Farbräume für Menschen 08

“Farbräume für Menschen08” (Colour spaces for people) – the double plural in the title of the colour concept for the combi distribution centre Weilerswist encompasses the quintessential artistic thinking: the starting point for the colour scheme is always the person. The around 1,000 employees of the distribution centre were the focus, and the source of inspiration for the concept of the colour spaces in Weilerswist.

The colour scheme “Farbräume für Menschen 08” includes all the elements of the logistics hall: walls, gates, supports, all the technology, from sprinklers down to the smallest detail of conveying technology, right up to the surface design of industrial PCs and transport boxes. It is about expressing diversity instead of monotony, about having to continually reawaken attention in the routine, and the best possible quality of life for all employees in a highly automated work process. The dimensions of the spaces, and the complexity of the logistical processes require a self-confident, highly expressive artistic intervention for the people that work in them, which does not disappear into the functionally defined structure of the space, but lives and breathes as an independent organism, in harmony with this structure.

The design of the combi distribution centre in Weilerswist is part of the range of designs “Farbräume für Menschen 04-08”. Right from the beginning, an important factor for the success of these concepts was the fact, that technical and artistic planning intermesh very closely. For example, painting can already be carried out in the pre-fabrication of the construction elements, which not only makes assembly easier, but also has the effect that no additional costs are caused by the colour scheme.

Colour is a primary attraction, colour provides stimulus, colour has an orienting effect. In all concepts “Farbräume für Menschen 04-08“, it is about creating colour organisms, whose energy unfolds in a clear order. The colours of the halls, and all the techniques, absorb the flow of the goods like a river bed, and should accompany people in the work processes. The same applies to the combi-distribution centre in Weilerswist: the framework here is formed by the use of all colour tones, from dark to light, from bottom to top, which create a feeling of ascension in the picking halls, which creates an indirectly perceivable image of the development from the earth to the light.

In the combi-distribution centre in Weilerswist, the seven primary colours both in receipt of goods and outgoing goods, form a symmetrical bracket for the whole logistics area, whose energies meet in the heart and centre of the sparkling, bright and yet ordered colour atmosphere of the ELAV hall. Here, the orange, purple and magenta tones, embedded in the alternating seven primary colours on concrete girders and walls, form a vibrant, energetic atmosphere, which keeps the process constantly flowing.

Red, orange, dark yellow, light yellow, green, blue, purple: seven colours which correspond to industrial standards. They all come from the RAL scale, and at the same time are diverse symbols, right up to the description of planets. Seven colours, which are distinct and not discreet pastel tones, which would become blurred into an undefined shroud of sadness with the grey and brown tones of the goods cartons, rather expressive colours, which each say “I am here!” and challenge you to a new, conscious perception. Colours, which live in the halls with the people, and make the flow of receipt of goods – ELAV picking – outgoing goods into a sensually experienced image.

A significant feature of the concept “Farbräume für Menschen 04-08” is that with every change of perspective, new colour compositions emerge. In a relatively consistently flowing industrial process, the awakening, contrasting and varied colours offer the people invigoration and refreshment again and again. In addition, the multitude of colours stands for the multitude of possibilities, which can be found in human action and human cooperation. This colour diversity therefore also supports the acceptance of the diversity of people, processes, possibilities for thinking and action. The key topics in all “Farbräume für Menschen 04-08” concepts, alongside this diversity, are the joy in the change of perspective, in light of logical, clear structures, and wakefulness, humour and a brave-playful handling of new points of view that emerge.

Logistics means clear action within complex and multi-layered processes. “Logos“, literally translated as “the speech”, is a legality that interweaves the world according to Heraclitus. This is exactly where the interface for the functional aesthetic of the “Farbräume für Menschen 04-08” lies. The colours have the function of a guidance system: in the combi-distribution centre in Weilerswist for example, blue for the verticals of the shelf constructions, dark red for all drive elements of the transportation belt, or orange for the controlling components, magenta for the accompaniment of the recyclable material belts, and purple for the handrails intended for people. Furthermore, the colours are also used in a free artistic design, to link and accentuate the vast dimensions of the rooms. Just like the people that work here, the colours exist in the halls as part of a concentrated work process, and at the same time as independent individuals.

Colour scheme for the combi-distribution centre Weilerswist of the dm drugstores, by Mariott Stollsteiner. 500,000 m³ enclosed space, 10 kilometres conveying line, 5 kilometres picking lines, 20 kilometres conveyor belts, several hundred electrical cabinets, 163 electrical overhead conveyors – all fully designed and made into a colourful overall artwork. A firework of colour as inspiration for the people