘I don’t just drive along mindlessly, without looking at what I’m p ­ assing on either side.’

The data exists, but does anybody really use it? Does anyone tell you how you should drive?

No, not at all. There are checks to see if your mileage, speed and journey times are within certain parameters. If that isn’t the case, somebody takes a closer look. As a general rule, trucks are inspected and approved for a pre-set maximum speed.

So economy is the top priority …

Yes, exactly. Driving economically is really important. You mustn’t be using more than 33 litres per 100 km. Your fuel consumption depends a lot on what the truck is being used for and how many stops it makes. You use most power when you

What are telematics?

The term ‘telematics’ is a composite formed from telecommunications and informatics. Using telematics, information from the road can be compiled, coordinated and evaluated, e. g. the real-time ­location of a truck, its mileage, its driving patterns and characte­ ristics, its speed and time on the road. This GPS-based system is ­designed to help manage vehicle fleets efficiently and economically.

The GW subsidiary inet-logistics develops telematics solutions. www.inet-logistics.com

Alois Tement with his first truck, a Volvo F89.

Propeller in the Port of Hamburg.

get up to speed from a standstill. It takes a lot to move a fortytonner. The more stop-and-go traffic I have, the more fuel I use.

How much fuel did trucks use in the past?

40 litres and more. That used to be less important back then, because diesel cost less. The main thing was making sure the truck didn’t break down. Thanks to new technologies and a more economical focus in production, trucks use up to 25 % less fuel and they’re more reliable.

So what is your normal work schedule?

My work week begins on Sunday at 10 pm and ends – if all goes well – at 9 pm the following Friday. I’m not permitted to drive more than 47 hours a week, so I need to use this time as effi­cient­ly as possible. A 9:9:9 rhythm is best. That means you drive for nine hours, rest for nine hours and then drive for another nine. If I drive one day less than I should, I accumulate a deficit because of the prescribed rest periods. It’s hard to catch up again.

That sounds like stress.

It’s not. People create their own stress. I just see to it that I stick to my schedule. If I’m disciplined and don’t take too many breaks, then everything is fine. Discipline is the name of the game when you’re on the road.

When do you get ‘down time’? Where do you sleep?

My down time is the truck drivers’ weekend – from Friday eve­ning to Sunday evening. During the week my truck is my home. Then I try to find a truck rest stop that isn’t in the ­middle of nowhere. But they’re often full and you have to find an alter­native. Above all in Germany, in the Ruhr industrial area, that’s a big problem. Lots of trucks from the east con­verge here, filling up the rest stops. If you’re a young driver, that makes life difficult. If you have more experience, you tend to know where there is space.

People talk a lot about the freedom and romanticism of a truck driver’s life. How relevant is that today?

Romanticism? Forget that. Technology took over long ago.

And things are much better for it: we have fewer problems to deal with.

40 ATLAS

A trucker’s eye view.

ATLAS 41

42 »ON THE ROAD«

What do long-distance drivers do to keep themselves alert?

Alois Tement Married with two children, this man is always ‘on the ball’.

He doesn’t drink alcohol or coffee, maintains a healthy diet, and has a wide range of interests. The trucker has been at the heart of Gebrüder Weiss’ transport operations for the past 30 years.

1961

Born in Slovenia 1976 – 1979

Completes apprenticeship as a car mechanic 1980

Starts working as a truck driver on local routes and as the co-driver on international routes 1982

Becomes the youngest-ever winner of the ­driving skills competition (category: ‘Rigid Truck with Trailer’) 1982

Begins driving routes through Germany – this wasn’t permitted before because truckers in Germany had to be at least 21 years old. ­Following this, 25 years of driving across ­Germany, including 20 years to and from the Port of Hamburg 1995

After the borders between EU countries are opened up, trips to the Benelux countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Eastern Europe and Italy 2005 until now

Routes to the United Kingdom and Ireland 2006

Wins the Golden Truck as Austria’s most ­versatile trucker

That’s a good question. The smart ones avoid nicotine, caf­ feine and alcohol. They make sure they keep themselves fit.

Stimulants only boost your concentration for a brief period.

Ultimately, it’s all in your mind.

What do you eat?

My wife thinks I’m really fussy about food. I always bring my own for the journey. I usually eat something cold. It doesn’t matter to your body whether you are eating hot or cold meals.

And I only eat things that I know. I don’t go for much meat or fatty foods. I prefer a lot of salad and fruit.

That’s admirable. Have you got any weaknesses?

No. There aren’t many young people training to be truck drivers nowadays. Why? Truck drivers don’t have a good image among other road users. Car drivers see them as a nuisance. And no youngster today wants to invest 4,000 to 6,000 euros to get a truck driver’s license. Except maybe the son of a logistics company

‘Technology took over long ago.’ owner. When I’m on a trip, I only ever see drivers who qualified long ago, or foreign drivers. There is no upcoming generation of truck drivers in this country.

What needs to be done to make the profession fit for the ­future?

It needs to become more family-friendly. That can be achieved by making trips shorter, as with platform trucks, where two meet halfway along a route. If you’re a truck driver, you need to be able to accept deprivation. You only see your family and friends at weekends – you have to come to terms with that.

You need a good social network to make it work. I am very fortunate: I have had the full support of my wife for over 30 years. Lots of other drivers have been through divorces, some more than once.

And what does the future hold for you?

I plan to keep driving for another seven years and then retire at 60. We’ll have to see what the government has to say!

By then I will have been driving trucks for over 40 years and hardly ever been sick. So I’ll have done my bit.

Can you imagine staying in one place when you’re retired?

I feel as right as rain at home and have no need to be traveling all the time. When I’m retired, I’ll have more time for my hobbies and interests, above all for motorsports.

Where will your next trip be taking you?

To Britain, of course.

2006

First trip with a semi (he previously drove rigid trucks) 2014

6 million kilometres driven, accident-free

Frank Haas was born in 1977. He studied History and Philosophy and, as head of corporate ­communications at Gebrüder Weiss, is editor-inchief of ATLAS.

