Philipp Blume, stage designer and founder of Papertown has taken some time to philosophise about cardboard. Sounds strange, is however highly poetic. Based on his latest project with the Packaging Innovations in the Arena Berlin, the eloquent Viennese explains vividly why the packaging material won his heart.
TL&L: Dear Philipp, next year, in the first week of April, the Arena Berlin will turn into a playground for your design crew. how does one wrap up several thousand square meters of factory floor into a coherent stage design?
P: Through the systematic use of an unconventional material, that's how! Our corrugated cardboard will generate a consistent, unique look that aligns the event stylistically. Packaging material as a poetic component of a superordinate dramaturgy – with landmarks like the Art House at the centre of the show, the Pop-Up Area as an open marketplace, lounges as relaxing retreats... there’s something for everyone.
The staging will pick up and run with the existing dynamics of the hall - completely embedded in the context of this event, which stands in interesting contrast to its surroundings.
TL&L: The old industry hall of the Arena Berlin combines traditional design with modern technique. How will the ‘design meets technology’ theme be reflected and communicted through the stand design?
P: The design itself takes place in that limbo space between art and architecture that pays absolute devotion to corrugated cardboard as a material - and it’s refined even further with each new project. The design and construction technologies that we develop represent completely new approaches in the area of eco-design; along with our other products, they can be examined in detail on the basis of our stands. For anybody who's interested, we'll be presenting our methods in detail at our own booth – and maybe we can even attract some new talent for our team!
TL&L: Instead of the standard trade fair look, the Papertown stand concept offers unusual design possibilities. Exactly how will exhibitors be able to customise their presence in 2017?
P: We imagine this event as a kind of big book like a graphic novel or a magazine - a sort of 'physical corporate identity', a form 'committed to paper' – in which every exhibitor can create a page. Our material is perfectly suited to carrying messages of any kind, directly by printing on its surface. Thus, objects that are essentially the same can assume completely different identities through variations in content.
TL&L: At the last Packaging Innovations in the Fischauktionshalle, where the Papertown Art House formed the heart of the event, you had just been awarded an iF Design Award. Can you tell us already which Design 2017 will be featured at the Arena Berlin?
P: Well, this project is still in the design phase undergoing lots of different ideas and inputs. But I can tell you this much now: in terms of construction and staging, we'll be leaning much further out the window this time, and in terms of content, it'll go much more in the direction of show and action! Just imagine a kind of multimedia entertainment dome, complete with catwalk, concert stage and light show. Something along the lines of 'Buckminster Fuller meets David Copperfield'.
The small cardboard edition can be previewed at the Creative Paper Conference in Munich where the Packaging Innovations will have a stand together with the Berlin fragrance boutique Frau Tonis Parfum.
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