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p l a s t i c s 1 / 2 0 0 6T h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l p l a s t i c s m a g a z i n e f r o m B A S F

Chemistry on four wheels –

the polymer world in cars

Luigi Colani –

an interview with the design icon

Wood or not wood? –

Elastopan® Feel Wood

BASF Plastics

key to your success

w w w .p l ast i c s-magaz i ne .c om


2/40

Title

From the Laboratory to the enginecompartment

“Faster to the finish line”-intelligent solutions for theautomotive industry

News

„Walk of Ideas”- Giant shoe madeof Neopor

BASF acquires SAN business fromLanxess

A new product formedical technology

Award for BASF in Brasil

Record year

Summer clothes for the snow

Clear road ahead

for designer traffic lights

The traffic light guy

From a simple sign to a cult figure

World Cup fever

Eco? Logical!

Explosion of colors

“To recandle the imagination of

those down there” - interview with

Luigi Colani

So, an old house?

True beauty lies within

Attention! Optical illusion!

Train station from One Thousand and

One Nights

Knee protection on four wheels

What the heart of the computer

yearns for

Squaring the Circle

Fax response

Imprint

T a b l e o f c o n t e n t s 2

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Steel is yesterday’s news. When it comes to the vehi-

cles of the future, the number one automotive mate-

rial is rapidly losing ground: plastics are taking over

more and more tasks that used to be the exclusive domain

of metals. And this is only one example of a much wider

trend: chemistry gives you a better ride

At times, language really lags behind the times. When people say

“gas guzzler”, they are still referring to gasoline-powered vehicles.

But what about “chrome bumpers”? The times, they are a-chang-

ing. Of course, web search engines still yield millions of hits for

these terms, be it in personal ads, driving reports or repair instruc-

tions. Admittedly, our “guzzlers” still need gas but chrome

bumpers aren’t around anymore – and haven’t been for several

decades now. Instead of a piece of metal screwed to the front of

the vehicle, nowadays cars cruise the streets sporting a complex

high-tech ensemble of plastics such as polyurethane, polypropy-

lene and polyamide.

And it is no different elsewhere in or on our cars: a fender – today

actually a “sidewall” – is no longer necessarily made of steel, whilethe “glass” of the headlights has long since been replaced by

transparent plastics.

Wi thou t chem i st r y, ca r s would no t r un

What has happened? It is very simple, “Cars have always been

high-tech products par excellence, for which state-of-the-art

materials were barely good enough,” says

someone who really ought to know,

namely, Raimar Jahn, head of

the automotive steering com-

mittee of BASF and a tried-

and-true expert in everything hav-

From

the laboratory

to the enginecompartment


3/40

T i t l e3

Did you know that …

– by the year 2020, twenty-five percent

of every new vehicle will consist of

polymeric plastic?

– the percentage by weight of plastic

in a typical mid-sized car is between

12% and 14% nowadays?

– reducing the vehicle weight by 10%

translates into 5% to 7% less fuel

consumption?

– for every kilogram by which the

weight of a car is reduced, the envi-ronment is spared 25.3 kilograms of

carbon dioxide emissions over the

entire service life of the car?


4/40

ing to do with the plastics and chemical

products traveling our highways and

byways. So, the best for a car is just barely

good enough? That has certainly not

changed at all; today, too, materials that

ensure top-notch performance are

employed for luxury cars as well as for

family saloons. With ever greater frequency,

these materials are the brain children of the

think tanks in the chemical industry. They

help make cars lighter in weight and thus

more economical. And better-looking, too.

They enhance driving comfort and keep

manufacturers competitive.

Coatings – normally polyurethanes – con-

taining pigments made by the chemicalindustry, are becoming smarter and

smarter. There are even coatings that are

capable of “healing” fine scratches. Door

handles, radiator grilles and mirror hous-

ings are all made of high-strength engi-

neering plastics, for instance, from the

polyamide family. Some cars already con-

tain more than 20 kilograms of it. Seats are

made of polyurethane foams – which, by

the way, can also be found in the inner

workings of some bumper systems. Uphol-

stery is rendered durable and abrasion-

proof by means of special coatings.

