The starting point for this project was the wish of the client, Urs Ledermann, to make the scaffolding aesthetically appealing during the construction period by installing a printed tarpaulin. He therefore engaged the esteemed artist and his neighbour Michele Bordoni to develop a visual motif.
Michele Bordoni created an original painting using acrylic paints to represent the façade of this multi-storey building. By spatially simplifying the subject and using his own colour palette, the artist transformed the building into a fantastic and illuminating image. The special characteristic of this project was the transformation of the work of art into a giant façade format.
The original painting was reproduced in high-resolution format by undknup fotografie (file size approx. 4.7 GB) and served as a central reference for us in ensuring the production quality. In the pre-print stage, the colours were coordinated exactly with the original, and the painting was also used as a binding template by the printers to ensure that the colours of the printed version matched the work of art as closely as possible. This produced a large-scale print on mesh tarpaulin that was created especially for this facade.
The upper part of the facade section measures 31.48 metres in width and 10.46 metres in height. A second, lower section measuring 2.79 metres in height will be installed in spring 2026, as soon as the containers in front have been removed. This will amount to a surface of over 400 m² with a total weight of over 150 kg.
The on-site crane was used to attach the tarpaulin and hoist it up to the roof. Our team then installed the tarpaulins from the top down to the scaffolding. During the assembly, the client, the artist and the agency were present. The agency was also responsible for the high-resolution photo of the work of art, the retouching, layout of the façade sections and the data formatting. Even the artist was impressed to see his work in this scale making such an impact on the facade.
The installation makes a special impression on site: Like traditional building cladding but as an artistic interpretation with strong, warm colours instead of a photograph.
Owner: Urs Ledermann
Owner’s representative: Ledermann Management AG, Philipp Barmettler, https://ledermann.com/
Artist: Michele Bordoni, https://bordoni.ch/
Implementation: undknup AG, high-resolution photograph, retouching, layout of the façade, data formatting & picture source
A large-scale Bordoni.
Michele Bordoni, artist, Zurich
“Thanks to the precise and specialist execution by Richnerstutz, the picture is now displayed in its full glory.”
