jaapv Posted April 7, 2009 Share #1 Posted April 7, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I just picked this up on the German side: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-kundenforum/82312-leitz-park-im-april.html#post867397 The first tenants have moved into the Leitz park and the Leica building is as good as ready. ViaOptic GmbH Weller-Feinwerktechnik Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted April 7, 2009 Posted April 7, 2009 Hi jaapv, Take a look here The first tenants in the Leitz Park. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
antistatic Posted April 7, 2009 Share #2 Posted April 7, 2009 With all the money we have collectively spent on Leica products, you would think they could have afforded a decent architect. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share #3 Posted April 7, 2009 Well, I would not choose it as my private home, but it looks like a quite normal German industrial building to me. It is an improvement on the corrugated iron brick they have now, in any case. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted April 7, 2009 Share #4 Posted April 7, 2009 Looks fine to me, very Bauhaus. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted April 7, 2009 Share #5 Posted April 7, 2009 Good this thread was started; I took a break during a very energetic drive (read into that what you will) from south of Freiburg to Essen on the fabulous A5 last Saturday and took these images. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! "Deliveries", "Visitors", "German Road Regulations Apply".... notice the advanced method of fastening the signs... Big staff car park... Big delivery bays... These were taken with a Nikon D3x and for your interest, here is a 100% crop: Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! "Deliveries", "Visitors", "German Road Regulations Apply".... notice the advanced method of fastening the signs... Big staff car park... Big delivery bays... These were taken with a Nikon D3x and for your interest, here is a 100% crop: ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/81605-the-first-tenants-in-the-leitz-park/?do=findComment&comment=865418'>More sharing options...
marknorton Posted April 7, 2009 Share #6 Posted April 7, 2009 It is an improvement on the corrugated iron brick they have now, in any case. ...which is beginning to look a bit scruffy now. I went over to Solms to see if there was anyone working after the reports of extra shifts, but nothing, at least on a Saturday. Goodness, Solms is a sleepy place at the weekend, never been there other than on a weekday! There were about 12 cars in the car park... Down the road at Leica service in Solmser Gewerbepark, the building which Leica share with an industrial paint supplies company was completely deserted. Not surprising I guess with no shutters in stock and they evidently haven't felt the need to draft in extra workers to fix my Tri-Elmar which is probably languishing on a shelf... I agree with Jaap, these new buildings are a big improvement on where they are now. Asked myself the question what will become of the street Oskar-Barnack strasse after Leica move out. It does, after all lead to the local sewage disposal plant. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
k_g_wolf ✝ Posted April 7, 2009 Share #7 Posted April 7, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) >> Mark Thx for showing these photos ! Did you also attend the photoshow (Fotobörse) in Solms, Taunushalle which started at 11:00 on Saturday ? ? If not, you missed a chance to glimpse at some former cameras of Alfred Eisenstaedt: his M3E- 1, MP 271 and 288 and even the M3 # 1000 001 ... now living on the estate of L. N. of Wetzlar. You travelled too fast probably. As far as the new buildings are concerned, they are indeed pretty staight forward and I´am missing the Bauhaus -charme quite a bit. E. Leitz AND W. Gropius would most likely turn around in their graves if they could see what is being produced using their roots, buildingwise at least ... Best Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted April 7, 2009 Share #8 Posted April 7, 2009 No I didn't know it was on, I was only passing through on my way to the Classic Car show at Essen-Messe on Sunday. It would have been good to see it because I had the time. I wouldn't say "too fast" but certainly fast enough to get me into very serious trouble in the UK... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted April 7, 2009 Share #9 Posted April 7, 2009 Well of course the classic white Leitz buildings are still there in Wetzlar, occupied by Leica Microsystems and the Rathaus. These new buildings are functional and I certainly think it will be a better working environment. The current Leica building has virtually no windows and must not be the best place to work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosuna Posted April 7, 2009 Share #10 Posted April 7, 2009 Well of course the classic white Leitz buildings are still there in Wetzlar, occupied by Leica Microsystems and the Rathaus. These new buildings are functional and I certainly think it will be a better working environment. The current Leica building has virtually no windows and must not be the best place to work. Agree... I only hope they will plant some trees and grass there... in front and around the building... maybe a pond, and some vegetal isolation from the road and other distractions (noise, car movements on the road or the parking...)... Steve Jobs spent tons of money in the NeXT Computer plant, twenty years ago... building, furniture, decoration... He explained that the environement strongly influences peoples' behaviour. A clean, sophisticated and tidy working place inspires "high quality" work, attention to detail, etc... A pleasing environement is a must. It ought be functional, but also should have some aesthetic "quality". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marknorton Posted April 7, 2009 Share #11 Posted April 7, 2009 Agree... I only hope they will plant some trees and grass there... in front and around the building... maybe a pond, and some vegetal isolation from the road and other distractions (noise, car movements on the road or the parking...)