Leather is tanned so as to be soft, dyed

and imparted with a high gloss using reac-

tants from the chemical laboratory. Dash-

boards make use of polyamide and

polyurethane.

And under the hood, there is an entire

polymer world – temperature-resistant

plastics function right next to the engine

block, which keeps getting hotter because

of the shrinking space available and the

ever-greater power of engines. Cable

sheathing, insulating materials, gaskets,

various aggregates ranging from the fuel

pump to the air intake – all “made of plas-

tic”. And they all hold operating fluids –

coolant, anti-freeze, brake fluid, fuel, lubri-cants – which either come completely from

the laboratory or else are optimized for

maximum performance using know-how

from chemistry books. Today, every car on

the road contains an average of 800 euros

worth of chemical products – ranging from

adhesives to the catalytic converter.

Vehicles are now leaving the production

line with a few dozen plastics replacing

considerably heavier metals, in other

words, helping to save fuel. Experts esti-

mate that by 2020, every new vehicle will

consist of one-fourth polymeric materials.

T i t l e 4

Dear Readers,Would you have known that, despite all

efforts to the contrary, cars have become

30 percent heavier on the average over

the past thirty years? Even though ever-

lighter materials are employed, this is

more than offset by the installation of

more and more new components such as

automatic windows, seatbelt tensioners,

airbags. Ever better, ever smarter, ever

stronger. Finding the right solution for this

dilemma is the task of BASF’s Automotive

Steering Committee, which we will be

introducing to you in this issue.Some call him a design fanatic, others a

utopian. Luigi Colani and run-of-the-mill?

Unthinkable. plastics magazine talked with

the eternally young old master of design

about BASF’s new design factory and

about all the things he still wants to chan-

ge during his lifetime.

If you feel so inclined, let yourself be

swept away by Colani’s revolutionary

vision.

Have fun

The Editors

p l a s t i c s i n s i d e


5/40

No wonder that BASF specialists such as

Jahn project annual growth rates of eight

percent or more for polyamide, poly-

oxymethylene and polyether sulfone in

European automotive construction.

A l l f roma s ing le source

Speaking of BASF, even though at first

glance the above-mentioned areas of appli-

cation seem to have little in common, they

have not been selected totally at random.

“Materials and chemicals made by BASF are

in all of them,” says Raimar Jahn. Ultramid®,

Cellasto®, Glysantin®, Neopolen®,Elastollan®, Dyexact®, Astacin®, Corial®,

Lepton®, Luran® and Terluran® – in all likeli-

hood, you car is also “driven by BASF”. On

top of it all, BASF coatings provide the nec-

essary touch of color.

“The automotive industry occupies a promi-

nent place within the broad spectrum of

BASF customers. Today, ‘Automotive’

accounts for our second largest sales vol-

ume, only being surpassed by the ‘General

Chemicals’ sector with its innumerable raw

materials, which a global player in the realm

of chemistry like BASF has on tap,” explains

Jahn. “In 2005, BASF attained about 10

percent of its total sales – a staggering 42,7

billion euros – by selling products to the

automotive industry.” In future, this group of

products will be offered to the automotive

industry using the slogan “BASF Automotive

Solutions. Performance Passion Success”.

This is a declaration that all divisions within

the entire BASF Group support a uniform

market presence in this sector.

