Summer pop-up gallery meets Renzo Piano’s FLOAT – IMMOFINANZ‘s office ensemble turns into a stage

Temporary art event in cooperation with the art association 701 e.V.

The FLOAT office building in the Mediahafen, which was designed by the renowned architectural firm Renzo Piano Building Workshop, has been transformed into the setting for the first-time opening of a summer pop-up gallery directly next to tramway line 707: Together with the well-known Düsseldorf art association701 e.V., works by Gregor Russ and Ruben Benjamin Smulczynski will be shown on roughly 450 sqm beginning on 9 August. The exhibit focuses on “New Mobility“ and is staged as contemporary art in modern space. What makes all this special is that the pop-up gallery is visible from the outside around the clock and, in this way, highlights the exhibit’s subject because a station on Line 707 is located directly in front of the building.

IMMOFINANZ, the Austrian real estate corporation, organised the temporary pop-up gallery in this recently completed prestige property in the Medienhafen together with the art association 701 e.V., which was founded in 2005. All the office space in the building has been leased to Uniper. The ground floor provides space not only for Uniper’s cafeteria, but also for a café which is open to the public and a restaurant which is scheduled to open this autumn. Limited areas in this very special building are still available.

701 e.V. uses temporary areas because it does not have its own exhibition space. This leads to the development of unusual fusions and art locations – like the FLOAT designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop.

“Anyone who thinks of Düsseldorf draws an automatic connection with art and architecture, in particular because of the world-renowned art academy and the Medienhafen, which is developing more and more into an “architecture-hafen“. Mobility fits well with this area and was therefore chosen as the subject for the exhibit”, explained Christian Traunfellner, Head of Asset Management Office at IMMOFINANZ. “We are extremely pleased to have FLOAT serve as the host for this unusual urbane exhibit with two very different artists. Renzo Piano‘s architectural language – for example with 5.20 m high ceilings – blends in with the artworks in a unique manner.“

 “The staging of the in part sculptural works in the shell construction is unusual and breaks with the museum presentation of art. The selection of the artists and their works fits well with the idea of displaying “New Mobility“ in an artistic, but different manner in an unfinished room – urbanity and architecture meet art at the pop-up gallery in the FLOAT. The building ensemble radiates energy and creativity, and the dimensions are impressive“, commented Astrid Legge, member of the Management Board of 701 e.V. This cooperation gives the people who work in the Medienhafen “art pleasure to go“.

Renzo Piano and the Düsseldorf ice floes

The FLOAT is an ensemble comprising six buildings: The individual structures have polygonal layouts and are linked together by a connective structure, the passerelle, in the south. The name FLOAT reflects the architectural concept designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, which envisioned the interaction of ice floes for the individual buildings. The long building is imposing not only with its architecture, but also due to its size: It stretches over 10,000 sqm and covers approximately 30,000 sqm of rentable space. The international energy company Uniper SE has signed a long-term lease for the entire office space in the building. 

The exhibit includes selected works by Gregor Russ and Ruben Benjamin Smulczynski. Gregor Russ studied in Karlsruhe; today he lives and works in Düsseldorf and is a co-founder of the PARKHAUS exhibit forum in Düsseldorf. In his works, he plays with ambiguities and works with different materials. Ruben Benjamin Smulczynski is a graduate of the Düsseldorf Art Academy. He lives and works in Düsseldorf and Ravenna, whereby textiles play a key role in his art.

701 e.V. is a charitable initiative of personalities from the worlds of art and culture, business and politics in Düsseldorf. The association sees itself as a link between business and art whose goal is to establish creative networks as a means of sustainably strengthening and supporting the city’s creative image. This time at tramway line 707.