ATLAS 43

44

Time capsule: treasure trove, archive and ­pop art Remembering, preserving and conserving are basic human needs

text: Heike Hansen with Alexander von Chmaladse

T

he need to capture time is deeply rooted in our nature.

We take pictures, keep journals, tell friends and ­relatives where we’ve been and where we’re headed.

Often we find it difficult to part from things to which we have attached special meaning or memories. We want to bequeath something to our children, grandchildren and great-grand­ children that money can’t buy. And we pass on our experiences and life stories in the form of narratives, family albums and heirlooms in the hope of preserving a part of ourselves for posterity.

Time capsules do the work of remembering for us; they preserve messages from today for tomorrow. They comprise an individual and collective memory of everyday experience, lending human history an element of haptic perception – an unusual type of strongbox kept securely locked for the ages and forms of life to come. At the same time though, time ­capsules are treasure troves, archives and second-hand shops of sorts. They exist solely for that moment of remembering; in the interim between being closed and opened, they are transcendent, remain suspended – yet also firmly anchored in – two dimensions in time.

Of course, in the first instance, time capsules are merely storage containers made of glass, steel or copper that hold old news­papers, photographs, letters – in other words, private collections hoping not to fade and be forgotten. Our planet is replete with such containers – buried in the ground, walled inside buildings or resting in weighted chests on the ocean floor. Some are circling the globe, in orbit above our heads, while others are already headed for distant solar systems and galaxies – as radio messages or stored on space probes. Just like the two presumably oddest time capsules in orbit: the Golden Records, albums with the ‘best of ’ human history

attached to the exterior panels of the two Voyager probes. Music, ­photographs, sounds and greetings in 55 languages – even whale song – have been immortalized in these recordings for extraterrestrials to find someday.

They had been c­ ircling overhead since 1977; in 2013 they left our solar system and are now flying through inter­ stellar space, ­destination unknown.

The idea behind the time capsule is millennia old. As early as 680 B.C., the Assyrian king ­Esarhaddon had inscribed tablets built into the foundations of buildings and monuments.

His son Ashurbanipal collected these tablets and placed them in a library, the remains of which comprise an important archaeo­ logical source of Middle Eastern history.

Key sites in antiquity such as Pompeii are often described as ‘time capsules’ – notwithstanding the involuntary nature of their preservation. The ashes of Vesuvius basically encapsulated the city, and it was only centuries later that its ‘message’ saw daylight. And in the Middle Ages, conventional items were bricked into church towers and building foundations for future reference.

In the 1930s the time capsule phenomenon underwent a renaissance in the United States.

Thornwell Jacobs, then president of Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia, filled a swimming pool-sized chamber with various items designed to reflect our cultural heritage. He christened his collection of microfilms and everyday utensils the Crypt of Civilization

45

The magic of numbers: on 21 December 2012 a stainless steel receptacle was cemented into the foundations of the new GW Head Office in Lauterach. It contains a deed bearing the signatures of all those who attended the ground-breaking ceremony, a copy of the company’s Weissbuch, and a newspaper from the day.

and decreed that it not be opened again until the year 8113.

According to the ‘Guinness Book of Record’, this crypt constituted the first ­successful attempt to document our culture for all future i­ nhabitants of the planet Earth.

Inspired by the Crypt of Civilization, the Westinghouse Company used the occasion of the 1939 World’s Fair in New York to bury a steel capsule filled, among other things, with the correspondence of leading figures – ­including Albert Einstein. Westinghouse repeated the exercise in 1964 and essentially coined the term ‘time capsule’. Numerous private individuals, ­developers, cities and other world fairs then followed the company’s example.

Riding the wave of the time capsule’s popularity, the ‘International Time Capsule Society’ (ITCS) was founded in 1990. Its self-declared raison d’être is to keep records of all time ­capsules around the world, to prepare scientific documentation on the phenomenon and to inform the public.

The outstanding artist Andy Warhol viewed the concept of the time capsule as a way to cast off everyday ballast. From the early 1970s until his death in 1987, Warhol created 611 time capsules. These, however, were no ordinary time capsules; his were not forged of steel and buried somewhere for future generations. Instead, his ‘capsules’ were ­simply moving crates. Warhol always kept one ­positioned next to his desk to use as a depository for all manner of superfluous things: notes, greeting cards, invoices, underwear, letters, gifts, photographs, books and more. Once a

crate was full, it was closed, dated and placed in storage by one of his a ­ ssistants. Today these ‘time capsules’ belong to the Andy ­Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, which has set itself the goal of opening each of them and inventorying the content.

Given the wealth of detritus – a mixture of the useless and the ­bizarre – these might well prove to be Warhol’s greatest legacy and work.

His entire life, Warhol debated selling the crates and finally divesting himself of all the junk. In his book The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, he describes a yearning for empty spaces and the impossible task of gaining control of his disorganization by way of cupboards and shelving systems: ‘You don't want to feel you’re living next door to your own dump. Another person’s dump wouldn’t bother you so much because you wouldn’t know exactly what was in it, but thinking about your own closet, and knowing every little thing that’s in it, could drive you crazy.’ Warhol recommends: ‘What you should do is get a box for a month, and drop everything in it and at the end of the month lock it up. Then date it and send it over to Jersey. You should try to keep track of it, but if you can’t and you lose it, that’s fine, because it’s one less thing to think about, another load off your mind.’

That’s one way to look at it.

Heike Hansen has captured two of Germany’s most coveted design prizes for her final thesis in Com­ munication Design entitled Time Capsules – Don’t open before. She has been working as an independent d ­ esigner since 2013 in the fields of corporate and ­editorial design. www.heike-hansen.de

46 FAMILY

parents – d n a n re ild h c r fo e g Family pa nd try out to take home, read a

f l e s r u o y t u o b a Tell the future ! le u s p a c e m ti a te a re C do anything. , without us needing to Time passes all by itself not change time s on a clock, but we can nd ha the ve mo can We pping them. d we have no way of sto itself. Moments pass, an es, when ir memory. Time capsul But we can capture the present a can ows on the past. You ­re-opened, are like wind or for others. them, either for yourself snapshot of your life in

might be sule in the future, you If you open the time cap u have already s you find inside that yo amazed at all the thing familiar and t its contents seem both tha be y ma It . en ott org ­f g, just like rld is constantly changin strange. Because our wo our tastes. y who you are.

