SAP’s Berlin Regional Headquarters

SAP’s Berlin Regional Headquarters With its modern architecture providing a state-of-the-art showcase for new media art, the facility constitutes a tangible expression of the innovative thinking going on at SAP. At the same time, it invites passers-by as well as those here on business to take a fascinating journey of discovery through virtual worlds.


The partnership formed by Ars Electronica and SAP in 2002 was designed as a prototype for new models of cooperation at the interface of art, business, technology and society. The collaboration has ranged from media art presentations and pioneering forms of information visualization to joint research projects and innovative social initiatives.

project

Microphones set up along the street outside the building offer the opportunity to turn voices into instruments. For their installation “The Hidden World of Noise and Voice,” New York media artists Golan Levin and Zachary Lieberman developed software that depicts sounds and noises in virtual space. For instance, snapping your fingers produces tiny graphic explosions, as the previously empty space becomes a richly detailed domain full of fantastic virtual shapes. Rear-projection display units (Mitsubishi DLPs) open up a view into these hidden worlds even under daylight conditions. When night falls, an array of large-format projection screens makes it possible to follow the path of these digital forms throughout the entire building.Rear-projection units arranged in vertical pairs along the facility’s façade display commercial messages throughout the day and open up a completely new approach to advertising. Through their movements, passers-by can get involved in interaction with them.

Merely walking past produces wave motions; gestures are registered by cameras, interpreted, and transformed into wave action on the screens. A wide variety of ripple scenarios are possible depending on the form and intensity of the movements.
Designated surfaces immediately adjacent to the main entrance invite visitors to establish direct physical contact with the building. Heartbeat sensors installed there pick up the pulse of whoever lays his/her hand on the surface; after dark, the beat is broadcast throughout the facility. The projections in the lobby and on the levels directly above it begin to pulse. These interaction possibilities enable everyone to make their own very personal contribution to Berlin’s cityscape by night.

This architecture has provided a tangible platform for the collaborative effort by SAP and Ars Electronica to further the art of tomorrow. The building has been designed to provide a harmonious and interesting working environment for staff members and clients, and to motivate them to apply their own creativity to the work they do and in everyday life.
Outlook for the Future This new media art space has also been designed as a showcase for local and international artists, and thus as an experimental laboratory for artistic works involving new media in public space. Joachim Sauter, a professor at Berlin’s University of the Arts and founder of Art+Com, is currently working with a group of students to plan an event to be staged at this venue. And Andreas Broeckmann, artistic director of Transmediale 2005, has been commissioned to curate a program for SAP’s media art showcase in conjunction with that festival.

















credits

Idea and Concept: Gerfried Stocker, Horst Hörtner, Martin Honzik

Interactive Visuals: Golan Levin, Zachary Lieberman

Projectmanagement: Martin Honzik

Softwaredesign and Development: Wolfgang Ziegler, Peter Brandl, Roland Haring, Christian Naglhofer, Stefan Feldler, Christopher Lindinger, Florian Berger

Interfacedesign and Development: Stefan Feldler, Stefan Mittlböck-Jungwirth, Erwin Reitböck, Dietmar Offenhuber, Peter Freudling, Robert Abt

Virtual Designs and Sketches: Andreas Jalsovec, Peter Freudling, Reinhold Bidner, Helmut Höllerl, Stefan Schilcher, Martin Bruner, Nina Wenhart, Christine Pilsl

Coordination: Yvonne Hauser, Pascal Maresch