Push ing mate r i a l s

to the l im i t

And if Jahn has his way, this will continue

to be the case. However, “the evolution tothe ‘chemical car’ is not a given,” warns

this expert on chemicals. Let’s once again

look at the example of plastic: wherever

metals could be replaced by Ultradur® and

the like “in a jiffy,” this has already long

since happened. Where this has not yet

taken place, some real effort will have to be

invested. However, this is a challenge that

the chemists and engineers at BASF are

glad to take on. With an eye towards get-

ting even closer to the engine, they have

made their plastics more and more resist-

ant to the impact of heat. “Already now,

BASF polyamides can withstand tempera-

ture peaks of up to 240°C (464°F), a value

that is a mere 20°C (36°F) below the natu-

ral melting point of this material,” explains

Raimar Jahn.

The coating also reveals what is high-tech:

Jahn gladly shows his visitors two coated

metal plates that are the spitting image of

each other, except that the coating layer on

one is much thinner than on the other one

due to the elimination of an entire coating

layer. This translates into significant material

savings when one looks at the whole car.

This year also marks the introduction of

seats that can be easily put together with

three plastic components rather than bytediously welding them together with 23

metal parts. How about components that

already come out of the injection-molding

machine with permanently built-in electron-

ics, thus rendering cables superfluous?

These exist already. Nanotechnology for

plastic parts with particularly thin walls? All

possible. And already on the market.

And despite all this excellence in the realm

of chemicals and raw materials, users can

only benefit from all of these products if

they have been optimally fine-tuned for

their areas of application. This is why the

T i t l e5

A few noteworthy facts about cars

Almost 60 million lightweight vehicles(passenger cars, off-road vehicles, vans

and small trucks, for instance, pickup

trucks) were produced in 2004, 43 million

of which were passenger cars. Germany,

the largest producer in Europe, contribu-

ted 5.1 million vehicles that year (western

Europe, the world’s most active region

accounted for almost 16.4 million vehi-

cles). The United States manufactured

around 11.7 million vehicles. A surprisingfact is that China saw about 4.1 million

vehicles roll off its assembly lines; it is pro-

jected that this Asian giant will already

catch up with Germany this year. The

potential in the markets of the Far East is

enormous. In Europe, just about every

other person owns a car whereas in Asia,

the per capita vehicle ownership is lower

by a factor of 25.

B a c k r o u n d


6/40

T i t l e 6

motto at BASF’s global headquarters in

Ludwigshafen, Germany, is “Cooperation as

soon as possible”. An example among

many, many others, is the radiator grille of

the VW Golf R 32. For the black areas on

the front of this 250-HP road runner, Volks-

wagen AG and its supplier SLM Kunst-

stofftechnik, located in Oebisfeld, Germany,

have decided on BASF’s plastic Luran® S:

plenty of color even without coating and the

colors stay true for years on end since the

plastic is UV-stable. BASF supplied not only

the Luran S granules but also the know-

how for the clever design of the mold. The

outcome of this cooperation: “In spite of its

complex structure, the part can be injection

molded without any problem,” elaborates

Thomas Brüsch, managing director of SLM.

“We were even able to meet VW’s require-

ment for the easiest possible assembly”.

And even when things get more abstract,

BASF personnel knows how to assist their

customers. For purposes of helping engi-

neers at Adam Opel GmbH in Rüssels-

heim, Germany to improve expensive crash

tests, BASF employees worked hard to

acquire the material data needed so that

the costly experiments could be transferred

to computers. The result was better protec-

tion for pedestrians since the optimized

Ultramid part helps to reduce the risk of

severe knee injuries in case of a collision

with people.

BASF’s Automotive Steering Committee,

also known as “GASC”, which stands for

Global Automotive Steering Committee, has

been in existence for more than five years

now. Its stated goal is to promote and

improve BASF’s cooperation with the auto-

motive industry. This means not only

“showing presence” at the OEMs and their

suppliers but also setting the correct course

within the company and steering BASF’s

innovation drive.