... Steve Jobs spent tons of money in the NeXT Computer plant, twenty years ago... building, furniture, decoration... He explained that the environement strongly influences peoples' behaviour. A clean, sophisticated and tidy working place inspires "high quality" work, attention to detail, etc... A pleasing environement is a must. It ought be functional, but also should have some aesthetic "quality". There are lots of trees going in as you can see but it will be some time before they are a significant presence. I agree with you that a good working environment is important. On another thread (Andy's "I know where the shutters have gone"), there's a link to a very interesting report on Leica. Whether or not you can understand German, there's a lot to see. In particular I noticed that a lens designer appears to work in the middle of an open plan office which I can hardly think is the best environment for her type of work. Also shown is Dr Kaufmann's office which seems surprisingly cramped and congested, just one more indication that the new Leica Park is ket to Leica's future. The other thought I had is that the transfer of the manufacturing processes will be difficult and I wonder how that might impact quality in the short term. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhabedi Posted April 8, 2009 Share #12 Posted April 8, 2009 Steve Jobs spent tons of money in the NeXT Computer plant, twenty years ago... building, furniture, decoration... He explained that the environement strongly influences peoples' behaviour. A clean, sophisticated and tidy working place inspires "high quality" work, attention to detail, etc... A pleasing environement is a must. It ought be functional, but also should have some aesthetic "quality". I tend to agree, but one could argue whether NeXT was a successful example for this philosophy... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZDavid Posted April 8, 2009 Share #13 Posted April 8, 2009 Add some paint, Leica logo, some trees and landscaping and the buildings will be vastly improved. Having worked in or visited offices in various countries, I find it fascinating to compare how national characteristics relate to design. Germans, as you would expect, throughly spic and span and organized. Brits, sorry, a jumble. We in New Zealand have followed suit. Americans: offices seem to vary from formal and traditional to totally laidback. Does this affect products they produce? Quite possibly. Quirky, brilliant, superbly engineered, surprisingly innovative -- all differing national characteristics of design, even in this global age. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosuna Posted April 8, 2009 Share #14 Posted April 8, 2009 I tend to agree, but one could argue whether NeXT was a successful example for this philosophy... Well, I think it was. NeXT computers were futuristic, and NeXT software was wonderful, and it is the base of the Mac OS X operative system. Moreover, the developers tools of Project Builder, WebObjects, Objective C, Display Poscript, UNIX BSD and graphical interface, etc. all came from NeXT. It was one of the most creative companies in the 90s. Sun Microsystems is another good example of past creativity, and extintion... A pleasing and inspiring place for working is necessary, considering different types of work, from the optical designer to the worker who carefully assembles a lens... Maybe different environements, but sharing a common DNA... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosuna Posted May 20, 2011 Share #15 Posted May 20, 2011 Anyone knows how that project of changing headquarters go? Is Leica placing some activity in the new buildings at Wetzlar? Did the initial plan changed? I pose this question in May 2011. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
veraikon Posted May 20, 2011 Share #16 Posted May 20, 2011 see remarks and photos from Holger ==> http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-kundenforum/153567-leitz-park-baubeginn-2.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosuna Posted May 20, 2011 Share #17 Posted May 20, 2011 Thank you! I think he says the buildings are finished, the plan will continue from 2012 and the move will be complete in 2013. R. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted May 20, 2011 Share #18 Posted May 20, 2011 The building is not complete until they put the big red dot on the front. We designed our new work-space a couple years ago. No offices. No cubicles. However the entire interior of large open space had a skeleton of aluminum to which one could attach glass partitions, scrims (my favorite), lighting, white boards, monitors, or nothing. All work surfaces have rounded corners and many are kidney shaped. Everything can be reconfigured using only one tool - an allen head wrench. It has a powerful effect upon our staff who can just look over to another workspace to discuss an issue, and clients are happy to see whomever they wish to work with as soon as they walk in the door. There are moveable tables and rolling chairs to rapidly configure work areas, and a lounge for clients who just want to hang out. A lot of good ideas come from that lounge. I'm the only one with a private office, largely for security reasons - spendy toys in pieces, all that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xmas Posted May 20, 2011 Share #19 Posted May 20, 2011 Well, I think it was. NeXT computers were futuristic, and NeXT software was wonderful, and it is the base of the Mac OS X operative system. Moreover, the developers tools of Project Builder, WebObjects, Objective C, Display Poscript, UNIX BSD and graphical interface, etc. all came from NeXT. It was one of the most creative companies in the 90s. I thought many of these came from the Xerox PARC centre origonally, as did post script etc.,? Next & Steve merely commercialised them. Noel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted May 21, 2011 Share #20 Posted May 21, 2011 Saugstelle = Sinkhole? http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/attachments/leica-kundenforum/135998d1239574919-leitz-park-im-april-img_2634.jpg (final picture from http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-kundenforum/82312-leitz-park-im-april.html#post872043) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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