Nanomaterials in Architecture,Interior Architecture and Design - Commercial building Pula, Croatia

Nanomaterials in Architecture,Interior Architecture and Design.
Commercial building
Pula, Croatia
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ARCHITECTURE :Rusan arhitectura, Andrija Rusan, Pula, Croatia
INTERIOR DESIGN : Skira
CLIENT :Lumenart d.o.o.
PRODUCT :Lotusan, self-cleaning paint (Lotus-Effect)
MANUFACTURER :Sto
COMPLETION :2006
AREA : 745 m^ gross floor area


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The building for a lighting design company is clearly
visible in its surroundings. Its extravagant sculptural
form, a monolithic cubic arrangement coated all in
white looks simple but not ordinary. The windows appear
to be carved out of the volume of the building
while the thick walls and the drawbridge-like entrance
canopy remind one of a fortress.
Brilliant white dominates indoors and outdoors alike
and is the sole colour of all surfaces. In the interior, it
serves as background for the showroom, projections
and light design, forming a light ambience. Outdoors,
when seen from afar, its pure white colour makes the
building look like a crystal or a light and is also reminiscent
of the white architecture of Mediterranean hill
towns. At night, the clean white cube with its subtle
play of natural light is transformed into a colourfully
illuminated eye-catcher.
The intensity of the pure white surfaces is protected
against dirt with the help of a Lotus-Effect fagade coating.
Dirt simply washes off the rough surface together
with the rain. The self-cleaning function should persist
for at least five years without needing to be renewed.