The structure and composition of GASC

have been configured with an eye towards

this objective. All of the members of this

body are senior executives and have excel-

lent connections to the central manage-

ment structures of BASF. The regions of

NAFTA, Europe and Asia are represented

here and so are decision makers from R&D

as well as from the operating divisions of

styrenics, engineering plastics,

polyurethane, coatings and finishing chemi-

cals. In order to make sure that the GASC

pursues ideas that are feasible, the steering

committee collaborates closely with the

individual operating divisions. This ensures

a market approach that is grounded in reali-

ty and, thanks to the interdisciplinary coop-

eration among our experts working togeth-

er with the partners of the automotive

industry, life can then be breathed into the

cars of the future.

Work ing toge ther ra ther

than para l l e l t o each o ther

The crux of the matter is that the organiza-

tional structure promotes cooperation

among engineers, chemists and marketing

experts of the individual operating divisions.

B A S F ’ s A u t o m o t i v e S t e e r i n g C o m m i t t e e


7/40

T i t l e7

“BASF has a lot to offer to car manufactur-

ers,” summarizes Raimar Jahn. By the way,

this also applies to those who are attempt-

ing to cure cars of their addiction to gaso-

line – for example, by powering them with

fuel cells, natural gas or hydrogen. Who

knows, perhaps one day the expression

“gas guzzler” will be as obsolete as

“chrome bumper”.

Further information:www.automotive.basf.com

This approach means that specialists can

fully utilize BASF’s broad spectrum of prod-

ucts, taking advantage of the synergies cre-

ated in this process. For a number of years

now, experts have been networked with

thirteen key account managers who, in a

manner of speaking, mirror the automotive

sector inside BASF. These key account

managers – each one reporting directly to a

member of the steering committee – are

there to see to the needs of the major

OEMs and tier-one companies in the sec-

tor; they know which challenges “their” cus-

tomers face and which BASF developments

might be able to help them out. In fact,

solutions that had not yet been thought of

“out there” can be offered to the cus-

tomers. Moreover, key account managers

also retain an overview when new materials

for such complex products as automobiles

are going to make their debut. After all, any-

thing that is going to be a big hit in cars

tomorrow has to already fit the bill today.

Very precisely. And right from the start. Oth-

erwise, other materials will win the race

even though they are not necessarily the

best ones from a technical standpoint but

just happened to be in the right place at the

right time. Once a commitment had been

made, the steering committee itself then

springs into action once again. When a

customer has decided to utilize BASF’s

sector competence, the GASC makes sure

that this does not remain merely lip service.

Its members, all the way to the executive

board level, will see to it that important

decisions are implemented with the neces-

sary staying power, for instance, when a

new contract with an automotive manufac-

turer means that the production of a given

material has to be quadrupled – and this, in

fact, has already happened.

Moments of unlimited freedom

Unrestricted mobility – what symbolizes this feeling more

than the automobile? A digital camera could come in handy

to capture this moment of unlimited free-dom. So that you

can record every instant in image and sound, we will be

hold-ing a drawing for a Sony Digi-Cam DSC-T7 among the

first one hundred respondents.

Simply send us the return fax (see the flap at the end of the

magazine) or enter online

at www.

plastics-magazine.com

Good luck!

Employees of BASF are

not permitted to partici-

pate. All decisions are final.

C o n t e s t


8/40

8T i t l e

Plastics: Mr. Jahn, BASF has created structures aimed

at better and more effectively cooperating with the

automotive industry. Does this mean that your cus-

tomers will now have to adapt?

Raimar Jahn: No, on the contrary. We are adapting so that we can

assist our customers even better. After all, the sector is alsochanging. For instance, in recent years, the development cycles in

the automotive industry have become increasingly shorter while

vehicles are getting more and more individualized and complex.

The result is that our know-how as a producer of raw materials

has become ever more important for car manufacturers since

many of these tasks can only be mastered with highly innovative

materials, which have to be painstakingly adapted to the envis-

aged applications at the earliest point in time possible so as to

yield optimal performance. Today, innovations are only feasible if

the strong points of all parties involved are already combined well

in advance during the development phase. So, the logical step for

us was to create precisely the structures that users need to opti-

mally tap into our knowledge.