But you will always sta

Cut out

place it in your time this questionnaire and

capsule

My name is

My height is about: My favourite songs are: My friends’ na mes are: The things I like doing most: The things I don’t like doing What I would like to learn: My w ish for the future:

at all:



The winners will be notified by post or e-mail, and will receive their prizes by the end of September 2014. For legal reasons, we sincerely regret that Gebrüder Weiss employees are not permitted to enter. The judges’ decision is final. Prizes cannot be exchanged for cash.

FAMILY 47

This is what you do:

Competition How would you like the world to be one day?

Send us your wishes to r­ edaktion@gw-atlas.com or on a postcard before 31/7/2014 to: Gebrüder Weiss GmbH Redaktion Atlas Bundesstraße 110 A-6923 Lauterach Österreich The submissions will go into a prize draw and the first three names drawn will receive a remote-­ controlled GW toy truck.

1

Take a large glass jar, a lunch box or any other container that closes tight. Paint your time capsule or cover it with stickers – the choice is yours.

2

Complete the ATLAS questionnaire, fold it or roll it up, and then place it inside the capsule.

3

Add a current photograph of yourself, the front page of a newspaper from that day, the packaging from your absolute ­favourite candy or a lucky charm, and other things that belong to you.

You might choose a hair slide, a small toy, a rubber stamp, a sticker …

4

Seal the time capsule with sticky tape and note the date you want to re-open it on the outside.

Soul in the machine Built by an engineer and artist from Las Vegas, this travelling sculpture consists almost completely of steel.

The chassis of the vehicle is enclosed by a disused vacuum chamber from the Los Alamos National Laboratories – formerly used to heat laser beams to temperatures of several million degrees for the purpose of manipulating hydrogen molecules.

B u r n i n g Ma n

50 BURNING MAN

text and photos: David Benedek

O

nce a year, a temporary town of daunting proportions pops up in the heart of the Nevada desert. It’s a shrine to the creative lifestyle, a music festival and a social utopia. Over the past 25 years what started out around a small campfire in San Francisco has evolved into something that defies definition. However, there is no doubt about one thing: if West Coast practitioners of the beautiful life are mingling with geeks from Silicon Valley, unusual and amusing phenomena are sure to abound. A flying visit to the world of Burning Man.

Before you know it, you are completely immersed in the world of Burning Man. In the midst of the action, perched in one of the countless weird and wonderful vehicles, you make your way through the barren desert that an army of tinkerers, technology freaks and ageing ­hippies ­occupies for one week each year.

Stretching in every direction, nothing

but gleaming sand and a big blue sky.

Utopia has never seemed closer than in the endless expanses of Black Rock City, the temporary metropolis which – with its 70,000 inhabitants – annually mushrooms into Nevada’s third largest city to set the stage for Burning Man. It is very easy to be swallowed up by this subculture.

Because, based on the unbending rules of its founders, independent and autonomous activity, inventiveness, and exchanging ideas with others are the be-all and end-all of the festival.

Ideas like ‘radical self-expression’, the pursuit of individual creativity, and absolute inclusion may sound slightly pre­tentious, but here they all soon take shape before your very eyes. The fact is, almost everything on show during this week is created by the participants themselves, not by the organizers. In some respects, Burning Man could be described as the world’s largest craft

The Super Mario Cloud This three-dimensional pixel cloud from the classic computer game Super Mario Brothers can be controlled with an iPad app. In addition to producing an array of lighting and sound effects, the cloud can actually rain! The platform made from CNC-machined cubes can transport up to five passengers at a time. It also features a trapeze for professional circus artists.

Fishing boat Fully equipped with internal LED and audio systems, this fishing boat was constructed by two software engineers from San Francisco. In addition to the seat for the captain – a horse saddle positioned in the centre – there are genuine Eames chairs for two guests.

The Netherlands flag – hoisted the wrong way around – was intended to attract gorgeous Dutch women and generate controversy.

Above: Rat Taxi Constructed entirely from scrap metal collect­ ed at random, the Rat Taxi offers festival-­ goers a free means of transport. Behind the head, which is made of an old wooden stove, the roving rodent’s interior offers space for several passengers.

Above right: F-15 Falcon Originally designed to be a ‘reception vehicle’ for the local airport, this F-15 replica was tasked with guiding real aircraft landing on the desert runway to their designated bays on the apron. In addition to an electronic drive system powered by a 36-volt battery and 2,000-watt generator, the fighter jet also boasts a beer cannon in its right wing that is connected by a high-pressure pipe to a barrel in the cockpit.

Below right: Kissy Fish This small, fish-like vehicle that appears to be crawling like an amphibian thanks to its moving legs was constructed by a team of space scientists from the University of California at Berkeley. The vehicle’s mouth can be operated from inside, allowing anyone and anything in the fish's path to be kissed. The CD-ROMs used to simulate the scales of the fish come from a failed start-up company.

ATLAS 53

fair. While some may be sceptical about mandating open-mindedness within an entire community, the festival’s common denominator finds very real expression in a central tenet: ‘unconditional gifting’, i. e. giving gifts to others while expecting nothing in return – the fundamental principle informing Burning Man. Apart from coffee and ice, there is nothing that can be purchased with money in the whole of Black Rock City during this week. All forms of consumer activity need to take the form of gifts between two parties. What seems all but impossible in hypothetical terms is no less astounding in practice, not least given the bandwidth of offerings: from gigantic cocktail bars and roller skating

rinks through to massage p ­ arlours, the participants supply the products and services at their own cost. The ultimate outcome is a whimsical competition of would-be selflessness, humorous attempts to impress others with the craz­ iest gifts, or the most ­bizarre vehicles and works of art.

