Advertising should be punchy and versatile. The opposite of pallid, in other words.

Panama Advertising Agency

Stuttgart / 2001 / A project by zipherspaceworks Fleitz | Ippolito | Schneider | Weismann Partnerschaft, 1998-2001

Advertising should be punchy and versatile. The opposite of pallid, in other words.

Panama Advertising Agency

Stuttgart / 2001 / A project by zipherspaceworks Fleitz | Ippolito | Schneider | Weismann Partnerschaft, 1998-2001


Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects

After 12 years, it was time for the Stuttgart advertising agency, Panama, to risk the step out of the second row in a villa quarter and occupy a visible position with its own building. This building achieves this with a first-class address at Eugensplatz 1. At the back, the edifice looks out on the park of the French Institute and towards the square it provides an impressive and unobstructable view of Stuttgart's valley.

The building itself can be seen from afar. The oversized light on the terrace intensifies Panama's presence on the square and also shows the self-confidence of an agency that is underscoring its ability to position brands. At night, this gesture creates with the help of an almost intimate illumination an introverted and concentrated atmosphere. The construction is divided into two axes from the third to the fifth floor and three axes in the first two floors with all axes perpendicular to the building itself. This structural linearity is transferred to the design and to the organization as well. The interior architecture provides the experience of varied spatial and atmospheric layering. The structure was built in the sixties as a dancing school and then used for many years by the State Insurance Institute as offices for doctors. The façade is not prominent, but the unusual side view in the form of a two-story pedestal extended from one axis and the warped compass roof present a striking building. The compactness and the impressive character of the building are reinforced by the color of the façade in the dark gray shade of the agency's corporate design.

The internal character stands in sharp contrast: the sidewalls and ceilings are dipped in intense strips of color, which envelope the cross layering of the building. The colors create the space as a system and become active, intense and structurally integrated in a varied and direct manner reflecting the spirit of the agency. The visitor enters the creation of a different world as a trip through Panama. The ground floor is primarily oriented towards the arriving visitor. The reception, secretariat, public relations and a waiting area are located in an open spacious room or in emplaced offices. The colors here are the most intensive and passionate. They represent the initial contact and the compilation of experience that the visitor will find in the upper floors. The act of entering is animated and perceived through the spatial modulation and indirect illumination of the colorful sidewall. The lighting system consisting of 72 square trough light fixtures with a text by Bruno Nagel underscores the breadth of the area and guides the visitors to the reception.

Employees reach the internal stairwell from the lobby through a tapestry door, but customers have their own stairs for direct access to the meeting rooms in the floor above. From the compact layout of the lobby, one now moves into an extended lobby area. The spatial structuring elements of the ground floor are now reflected in a different form. The color stripes become larger and quieter, a field of trough lights above the stairs emphasizes the vertical integration and a large wall unit of American nut wood in the reception area below as the backdrop behind the reception is transformed into a scenery for the entrance into the three meeting rooms.

In the meeting rooms, the preceding characteristics have been reversed. The previous areas were characterized by intense colors, but now the customer enters white rooms with windows, which almost reach to the floor, providing an impressive frame for the panorama of Stuttgart's deep circular valley. Only a fine green stripe is superimposed on the view of the old stand of trees on the Eugenplatz. The window-high lettering by Bruno Nagel, viewed from the outside as a program, becomes an abstract filter from the interior. The acoustics also change from the harder impression in the lobby area to a subdued and concentrated atmosphere for meetings. Immediately after this area and perceptible through translucent doors, the rear axes of the second floor contain the offices of the management and the creative directors with their assistants.

The third and fourth floors both provide workplaces for two units with the same floor plan. Continuing with the idea of a layered construction and moving from the rear to the front, there are contactor offices, the main traffic and communications zone with generous counters for standing discussions, storage area in the form of wall units, graphic workplaces in glare-free cubicles, an additional internal graphics meeting zone with direct daylight and an open external area as a balcony or terrace. The impression of layering is reinforced by the arrangement of the lights, color strips, inlaid floor strips and translucent sheeting etc. and thus creates a perceptible feeling within the building when entering and leaving the individual areas as well. Distributed throughout the building, there are opportunities for spontaneous meetings and presentations provided in the form of counters, podiums, magnetic rails and cardboard holders.

The color worlds of Panama represent an abstract interpretation of the surrounding city landscape, and the materials employed are also presented as a contrast and superimposition on one another and their environment. Natural and artificial materials exist side by side: slate strips in a sheet asphalt floor and high-pressure laminate coated beside walnut-veneer covered furniture; soft beside hard such as textiles, padding and acoustic elements next to glass petitions, painted surfaces and colored walls; fluffy next to scratchy such as velour strips in a needle felt floor.

Categories

Awards

  • 2002 / contractworld.award
    Award
  • 2001 / Beispielhaftes Bauen Stuttgart
    1997-2001

Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects
Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects

Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects

The colors create the space as a system and become active, intense and structurally integrated in a varied and direct manner reflecting the spirit of the agency.


Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects

Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects
Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects
Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects
Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects

Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects

Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects
Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects
Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects

Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects

Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects
Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects
Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects

Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects
Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects

Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects

Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects

Section

Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects

Floor plan – Ground Floor


Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects

Floor plan – First Floor

Panama Advertising Agency, Stuttgart. A project by Ippolito Fleitz Group – Identity Architects

Floor plan – Second Floor

Client
  • Panama Werbeagentur GmbH
Location
  • Stuttgart
    Eugensplatz 1
Status
  • Completed (2001)
Categories
Photography
  • Zooey Braun
  • Darius Ramazani
Ippolito Fleitz Group
  • Manu Aberle
  • Zlatko Antolovic
  • Gunter Fleitz
  • Peter Ippolito
  • Stefan Jäger
  • Markus Weismann
  • Alexander Wendlik
Partner
  • DS-Plan (Acoustics)
  • Stefan Gabel (Color Consulting)
  • Bruno Nagel (Artwork)
  • Peter & Lochner (Statics)
Copyright
  • zipherspaceworks Fleitz | Ippolito | Schneider | Weismann Partnerschaft, 1998-2001
Publications

Magazines
Books
Newspaper
Online media
Flyer/Booklet/Catalogue