Do you see the Automotive Steering Committee as the

moving force behind innovation?

Yes, that’s how we see ourselves, and I believe this is also how

our customers perceive us. And this will remain so in the same

manner as the contact persons on the technician level remained

the same for our customers, even after the steering committee

has been set up. As one of the largest chemical companies in theworld and with our uniquely broad product line, we are in a posi-

tion to both recognize and offer innovation potentials which can

become a true added value from the vantage point of car manu-

facturers. In this manner, we help our partners to be even more

successful.

How can customers tap into this know-how?

Let’s have a look at what we are already doing for our numer-ous

partners. With our strategic orientation, we are endeavoring to

create a cohesive whole, combining all of the developments that

until now were pursued independently of each other. Our global

key account managers are well informed about all of BASF’s

ongoing projects with “their” OEM or tier-one companies, be it in

“Faster to the finish line”From a technical standpoint, cars are extremely complex products.

Their development has long since become such a demanding undertaking that

success on the market can only be attained if we all pull together, right from the

start. Raimar Jahn, chairman of BASF’s Automotive Steering Committee, explains

how BASF offers car manufacturers intelligent solutions for their business.


9/40

9 T i t l e

coating development, textile finishing or innovations under the

hood. Such an interdisciplinary approach often reveals that our

customers reach the finish line faster when they take advantage of

BASF’s in-house synergies. But we also organize events, “Tech

Days” as well as innovation workshops at our customers’ facilities,

not only to show them on site which concepts and solutions are

already viable today, but also to stimulate new ideas. Last but notleast, we also want to learn how to better look at our own prod-

ucts through the eyes of the automotive industry so as to proac-

tively come up with new ideas that our partners can then put to

good use.

Could you give us a few examples of this?

We could not possibly have developed plastics that can be coat-

ed online – in other words, that can withstand the oven tempera-

tures commonly encountered during the coating process – if we

had not been able to combine plastics and coating operations

under one roof. Here, two operating divisions that otherwise func-

tion completely independently of each other, have complemented

each other to a T.

Car seats are another example since in this case, the system con-

cept is particularly relevant. The incredible diversity of materials

that we are in a unique position to offer on the market gives our

customers the following benefits: seat shells made of engineering

plastics make seats lighter and cheaper, textile finishing chemicals

make upholstery more durable, and polyurethane foams greatly

improve sitting comfort.It is a well-known fact that the industry has long since been asked

to come up with such “complete solutions”; we now can fulfill this

wish to satisfaction since we have tackled this issue from several

angles.

In other words, BASF not only offers solutions but also

learns from its customers?

Absolutely! Otherwise, none of this would make any sense. We

want a win-win situation together with our partners. Only when we

know what our customers want can we help them meet their

challenges and enhance our partnership in a way that bears fruit

for both parties.

Raimer Jahn, chairman

of BASF`s Automotive

Steering Committee.


10/40


11/40

N e w s1 1

Award for BASF in Brazil

José Vaz, Director of the Thermoplastics Division in South

America, has been recognized by Siresp (Trade Union of the

Brazilian Plastics Industry) with the Funaro Trophy 2005. Upon

the occasion of the 23rd National Plastics Meeting, José Vaz

received this award, named after Brazilian politician Dílson

Domingos Funaro. “I am honoured to accept this, the most

prestigious award in the Brazilian plastics sector. It motivates

me to continue with my commitment to the plastics industry in

Brazil. This award demonstrates that BASF has put together

an outstanding and professional team, thus living up to its

Vision 2015, which is to create the best team in this industry,”

said Vaz after the presentation ceremony.

