The German Football Association (DFB) is Germany's largest athletic association. But it did not have a national training center. Which makes the DFB Academy a highly unique project–a new kind of space meant to bring together people of all ages and athletic abilities.
The architects use a large boulevard to connect the large complex of offices, playing fields, restaurants, fitness and hotel rooms.
The concept for the lighting design is based on the idea of an outside boulevard. The colors for the ceiling areas were chosen by us to be in two different blue tones without any lighting fixtures mounted in this "sky," the illumination of which is of central importance to create the illusion of light from above all the way down into the darkest areas.
The lighting on the city boulevard below it is animated and varied making the 230-meter-long route a diverting and entertaining one.
We designed a six-meter-high tree made of lights to serve as the central feature on the market square. It is constructed out of high jumping poles and consciously symbolizes a niche sport in the DFB.

The DFB Academy's market square serves as its central entrance and main hub. A lighted sculpture was designed to have a far-reaching effect and enhance the atmosphere and identity of this square. The motif behind the concept of the custom-made luminaire was the image of bulrushes swaying in the wind. The lighted tree is made of eight, pre-bent steel tubes coated with flexible, colored GRP sticks, each of which has a luminous object mounted on it. The interplay and inclinations were parametrically modelled by our development team using grasshopper (see image).