A "showcase for high-end design" - that's how Frankfurt's trade show organizers are promoting the new international event "The Design Annual", to be staged in the Frankfurt Festhalle from May 6 to 20. With their concept for the exhibition booths, architects Reed Kram and Clemens Weißhaar are hoping to set international standards for future shows in the design sector. A major element in this will be 2,700 square meters of PU 220 insulating panels from ThyssenKrupp Steel subsidiary ems Isoliersysteme GmbH.

The organizers of The Design Annual aim to present visitors with the very best, most interesting and most ambitious developments from the world of contemporary design. The show, which is being held for the first time this year, is a curated event, with a 16-strong panel of experts selecting the producers who will present themselves and their designs. Around 80 exhibitors have been invited to take part. Planned to take place as an annual event in the future, this year's show is being staged under the motto "inside:urban".

The exhibition booth concept developed by Kram/Weißhaar is also based on the subject of urbanity: instead of the conventional grid design of aisles and booth areas, the Frankfurt Festhalle will be transformed into a small city complete with alleys, boulevards and plazas. With no standardized booth sizes to restrict exhibitors, each area can be designed individually, and as in any mature settlement right-angles are few and far between. The city walls, i.e. the walls around the booth areas, can vary in height.

The architects and exhibition contractors have decided to build the walls using PU 220 insulating panels from ems. This unusual choice of material - the panels are normally used for cold room and freezer room construction - was based on both esthetic and pragmatic considerations. In visual terms, the light gray panels with their smooth steel surfaces have the high-quality appearance essential for an event like The Design Annual. But the designers were also attracted by the relatively bulky dimensions of the panels - they are 220 millimeters thick - which fitted in well with the other design features of the innovative exhibition architecture. From a purely practical point of view, another advantage of the ems insulating panels is that they are quick and easy to assemble. Construction time for the entire 2,700 square meters of wall used in the exhibition is only 36 hours.

Ems Isoliersysteme is the only supplier in Northern and Western Europe capable of producing 220 millimeter thick insulating panels on a commercial scale. The company, which is headquartered in Pansdorf/Schleswig-Holstein and has plants in Hof and Oldenburg, is supplying the elements in a wide range of lengths from just under four meters to over 6.70 meters to exhibition contractor Messe Frankfurt Medien und Service GmbH. The contractor, a subsidiary of Messe Frankfurt GmbH, will be responsible for further processing and installation. The PU 220 panels from ems Isoliersysteme comprise two 0.6 millimeter thick steel sheets around a rigid polyurethane foam core. The panels are classified as low flammability materials and are CFC- and HCFC- free.

This press release is also available on the internet at: www.thyssenkrupp-steel.de

An up-to-date photograph for the text is available on the internet at
http://www.thysssenkrupp-steel.com/en/presse/bildergalerie, where journalists can use our online facility to obtain quick and easy accreditation to our Press Photo and Graphics Service.

Ideas Park:
The capital goods group ThyssenKrupp has teamed up with around 50 partners from science, research, education, the media and sports to organize its second Ideas Park. From May 20 to 28, 2006 visitors to the Expo site in Hanover can experience "Future Technology" live. Prominent researchers will be on hand to explain innovations, say in nanotechnology, with the aid of spec-tacular models, and visitors themselves can experiment with the latest technologies. There will also be stage shows, workshops, interactive activities, quizzes and discussions. Admission to the Ideas Park is free.