As perplexingly beautiful as this collective harmony may sound, the limits of this ideal world are progressively laid bare as the week nears its end. Fatigue begins to take its toll on the whole festival, and you can sense that ‘decompression’ – the word used to describe re-emergence into the real world – is en­croaching. Of course, hard-core ‘burners’ will never admit to this. After

all, they argue, everything outside Black Rock City belongs to the ‘default world’ with its norms, standards and con­ ventions. The real world only exists at ­Burning Man.

David Benedek, born in 1980, is a designer and filmmaker from Munich. The magazine Neon has named him among its list of the ‘100 Most Important Young Germans’ several times. His latest book, Current State: Snowboarding, garnered him the Print Media Prize of Bavaria. www.davidbenedek.com

54 PERSPECTIVES

‘I can already remember much of what I will be experiencing.’

Karl Kraus, Austrian publicist and satirist, 1874–1936 Young GW employees gaze into the crystal ball

‘In my vision of the future, there is equality for everybody – irrespective of their ­religion, culture or skin colour. ­Human rights are truly recognized and embraced. And the same wages are paid for the same work. This applies to men and women alike, regardless of their ethnic background.’

‘By 2030, globalization will have ­advanced still further. Many jobs that still exist today will have disappeared. Robots will perform lots of the work. Beyond that the population will be very old as a result of ­demographic change, although I feel sure that this generation will play a very active role in society.’

Jakob Sauer, 19, GW Memmingen

Larissa Grabner, 19, GW Maria Lanzendorf

‘In 2030 I think that cars and trucks will be powered by alternative fuels – such as hydrogen or liquid natural gas – with the goal of reducing costs and air pollution.

Aircrafts will be redesigned so that they can transport people and cargo at the same time. As far as society is concerned, I believe that the use of electronic devices will serve to increasingly alienate and divide people.

There will be fewer close relationships and less interpersonal communication, with the Web and social networks shaping people’s lives.’

Matic Saksida, 22, GW Ljubljana

PERSPECTIVES 55

‘We already live in an incredibly fast world and it will speed up even more in the future. Technology too will develop at a dramatic pace. In my eyes, the world will become one big family.

It will be a world where distances are no longer an obstacle and where the difficulties we encounter today – at work, at college or in our everyday lives – have been overcome.’

Nino Khorbaladze, 22, GW Tibilisi

‘Halfway through my traineeship I redefined my aspirations for the future: complete my training with a good grade and discover the world.

In my job I have daily contact with Chinese, Americans and South ­Africans – all people from cultures I would like to explore. By 2030 I would like to have visited the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in Japan, walked along the Great Wall of China, enjoyed the panoramic view over Cape Town, and tried my luck in Las Vegas. As the writer Saint-Exupéry said: “Tread not on smooth roads alone. Choose paths that no one has followed before you, so that you may leave tracks – and not only dust – in your wake.” And I am convinced that I'll have the chance to do just that in my future!’

Azra Draganovic, 22, A & S Wolfurt

‘I have always been a big optimist, so I view my future and the people around me in a very positive light. In my eyes, it’s the attitudes of people today that really count. Sometimes it may look like so­ciety is heading in the wrong ­direction, but I'm going to stay positive: at the end of the day I believe that humankind will ­basically adhere to the right values and put these into practice.’

Dominika Nagyova, 19, GW Senec

‘In 2030 I expect to be part of a society that is even more open than today. Modern media will be a dominant force, and society will be even more multicultural than it already is today. By 2030 I personally will have a good few years of work behind me. So I can imagine myself being in a position of responsibility – preferably in the logistics business. And on the home front I will have found the woman I want to spend my life with, and may even have children.’

Marcel Reimann, 19, GW Pratteln

56 Orange network

By air

By sea

The heaviest air freight item ever transported by GW was a 70.5 tonne steel cauldron flown from Zurich (Switzerland) to Houston, Texas (USA).

The world’s longest container ship is 59 metres wide and about four times as long as a football pitch – 399 metres. It has a carrying capacity of 18,270 containers.

Slovakia In 1993, Gebrüder Weiss opened its first site in Slovakia. Twenty years later, at the start of September 2013, two additional buildings with a to­tal area of 4,600 m2 became opera­tion­al at the existing logistics terminal in Senec, just outside Bratislava. In this small, landlocked country Gebrüder Weiss handles some 400,000 dispatches a year, with figures rising steadily.

Serbia In April Gebrüder Weiss Serbia cele­brated its tenth anniversary and, with it, a decade of successful operations in the country. Having originally started out with two employees, it now employs more than 150 personnel at its locations in Dobanovci (Belgrade) and Strojkovce (Leskovac). GW Serbia has become the second largest player on the country’s transport and logistics market.

Turkey Gebrüder Weiss has now extend­ ed its multimodal portfolio to Istanbul. The team at the new branch office provides services in the areas of overland transport, multimodal solutions and sea and air freight – ­acting as a major gateway to the Caucasus and Middle East.

USA Initially established in 1999, the partnership between Röhlig and Gebrüder Weiss has been restruc­ tured and strengthened. Gebrüder Weiss has increased its interests in the joint ventures in China, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, Canada and the United Arab Emirates to 100 %. The two companies will be main­taining their 50 % shares in Weiss-Röhlig USA.

Orange network 57

On wheels

On foot

When participating in an international cycling competition, GW employees rode 213,112 kilometres – more than half the distance to the moon.

The German student Christoph Rehage set out to walk home from Beijing. He didn’t succeed, but within 12 months he did cover the 4,646 kilometres to Ürümqi before giving up.

Australia Gebrüder Weiss delivered railway lines to Australia for an Austrian steel producer. Weighing a total of 2,500 tonnes, the rails – which were between 16.2 and 25 metres in length – were shipped the 11,000 nautical miles from Antwerp, Belgium, to Australia on the Dolfjingracht.

AUStria DPD Austria, in which Gebrüder Weiss holds a major interest, dispatched 39 million packages in 2013, an increase of 2.1 per cent.

Revenues at the courier service during its anniversary year – in 2013 DPD Austria turned 25 – rose by a full 3.6 per cent to 166.6 million euros.

