Deutsche BahnS-Bahn station “Offenbach Kaiserlei”
With augmented-reality corners, Offenbach Kaiserlei goes viral.
Collaboration: Quandel Staudt x XR Artist Nadine Kolodziey The S-Bahn station Offenbach Kaiserlei is the above- and below-ground hub for a district that is tackling structural change with momentum, moving from an office city on the edge of town to a lively residential and working quarter. Coming from Frankfurt, this momentum now appears as a 'light at the end of the tunnel', because the S-Bahn stop now offers a helpful and materially distinctive wayfinding system. Colored signs guide the way from the platform to the desired destinations in the immediate surroundings and continue as reflective signposts. In collaboration with artist Nadine Kolodziey, interactive augmented-reality corners were also created, in which Offenbach Kaiserlei goes viral on Instagram with a space-age biomorphic AR filter. With this wayfinding system, we complete the architectural trio of similar stations along the route from Frankfurt to Offenbach and give this station a distinctive appearance and better orientation for visitors. The basic design principles of the signage: the widely separated, opposite station exits are color-coded from the platform to make them easier to distinguish, and the Points of Interest are marked in German and English at the key orientation points. The color concept is based on the Oberrad fields and the Main: green and blue, 'Grie’ Soß un Blu’ Maa' as regional references. The exits are labeled with letters and can therefore be uniquely matched in Google Maps when people want to meet up.
Reflective signs accentuate an unconventional identity.
The clear geometric visual language interprets the station's strict architecture: the above-ground, still unused pyramids inspired the triangular forms in the tile grid, whose austerity is contrasted by circular signs. The wayfinding continues into Nadine Kolodziey's boundary-breaking augmented-reality worlds - both design layers merge into the station's new face, symbolically standing for the awakening of a district reinventing itself. The interactive invitation to step into the 3D world of XR artist Nadine Kolodziey via an augmented-reality filter is unusual as well. Organic, reflective forms seem to grow out of the floor and ceiling and interpret the potential of Offenbach Kaiserlei. This virtual world is carried on by the reflective mirrored surfaces of the signs. To realize them, we tested new production processes and experimented with different coatings. The end result is elegant, color-reflective signage that is easy to read and suitable for everyday use. With our network of experienced production partners, we were able to offer Deutsche Bahn the implementation of this exciting and unusual signage system from a single source.
