CIOS Sports Education
From anonymous box to sports beacon
The CIOS building in Goes is perhaps the best example of what applied art can do to a building. The designs of M2uur bv transform the dull black box into a highly recognizable landmark. The images on the slats also make immediately visible who and for whom this building is intended.
Client:
CIOS, Goes
Architect:
Rothuizen van Doorn ‘t Hooft. Middelburg
Designer:
M2uur bv, Andra Vervoord
Location:
Material:
Dimensions:
Sport
From the road, you immediately see the building of the CIOS Southwest-NL (Central Institute for Training Sports Directors). This is not so surprising, as the building features wall-filling prints all around. In total, there are five designs with a combined size of some 900 square kilometers. Abstracted images of well-known and widely practiced sports make it immediately clear what this building is all about.
Shading
On the inside, the CIOS building is ingeniously constructed and has a playful yet functional layout. On the outside, the design by architects Rothuizen van Doorn ‘t Hooft of Middelburg is less sparkling. In the quest to give the cube-shaped building a very personal face, the architect contacted M2uur bv. The idea soon arose to use the vertical lamellae, which function as sunshades, as a carrier for the work of art.
Models
For the design, M2uur bv worked together with Andra Vervoord. She suggested using the dimensions of the slats as a guiding principle for the designs. The width of each slat, about 20 cm, became the width and height of a pixel. To test out that concept, models were built. Some tests were also conducted on-site to see if the scale of the pixels would work. That achieved the desired result.
Convert
Five photographs of explosive sports moments, in which movement and dynamics are central, were chosen for the designs. The photographic images were converted into a pixelated image. The pixels align exactly with the width of the slats and the angle at which the slats are placed. Each design covers between 250 and 300 slats. After technical formatting, the designs were printed on vinyl foil. The vinyl is finished with scratch-resistant and colorfast laminate.
Far and near
From afar, the images leave little to the imagination. Immediately, the passer-by can see what the building is for. Up close, on the other hand, the designs are very abstract. You see stacked blocks of color and only when you take sufficient distance are you able to see the complete scene. An additional alienating effect occurs at the facade where the main entrance is located. The slats here are perpendicular to the façade and therefore have a design on both sides. As you walk from one side of the building to the other, you can see the visual joke being played here.
CIOS Sports Education