Russia Following its acquisition of the Viennese cargo company Far Freight, Gebrüder Weiss has now added a further location in the Caucasus to its branch in Georgia and one in Turkmenistan. With its focus on overland transport, Gebrüder Weiss is expanding its services for Turkmenistan, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and southern Russia with the help of the Far Freight team.

INDIa A special delivery half way around the world: 34-metre long rotor blades were transported by ship from Spain to India where Weiss-Röhlig operates 16 sites. Its services extend from Air & Sea transport, storage and distribution through to project logistics and customs clearance.

58  Envisioning the future

I

Who will

want to have been one day?

Envisioning the future 59

Dana Giesecke has a degree in Sociology and a Master of ­Science qualification in Communication and Marketing.

In 2011 she became the Academic Director of the found­a­tion FUTURZWEI. Stiftung Zukunftsfähigkeit. Co-founded by the ­social psychologist Harald Welzer, this organisation documents exemplary forms of sustainable human behaviour.

Eight questions for Dana Giesecke about utopian visions and the scope of actions interview: Miriam Holzapfel Ms Giesecke, as a specialist you can

People trying to create a better future

surely answer this for me: Do I need to

for our world often seem really self-

be afraid of the future? (laughs) That isn’t the way we would

contented. Why is that? Because they

put it at FUTURZWEI. We’re respon­­ sible for a positive outlook on the future.

Anxiety scenarios don’t foster action – they block it. We collect positive stories about role models who show us how life could be different. Because that encourages people to take the initiative.

When I turn on the TV or open a news­ paper, I get the feeling that I – as an individual – have very little power.

True, because the subjects – like CO2 emissions, peak oil and the financial crises – always appear so overwhelming.

They seem so huge and abstract that individuals feel helpless when confronted by them. That’s why FUTURZWEI has set out to show how we can all, within our personal spheres, have a concrete impact on the future. We all need to be asking ourselves whether we want to number among those whose actions have damaged our natural resources beyond all measure. And at

less involved than others in the irre­

bear less of the moral burden – being

that point we can look at our lifestyles and social environments, and are sure to find scope for meaningful action.

sponsible treatment of our planet?

Psychologists refer to this as the ‘experi-

ence of self-efficacy’. As soon as people take an initial step and make a change –

‘We are a promotion agency for a social ­ movement that has yet to understand that it is already a movement.’

Of course, this scope will vary greatly – a company will have far more than a student. The goal of our foundation is to compile all the things we can do at a ‘grass-roots’ level, and to present these in narrative form for emulation. Few people involved are aware that many of these projects are forming the avantgarde of a sustainable society. FUTURZWEI says: We are a promotion agency for a social movement that has yet to understand that it is already a movement.

repairing something, establishing a small cooperative, tending a communal garden – they realize they are doing something worthwhile. And they want to replicate that feeling, leading them to take the second step.

The writer Sybille Berg argues that ­establishing close bonds with others – rather than indulging in consum­ erism – should be the purpose of life: ‘People who feel love, buy less’, she says.

60 Envisioning the future

FUTURZWEI Responsible entrepreneurs, creative local government agencies, public interest groups, start-ups, individual members of society: New forms of production, commerce and social interaction are being ­trialled in many parts of our world.

The charitable foundation FUTURZWEI has tasked itself with archiving these ­projects transparently for the public and tapping their political potential.

The FUTURZWEI Zukunftsalmanach 2013 was themed Mobility. A new issue of the almanac focusing on Material is due to be published this coming autumn. www.futurzwei.org

I like that. And you could say that we are already doing that in our foundation FUTURZWEI. We’re ignoring the superficial, ‘click-and-like’ types of activities familiar from social networking sites.

Instead we are familiarizing ourselves with the people we portray in our ­stories, and they in turn are learning about the people who figure in our books and films, and on our portal. Last year we hosted a major event in a circus where we met up with lots of ‘our’ world changers. That gathering spawned all kinds of different connections, partnerships and close relationships. There’s no end-product in maintaining masses of shallow relationships when you are just keeping up the communications for their own sake. And yes: It most certainly is more strenuous, but it’s also more rewarding.

Being committed to a relationship can inevitably be strenuous. It’s more of a long-term investment. Do we lack the patience?

The fast pace of registering and satisfying needs today means that longstanding wishes and dreams are becoming a rarity. Being able to get everything we want immediately inhibits the imagination. Fantasy worlds are becoming a thing of the past, as is a willingness to wait patiently for something and experience long-term pleasure.

If, at least in theory, everything is ­always available, do we still need to be distinguishing between ‘wanting’ and ‘unconditionally needing’ something?

Good point. If the two of us were to decide now to sail around the world starting next week, that would be ­doable. But en route we would presumably be thinking about the next project we could begin, because the time it takes to satisfy desires is getting shorter and shorter and the ultimate payoff is becoming less and less gratifying. In this respect the quickening counterpoint of need and satisfaction really is a cause for concern.

What’s the lowest, practicable com­ mon denominator in the debate on sustainable strategies for the future?

Envisioning the future 61

‘As soon as people take an initial step and make a change, they realize they are doing something worthwhile. And they want to replicate that feeling.’

Wherever they are, people can always share examples of real achievement, and pass on success stories that demonstrate different life strategies and scenarios. To help them, we’ve produced lots of different templates for stories at FUTURZWEI. And if someone actually decides to do something, there are many options available. You don’t have to start from scratch, you can get involved by joining an existing project. The first step is always to identify your own radius of action. If I live in a small village, then

my radius is obviously different to that of city-dwellers. And, of course, the scope of actions available in western Europe may differ from those in the Far East.

In short, stories and utopian visions that we need to protect and defend against pessimism can help us over­ come our anxiety about the future?

Yes. Most of the groundbreaking changes affecting everyday life come from within society itself, not science.

And society needs utopian visions

and stories that aid in understanding the world and offer orientation. To imagine my ideal future, I need a positive incentive, a positive image of how life could be: Who will I want to have been one day? And then I key my actions to that goal.

Miriam Holzapfel, born in 1975, is a cultural ­scientist and a journalist for ATLAS.

