Bankhaus Wölbern

Combining tradition and innovation has always been the goal of the Hanseatic investment bank Wölbern. A trend-setting signal in this direction was given by Dr. Ernst Wölbern founded the company in 2005 with the new building of the company headquarters at Sandtorkai in Hamburg's HafenCity. The Munich-based artists Sabine Haubitz and Stefanie Zoche drew a bridge between the themes of water and sky, architecture and communication with their installations entitled "Innovation - Bridge of the Future" on behalf of Samuelis Baumgarte Art Consulting. Glass surfaces, light boxes and video monitors reflect these topics.

In the entrance area, for example, visitors are greeted by projections showing underwater images of waves or clouds in the rear-view mirror of a glider. Portraits of people who enter into different relationships with one another through changing projections give a first glimpse into the philosophy of Bankhaus Wölbern: Here, people work with visions for people who are ready to actively and successfully shape their future.

Interview: Haubitz + Zoche about their concept description

What is your art concept for Bankhaus Wölbern based on, how did you develop it?

When developing concepts for space-related work, we first take a close look at the spatial situation, look at the existing or planned architecture and deal with the type of use. We took a look at the shell of the Wölbern bank in December 2004. We were interested in the location in the harbor in the immediate vicinity of the water, the wide view on the upper floors and the clear design language of the architecture.

Since the bank's activity consists in particular of issuing real estate funds, we have taken up the subject of architecture. In addition, there was the topic of communication, which also plays an important role.

In dealing with the building and its use, three narrative strands have emerged that run through the entire building: water and sky, architecture and communication.

How did you relate this theme to the architecture on the different floors of the building?

On the part of the client there was the requirement to use the monitors in the entrance area, to develop a concept for the counter area and to work on the glass surfaces.

The three subject areas are structured as follows on the different floors:

Motifs of water and sky appear on the video monitors in the entrance area and in the boardroom. A connection between these two levels is created by the light ceilings in the elevators, on which underwater images can be seen. The topic of communication is limited to the 1st floor (light box behind the counter).

The subject of architecture is artistically reflected on the glass surfaces in the foyer and in the corridor areas of the 3rd to 8th floors.

The clear assignment of the three topics to individual building areas creates a spatial structure that is also perceptible to the senses. This is also supported by the color effect of the translucent picture motifs in the corridor areas.

What is the concept of the videos in the entrance area?

On the video monitors in the entrance area, silent observations of water and clouds can be seen. Balls that perform a water ballet at a river threshold, underwater shots of waves in slow motion, clouds in the rearview mirror of a glider, bizarre ice formations that are reflected in a lake, sea urchins whose spines are set in rhythmic movement by the waves ... a certain timelessness, they are not staged, but observed closely and captured in a single camera shot without cutting.

Based on Japanese poetry, these film sequences could be described as video haikus: They are limited to depicting a single sensually perceptible moment, without background music, without commentary, without encoding language or symbolic metaphors.

The videos do not have a linear narrative and dispense with narrative elements. You can start looking at them at any point in time. The slowness is consciously in contrast to the everyday hustle and bustle.

How does the light box in the foyer work, what is the idea behind it? For the reception area we have developed a mirrored light box that extends like a frieze from the entrance to above the counter. The artistic concept makes use of the functionality of the spy mirror, which becomes transparent when exposed to direct light. Behind the mirror surface are photographic motifs that can only be seen when the lighting is switched on via a computer control. The light makes the spy mirror transparent and gives a clear view of the photographic motifs in the light boxes. They show portraits of people against the background of an urban landscape photographed with a shallow depth of field.

Individual segments of the light box are switched on in rhythmic alternation, so that the people depicted repeatedly enter into different relationships with one another. The focus here is on communication.

Which people did you photograph?

The people have no direct connection to the bank. We were looking for people of different ages and origins to portray an everyday scene in urban space. When choosing the people, it was important to us not to use excessive typing, so that each person - depending on who is related to her - can fulfill different "roles". For example, the young girl is alternately a friend, daughter, little sister or maybe granddaughter, depending on which other person is brought into relationship with her by the computer control. From the openness of these relationships, the viewer can think of their own little stories associatively.

What criteria did you use to select the architectural objects that can be seen as large-format slides on the glass surfaces in the hallways?

While real estate in the bank is analyzed under economic, objectifiable aspects, we worked according to very subjective criteria - out of an interest in the sculptural effect of a building, a special color or the structure of the facade. We were less concerned with the representation of particularly well-known buildings than with certain building typologies from apartment blocks to commercial buildings. Most of these buildings can only be seen schematically - the blurred motion emphasizes the colors and pushes back small-scale facade structures so that atmospheric color spaces are created.

Applied as large-format slides to the glass surfaces, the recordings give the rooms a mood of dynamism and transparency. We also find the superimposition of the image motifs with the interior design and the view to the outside exciting.

The glass surfaces in the area of ​​the boardroom show images of the view from the cockpit of an aircraft on cloud fields and the sea surface. What would you like to express through this room installation?

Each individual cube shows different cloud formations and light situations, so that four individual rooms are created in which the four board members of the bank work. In some of the photographs, reflections on the inside of the cockpit window overlap with the cloud formations; the reflections of pilots can be seen schematically. There are exciting overlays between the view outside on the harbor area, the real and the photographed sky. Every single cube becomes a virtual cockpit.

How do the motifs in the elevator relate to the overall concept?

The motifs take up the theme of water and sky, which can be seen on the videos in the entrance area, and create a connection to the cloud motifs on the 8th floor through the movement of the elevator.

The skylights in the elevators are covered with underwater shots of high divers. A diving board can be seen through the slightly rippled water. A person jumping into the water was photographed shortly before it hit the surface of the water. In the second, smaller elevator, you can also see a high diver from an underwater perspective against the background of a summer sky. The perspective of both underwater photographs corresponds exactly to the perspective in the elevator, whereby an exciting spatial perception is achieved.

Due to the bright blue, the elevators are immersed in their own lighting mood, which is slightly reflected on the walls made of satined mirrors.

In addition to the installation work, further photo works can be seen in the individual lounges and meeting rooms as light boxes, which take up the themes of architecture, water and clouds. Can you briefly describe this work?

Two light boxes with architectural motifs can be seen in the lounge on the 3rd floor. Traditional and contemporary architecture stand in an interesting contrast to one another. The architecture of the photographed building takes up the theme of reflection, which is a leitmotif of our artistic concept. The facade, which is divided into a darker and a lighter half, is continued in the two-tone floor covering. Two people meet in the courtyard. Their mirror-image positioning seems surprising and cannot be clearly assigned. The slight motion blur of the pictures underlines the poetic overall effect.

In the meeting rooms on the 8th floor, light boxes with motifs of water and sky can be seen in narrow, elongated formats: Two vertical, narrow light boxes in the divisible conference rooms on the 8th floor show swimmers from an underwater perspective. Clouds can be seen through the moving water.

In another meeting room, a shot from the cockpit of an airplane can be seen showing cloud formations and their shadows on the sea surface. The lighting mood in the light box develops a suggestive and poetic effect.

Next to the podium in the boardroom there are two other light boxes: A cloudless sky over the sea horizon conveys a moment of contemplation and calm in its clarity and reduced composition, which stands in contrast to the very varied cloud motifs on the glass surfaces, whereby it is at the same time in adds the theme of water and sky.

Authors and photo rights: Haubitz + Zoche