The Main objective behind our proposal was to create a continuous spatial and visual experience that simultaneously guides the visitors from the outside of the Museum into the main exhibition and workshop areas.

Since most of the rooms will be doubling up as exhibition areas as well as workshop spaces the next underlining factor was to design a system that could be adaptable and therefore modular in order to be easily populated and moved 'out of the way' during potentially chaotic transition times.

The material system that we opted to base our design upon consists of layering plastic bags in array and the application of simultaneous heat and pressure (using an conventional flat iron) to fuse these layers of plastic together into one monolithic component. (Heat-Pressure Laminating - HPL) 

The geometry of the modular moulds is based on a set of polyhedrons abstracted from the 2d data available concerning NODE_13's visual Corporate Identity. 

The use of crowd simulation software that essentially maps the flow of people through a specific space exposed the areas of most traffic and from this we were able to identify the most adequate locations for these plastic clusters. These clusters would then be aggregated according to their specific location.

The aggregation logic followed was simple :

In spaces of transition the polyhedron moulds were aggregated mono directionally (in x, or in y),

in areas of bifurcating program these clusters would be aggregated in two directions (in x and y)

and in spaces of little or no traffic these clusters could be aggregated in multi directions (in x, y and z) thus generating a three dimensional sculptural element.

The success of this system spans multiple levels: its a sustainable approach to design (used plastic bags), is modular and flexible and therefore does not detract from any ongoing activities within the festival, it aids orientation into and through out the building and provides an aesthetical justification for the chaotic omnipresence of the power cables. Whilst doing all the above it also satisfies the material studies carried out at the Staedelshule and manages to sit perfectly within the NODE_13 visual Corporate Identity.