62 Envisioning the future

Why not simply invent the future that we want for ourselves? There are good ­examples aplenty as FUTURZWEI ’s work shows. Share these stories with others and take inspiration from them. Here’s wishing you lots of success with your own ideas.

A new lease on life for the latest fad Homeware stores, local authorities and social businesses in the Austrian region of Styria have joined forces to save old items of furniture from the scrap heap. Armchairs and cupboards are now being sold at low prices in socalled reuse stores – which are staffed from the ranks of the ­unemployed.

The Situation Nothing fades faster than fashion. What was once feted as flavour of the month is often thrown out just a few years later because it has become passé or outmoded. But many discarded items of furniture are still completely ­functional. Up until 2008 the European Union would not allow the reuse of appliances and furnishings handed in at recycling centres, even if they were still in perfect working order. Garbage is ­garbage, the argument ran. But demand for used goods is high and second-hand stores could sell much more if they had the merchandise.

The Solution The pilot project Returned Furniture in Styria has brought together the furniture stores kika and Leiner, cooperating with the job creation organization BAN and other social businesses.

The third party to the project is Styria’s regional government, which is providing some funding because it helps and retrains the jobless. Discarded items originally purchased from these furniture stores are being refurbished by BAN employees and then sold at affordable prices.

The Outcome Items that can still serve their purpose are being restored to use rather than destroyed. This reduces waste levels and helps people whose budgets may not extend to purchasing brand new furnishings. The project also creates jobs for the longterm unemployed, making it a win-win situation for everyone involved. www.abfallwirtschaft.steiermark.at www.ban.at

Envisioning the future 63

‘The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented.’

Dennis Gábor, Nobel Prize winner and inventor of ­holography*

All change please!

In Zurich cars are being systematically obstructed so that buses and trams always have the right of way.

The ­residents owe this improvement chiefly to the onetime automotive enthusiast Rudi Aeschbacher.

The Situation When Rudi Aeschbacher was appointed director of Zurich’s building inspectorate at the end of the 1970s, the city’s traffic was constantly congested, the air was bad, and when cars were jam packed bumper to bumper all afternoon, many commuters found their way home through residential back streets. As a consequence, the noise from the rush-hour traffic noise became almost unbearable.

The Solution Aeschbacher performed a U-turn to reduce car traffic dramatically.

While the expansion of the train and tram networks, like the prioritization of cyclists and pedestrians on the roads, met with widespread approval, his plan to drastically cut the number of city parking spaces sparked bitter resistance: ‘It was contested right up to the Supreme Court’, Aeschbacher recalls.

‘It was very tough going.’

Today only 40,000 of the former 60,000 public parking spaces still exist. Many of the areas reclaimed as a result were turned into street cafés or bike stations. Röntgenplatz, across which 25,000 cars used to race every day, is now the exclusive domain of pedestrians, cyclists and playing children. More­ over, phased traffic lights were introduced for public transport and large numbers of car lanes reallocated to tram tracks. No house or office within Zurich’s city limits today is more than 300 metres from the nearest public transport stop. And given

the outstanding bus, tram and local train schedules, with the locations of all services tracked every 14 seconds, public transport service in Zurich is amazingly punctual and dependable.

The Outcome Today only every second household in Zurich owns a car. ­Passenger volumes on buses, trams and trains are consistently rising. All City Council employees come to work by bike, tram or on foot. Even bankers use public transport as a matter of course. And following years of debate, the canton’s conservative government is now allowing housing cooperatives to build homes without parking spaces for residents. Rudi Aeschbacher himself sold his last car back in 1996. For two years he shared his neighbour’s vehicle. Then he handed back the keys. www.zuerich.ch

* A method of presenting objects in three dimensions, familiar in everyday life from identity cards and bank note.

64 Envisioning the future

Natural plastic The chemist Michael Gass developed a method of ­extracting plastic composites from grass.

The Situation The chemist and engineer Michael Gass spent the majority of his professional life scaling a steep career ladder. However, one thought kept niggling away at him until he could finally no longer ignore it. He thought to himself: almost the entire chemicals ­industry is based on crude oil. Many materials need to be transported from afar. And during manufacturing, and when the product's useful life is over, mountains of waste are ­generated, many of them highly toxic. Gass opted out and, together with a colleague, began to experiment.

The Solution Their aim was to produce plastic composites using methods taken from nature: they wanted to completely exhaust their raw materials, producing no waste whatsoever. The two scientists chose grass as their source material. Grass is cheap and ­available worldwide. Moreover, it is not in significant com­­pe­ tition with any type of food production. In the laboratory the two devised a method of obtaining fleecy and flexible fibres from grass silage. To achieve this they used mechanical methods only and added nothing but water.

The Outcome It has been operational since 2007 – the world’s first-ever ­industrial grass processing plant. Grass fibres make up 50 % of the computer keyboards and mice, flashlights, toolboxes and flooring that his company BIOWERT manufactures. At the end of the process, the production materials that don’t become part of the synthetic fibres find their way into the large, round tank of a biogas plant. These fuel a small power plant that generates the electricity and heat required to dry the ­fibres.

The water BIOWERT needs to wash the fibres is also obtained here and pumped into the grass factory. Ultimately, the waste becomes a type of organic fertilizer which the ­region’s farmers regularly collect for their fields. Gass invested almost all of his assets in this product – ‘and with it in my heart and soul. The whole process served to restore my health’, says the 56-yearold. At present a dozen people earn their livings converting grass into plastic at BIOWERT – above all former agricultural workers. In his search for suitable partners, Gass ‘legs it’ around numerous trade fairs. His quest has even taken him to New York. And there too his natural plastic ­composites have sparked considerable interest. www.biowert.de

We wish to thank the FUTURZWEI Foundation and the author Annette Jensen for supplying the ‘success stories’ we have printed here as abridged ­summaries. Even more examples can be found in the German Der FUTURZWEI Zukunftsalmanach 2013, Fischer TB

ATLAS 65

Green Weiss

In 2011 Gebrüder Weiss invested in its own wind farm consisting of four turbines, each with a nominal ­capacity of 2 megawatts. The gearless turbines, which are 108 metres tall excluding the blades, are low-maintenance and cost-efficient. The amount of clean power generated annually more than covers the entire ­company’s electricity needs, reducing CO2 emissions by 12,000 tonnes.

