Merck Innovation Center

Icon of a New Economic Culture? The Merck Innovation Center (MIC), which is the subject of this book, will not have to wait long for the recognition from professional circles as well as for the acclaim of the general public. Its qualities are presented here in different contexts and from different perspectives – in detail through the pictures of photographer Hans Georg Esch, more concisely in the authors’ texts. “The MIC in Darmstadt, designed and planned in the Berlin branch of the internationally active architecture office Henn, is … an exciting socio-psychological experiment on the question of whether and to what extent innovations can be reliably launched, implemented, and made marketable in volatile teams – and all this in a specifically expanded semi-public sphere, namely with external partners, that breaks with all operational conventions” (Christian Marquart). With Gunter Henn, Martin Henn, and their team, the client unerringly selected architects who have a lot of experience with building for research, development, innovation management, and also universities. Since photography has existed, all steps in the planning and completion of an important building have been documented with camera images. “This book is no exception to this concept, yet it is somewhat different, and that is thanks to photographer Hans Georg Esch. With an immense amount of experience gained worldwide, he has reconsidered his contribution to architectural documentation and redefined it in many respects” (Rolf Sachsse). With texts by Kai Beckmann, Hans Georg Esch, Michael Gamber, Gunter Henn, Martin Henn, Christian Marquart, Dietmar Möller, Stefan Oschmann, Jochen Renner, Rolf Sachsse, Peter Cachola Schmal.