Onlyglass Mediafasade – the future of digital facade installations

World premiere: BAU, Munich, 19th of January 2011, room 52, 11 am

Rio de Janeiro, Maracanã Stadium, July 13, 2014: It’s the World Cup final and the host country Brazil is facing Germany. In Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and other cities, thousands of fans have gathered in front of the major department stores and office buildings to watch the live broadcast of the match on the facades…

Rio de Janeiro, Maracanã Stadium, July 13, 2014: It’s the World Cup final and the host country Brazil is facing Germany. In Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and other cities, thousands of fans have gathered in front of the major department stores and office buildings to watch the live broadcast of the match on the facades…

Our vision of the future is admittedly a little speculative. Of course we do not know what teams will be playing in the World Cup final in just over three and a half years. What we do know, however, is that by that time not only public viewing but also urban multimedia communication in general will have taken on a completely new dimension. We know this because the future of digital façade installations has already begun today – with ONLYGLASS MEDIAFACADE.

ONLYGLASS MEDIAFACADE is the first digital media façade of its kind to be launched on the global market. It is unique because it can be integrated in the architecture of buildings rather than just being used to alter their existing exteriors. The key feature of ONLYGLASS MEDIAFACADE displays is that they are an innovative combination of LED monitor and insulating glass, thereby replacing traditional glazing systems. The displays boast not only a high level of transparency and translucency but also brilliant image quality.

The bare facts speak for themselves. Depending on the chosen pixel pitch (minimum 20mm with unlimited scalability), a transparency level of between 80% and 96% can be achieved. Combined with approx. 1 billion possible colors (10 bit), ONLYGLASS MEDIAFACADE is the most efficient transparent media facade available – proving its excellent quality both day and night.

Installed as an interface between the exterior and interior of a building, this new medium offers untold visual possibilities. Depending on the given requirements, the façade of the building can switch between a large-scale display screen and a display window. It can serve both as a screen for presenting light shows and images and as an opaque protective shell, or it can simply function as a dematerialized membrane, surprising onlookers by revealing the interior of the building.

The media facade can also play a more modest role where special requirements have to be fulfilled, such as those of heritage protection. ONLYGLASS MEDIA FACADE allows existing buildings to be modernized without any resulting visual distortions or necessary structural modifications. Due to its minimal additional weight, ONLYGLASS MEDIA FACADE can normally be installed in existing or new buildings without affecting the structural load. The intelligent control system, the extensive lifespan, and the sophisticated repair and maintenance concept guarantee that the economic and ecological requirements of our time are met in full.

Due to progress being made in media technology, the face of our inner cities is changing fast and a new architectural awareness is prevailing. Not so long ago, factories and railway stations were considered as the »cathedrals of our modern times«. Now, however, it is the turn of department stores and office towers. It is our conviction that ONLYGLASS MEDIAFACADE will play a leading role in this urban development. We have a vision that the visual interplay of dynamic and static, visible and invisible, will allow the ancient dream of the gothic church architects - who replaced walls with glass - to be realized in contemporary form.