Since January 2008 the Orange Combi Cargo (OCC) operated by Gebrüder Weiss has been travelling daily between Austria’s Vorarlberg region and Vienna – ­replacing some 12,000 road services each year. Over 40,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions have been saved by moving this cargo onto the rails. Additionally every new GW location since the 1970s has been given a direct link to rail networks.

Division

Division

Energy

Transport

Location

Location

Northern Germany

Vorarlberg – Vienna

A broad range of environmental and energy-related factors is considered when planning new locations.

Gebrüder Weiss advocates the use of district and ­geothermal-based heating, corresponding types of thermal and cold insulation, and ventilation systems which, by incorporating heat recovery features and free cooling functions, reduce the environmental footprint of indoor temperature regulation.

Following investments totalling 2 million euros, ­Austria’s first-ever climate-neutral logistics hall was opened at the company’s Wörgl site in 2011. The project created 1,300 m2 of additional space for storage, transhipment and order-picking, plus a supplementary refrigerated warehouse with room for 150 pallets.

Division

Division

Heating/Climate

Heating/Climate

LOCATION

LOCATION

Worldwide

Wörgl

The new tube

Elon Musk’s plans for the Hyperloop

68 HYPERLOOP

text: Imke Borchers

I

t needn’t always be as far away as Mars. Residents of Munich still dream of travelling from the main station to the airport in 10 minutes.

The rail journey from Vienna to Prague is cut to four hours and 10 minutes from D ­ ecember 2014 onwards. Meanwhile the space travel entrepreneur and e ­ lectric car pioneer Elon Musk has published ideas for a far faster trans­­ portation system: the Hyperloop, which would connect San Francisco and Los Angeles in little more than 30 minutes. His plans, which envisage propelling people in capsules through tubes at slightly less than the speed of sound, would therefore create a fifth form of travel – after boat, train, car and aircraft.

As crazy as it may sound, Musk’s ­vision is not new. As early as 1869 a New York entrepreneur built a tunnel under Broadway through which passen-

Elon Musk, was born in South Africa in 1971 and has been a pioneering force in various fields.

Since 2000, the entrepreneur, who has five children, has been involved in several ­internet companies including PayPal. In 2002 he launched the space travel ­company SpaceX which sent the commercial space freighter Dragon to the ISS. Since 2003 he has been developing ­electric cars with TeslaMotors. He is now offering these for lease through Germany’s largest car rental company.

gers would ‘glide’ in cubicles powered by compressed air. Numerous suggestions for alternative means of transport have followed, but to date none have proved viable.

Musk’s interest was initially aroused by the proposed rail network for highspeed trains in California. In his eyes, the plans were not only too expensive,

the trains were quite simply too slow.

So this visionary, who had already stir­r­ ed up the electric car industry with his company TeslaMotors, started work­ing on his own plans. With energy con­ sumption and sustainable production numbering among the greatest chal­ lenges facing humankind this century, he set out to make the Hyperloop safer, more economical, less dependent on the weath­er, earthquake-proof, ideally energy neutral in its operation – and of course faster than its competitors.

Teleportation would have been the perfect solution, but unfortunately ­nobody has invented it yet. So when he contemplated alternatives to the proposed system, Musk thought back to the time-honoured principle of pneumatic post – once itself a futuristic vision but today a thing of the past. Blowing peo­ ple in containers through tubes in the same way is simply not possible due to the amount of friction generated.

Here today, there tomorrow Mobility is a basic human need. The question of how to move better from A to B, horizontally or vertically, has been preoccupying humankind since time ­immemorial. And ideas that ­appeared ­almost preposterous not so long ago – such as the rise of the petrol-powered ­automobile (see the quote from Kaiser Wilhelm II on page 5) – will soon be ­obsolete. What seems like science fi ­ ction today will become part of our everyday lives in the near future. | mho

Transition The Transition is a combination carcum-airplane developed by the company Terrafugia. Weighing some 600 kg, the two-seater version has been approved for travel in the US, fits in any standard garage, and can be driven on roads with its wings folded in. In just 60 seconds the car converts into an aircraft that can take off from any airport. And it can fill up at regular gas stations. Although the Transition doesn’t exactly come cheap – the first models due to come off the ­assembly line in 2015 are likely to start at US dollars 279,000 – numerous orders have allegedly been received. And work

is ­already underway on the next model, the four-seater TF-X, which will be able to take off and land vertically anywhere – not just at airports. www.terrafugia.com

HYPERLOOP 69

Given two-minute intervals between the individual capsules, the Hyperloop could carry 840 passengers per hour – 28 per capsule in 14 rows of two abreast.

The solution put forward by the entre­­ preneur can be summarized – in very simplified terms – as follows: the cabins containing either passengers or freight effectively float through a narrow tube on a cushion of air. On the front of each cabin is a ventilator which pumps air back­wards, thereby reducing friction.

The tubes are held in place by pylons that are anchored in the ground parallel to the existing highway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. These pylons are flexibly engineered to absorb any movement in the ground below, ­allowing the track to survive an earthquake. The energy required to operate the Hyperloop can be largely generated by solar cells attached to the tubes.

The scheme itself may sound im­plaus­ ible, and the concrete figures present­­ed

Space Elevator As the space skydiver Felix Baumgartner has demonstrated, it is quite possible to travel to earth from the stratosphere without any kind of vehicle. For the return leg, ‘space elevators’ could replace rockets and space shuttles in the not too distant future. ‘Climber capsules’ would ascend to a space sta­tion or satellite, guid­ed by a taut cable attached to a movable platform located west of the Gala­ pagos Islands in the P ­ acific. The technologies required to build this elevator are all available today. Scientists are discussing the details at annual conferences of the International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC). www.isec.org

by Musk seem even more audacious. He plans to cover the 560 kilometres ­between San Francisco and Los Angeles in 35 minutes – by car it takes five and a half hours and by aeroplane 60 minutes; the latest plans for a high-speed train link foresee a journey of two hours and 38 minutes. With two minute intervals between services – and just 30 seconds at peak times – the Hyperloop could transport up to 7.4 million people between the two cities every year. To get the service up and running, Musk has ­estimated costs of between 6 and 7.5 ­billion US dollars, majority of which will be spent on building the track.

