Details

Facade Spiegelhaus, Selb

After deciding to expand Rosenthal’s main administration building (architect Hans Weiss) it was also agreed to give the façade a special makeover. Marcello Morandini and Philip Rosenthal created a mirrored façade using 1200m2 of glass and glazed façade tiles.
Philip Rosenthal was complaining that there is hardly any sunshine in Selb and came up with the idea of a façade that does not only reflect the sun and emphasizes it but in addition also reflects the rainbow of the old administrative building’s façade created by Otto Piene. Marcello Morandini creates a three-dimensional illusion on an even exterior on the 750m2 south side of the building by using geometrical surfaces and ascetic black and white contrasts. The building seems to be higher and longer since the graphical elements used are getting smaller on the top. He therefore "transferred" the shape onto the surface area since it cannot be translated into the third dimension.
To harmonize artistic and architectural freedom, a big part of the façade was produced by using the structural glazing principle which has hardly ever been done in Germany before. No profile or framework is visible which could disrupt the homogenous area. The isolating glass unit is glued onto the framework.

Source:
Ferdinand Simoneit: „Rosenthal und Rosenthaler" in „Die Rosenthal Story",
   Econ, 1980
N.N.: „Rosenthal Spiegelhaus Selb", Sanco-Report 7, 1987
N.N.: „Structural Glazing - Eine innovation in der Fassadengestaltung", Bauhand-
   werk, Heft 1/2, 1988
Henning Müller-Gerbes: „Bauen im Selbstverständnis eines Unternehmens" in
   „Materialien 3: Bauen für die Wirtschaft", Architektenkammer Rheinland-Pfalz,
   1988
Ulrich Kern: „Gebaute Unternehmenskultur", Industriebau, Heft 2/1992