Although many experts remain sceptical about the project’s economic and energy feasibility, as of yet, most have failed to identify any technical obstacles to its success. For this reason, Musk has established a company and tasked it

Skytran According to the company Skytran, magnetic levitation trains could soon solve traffic gridlock in the world’s megacities.

According to plans for these ‘maglevs’, which were developed jointly with the space agency NASA, the fully automatic capsules would ferry two people from their starting points to their desti­na­

with developing a prototype. In line with the principle of open-source software, everyone is encouraged to contribute ideas or suggestions for improvements.

Sadly, Elon Musk – who manages Tesla in San Francisco and SpaceX in Los ­Angeles – can no longer devote his personal energy to the development of the Hyperloop – he spends too much time commuting between the two West Coast cities.

Elon Musk is now setting his sights on Mars with his space travel company.

And he has already made it to the International Space Station.

Imke Borchers, born in 1982, is a literary scholar and a jour­nalist at ATLAS.

tions – at any time of their choosing, ­bypassing all the traffic lights and congestion below. The capsules would be on call 24/7 via an app. As Tel Aviv has already registered serious interest in Skytran, a test track could be constructed there very soon. www.skytran.us

The future lies in the hands of the soothsayers – but maybe soon in 3D printing.

71

Futurists, fantasists and fretters HARALD MARTENSTEIN on today’s attempts to come to terms with the future

S

o you are about 20 years old, trying to work out what to do with your life, and want to know more about the world of tomorrow? Unfortunately, nobody can predict the future. But one thing is certain: it won’t simply be a per­ petuation of the present. Assuming that today’s trends will continue to shape the future is simplicity itself, although ­numerous so-called future scientists are making a living from it. The future: it’s just like today but in a higher dosage.

Anyone can make projections like this. But that just isn’t how things work.

My tip: avoid anything connected to the internet. The inter­ net is overrated. Basically, the Web has already seen its heyday. If you pin your hopes on the internet now, it would be like launching a railway company in 1914. It would be too late, you understand. If somebody had bet everything on the internet in 1990, that somebody would have been a genius, and he or she would be filthy rich today. Or even in 2000, there was still potential for really good ideas online. But today? Think of the stock exchange. If everyone is saying that you need to invest in certain shares and the business sections of the broadsheets are already voicing their support too, then true insiders know you should give those shares a wide berth.

3D printers are the next step. When I first heard about this invention I couldn’t believe my ears. I thought somebody was talking nonsense. That’s what you always think at first.

It’s still a fledgling technology, pretty much like computers during the 1970s. In a few years people will simply be able to print out who knows what in their homes: a T-shirt, a new egg whisk, a flower pot, a condom, a fire-extinguisher. And a few years down the line maybe even refrigerators, smartphones and bicycles. It all depends on the printer and the size of ­people’s apartments. The raw materials will be delivered in gigantic printer cartridges – the future’s sunny for the logistics industry. So consider working in that field. Unfortunately, people will also be able to print handguns. We’ve already seen

the first attempt. The gun worked fine, but only fired one round.

Then it fell apart. Improvements will doubtless be made. In my view, the future belongs to the security services. If, one day, 3D printers can be programmed to create atom bombs, life as we know it is over. If you can develop a security system that prevents the printing of nuclear weapons, you will ­become a billionaire. And, moreover, a billionaire popular the world over.

The way things are heading, everyone will have their own universal factory at home within a few years. That’s why some people are talking about the impending ‘third industrial re­vo­ lution’. Time is running out for the factories in China and In­ dia, where poorly paid staff produce cheap knick-knacks. And not just for them. In fifty years, there will be very little demand for manual labour at all – and then only in the mining industry and service sector.

Karl Marx, incidentally, had foreseen this development.

Marx really was a great thinker. It remains to be seen whether 3D printers will lead to the ‘realm of freedom’ anticipated by Marx or simply spawn new forms of repression. I’m generally pessimistic. However, I am surprised at the continuing lack of passionate debate about the future in the media. There’s about as much written on 3D printers today as there was about computers during the 1970s. Well, intellectuals are always a little slower off the mark than entrepreneurs. They’re discussing the internet – ho hum. And if you aren’t technically minded: Be creative. Dream up a look for yourself that really stands out in the crowd. Become the Sascha Lobo of the third industrial revolution! Unless I get there first!

Harald Martenstein authors the column ‘Martenstein’ in Germany’s ZEITMagazin and is editor at the ­Berlin-based newspaper Der Tagesspiegel. He has won several awards, including the Egon E ­ rwin Kisch Prize and the Theodor Wolff Prize. He has also published numerous books including Romantische Nächte im Zoo, Ansichten eines Hausschweins und Freuet Euch, Bernhard kommt bald!

The next ATLAS: Passion

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ode to tomorrow will i marry? be eaten by a shark? the nobel? a fortune? any children at all? will i stay healthy? will i kiss mark? what says the writing on the wall? people are wired to feel disease and dwell too oft on the morrow – the future’s forest, but for the trees, is darkened by dread and sorrow how much better would it be not to fear the worst – and so don rose-coloured glasses and you’ll see it’s easy to go with the flow when that far future becomes today it’s a universal truth, my friend: come good or bad, it fits that way which nothing will change in the end ingo neumayer pens poetry and a German blog entitled Twelve Lines on Time (www.zwoelfzeilen.de).

He lives in Cologne.

Needless to say, none of our articles (with the exception of the success stories on pp. 62–64) have a past. In other words, they were written exclusively for this issue of Atlas. So was this poem.

With news from various regions, colums, interviews, plenty of pictures and the desire to get the world in motion.