Brazil, with a volume of 5 million metric tons annually, is the

largest plastic producer in South America and ranks eighth in

the world. BASF is of the opinion that the plastics market in

Brazil still has plenty of room to grow: the annual per capita

consumption of plastics in Brazil amounts to 23.2 kg, only

one-fourth that of Europe or the United States, so that the

growth potential has by no means been exhausted.

V i s i o n 2 0 1 5 f u l f i l l e d

On February 1 of this year, BASF launched another plastic spe-cialty for the field of medical technology. Terluran® HD-15 is an

ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) that is being marketed with

a service package tailor-made for the requirements of medical

technology. This material belongs to the PlasticsPlus™ product

line of the Styrene Plastics Operating Division. The abbreviation

HD stands for “Health Care and Diagnostics”.

Up until now, BASF had bundled its service package for med-

ical technology with its transparent plastic Terlux® 2802 HD

(MABS). Features of this package are long-term formulation

constancy, product purity and a wide array of basic experi-

ments on chemical compatibility. “The service package was

well received by our MABS customers, so we have now

expanded it to include our newly developed Terluran HD-15,”

explains Dr. Axel Gottschalk, Business Manager for ABS spe-

cialties. An essential difference from a standard ABS also lies in

the guarantee that customers will be informed at least 24

months in advance about any changes to the formulation that

might become necessary. “We could not provide this assur-

ance of formulation constancy for a standard ABS,” explains Dr.

Gottschalk. Another component of the service package

includes biocompatibility testing for the raw material in accor-

dance with international standards as well as technical supportfor applications.

F o r m u l a t i o n c o n s t a n c y a n d m u c h m o r e

A new product joins the service package for medical technology


12/40

1 2B a l a n c e S h e e t 2 0 0 5

For BASF, 2005 was the most suc-

cessful year in the company’s 140-

year history. It managed to

increase its sales by 14% to 42.7 billion

euros, and plastics made a major contri-

bution to this growth in sales, accounting

for 11.7 billion euros. Even though the

plastics segment increased its sales and

also ended the year with better operating

results, not all of the three operating divi-

sions succeeded in repeating the good

results of the previous year. The Perfor-

mance Polymers and Polyurethanes divi-

sions ended the year on a high note, but

Styrenics was unable, despite stable

sales, to repeat the previous year’s

results.

Sty ren ics

The weaker Styrenics result was caused

by the high and volatile raw material

costs, which made it necessary to raise

prices, leading in turn to a corresponding

downturn in demand. In spite of these

difficulties, BASF steadfastly continued to

realign its business models, combining

the specialty styrenics into one global

unit at the start of 2005. At the same

time, the company’s restructuring meas-

ures in the North America region also

continued: Styropor® production, for

example, was shifted from South

Brunswick in New Jersey to Altamira in

Mexico, with the polystyrene business in

the USA based at Joliet in Illinois being

divested.

Per fo rmance

Po l ymers

In contrast to Styrenics, the Performance

Polymers division managed to bring its

prices into line. “This meant that operational

income rose enough to allow us to cover

our capital costs,” explains Dr. John Feld-

mann, the BASF executive board member

with responsibility for plastics, oil and gas. In

2005, BASF expanded its manufacturing

capacities for engineering plastics in Asia

and built a new PBT plant in Malaysia which

is set to be up and running by the middle of

2006. With a view to strengthening the

company’s market position, two companies

were purchased in Germany and the USA,

namely Leuna-Miramid GmbH in Germany

and LATI Inc. in the USA.

Polyurethanes

The Polyurethanes division increased its

sales by 22.7 percent and improved its

operating result in comparison to the previ-

ous year. This good result was influenced

in particular by the Asia region, which had

been the main focus of BASF investments

in the previous year as well. In addition, the

integrated network site in Antwerp/Belgium

increased its MDI production by 90,000

tons to 450,000 tons. Thanks to these

investments, BASF is well placed to cater

for increased demand over the long term.

Future prospects

“Our aim for 2006 is to achieve results

which are at least as good as those in

2005. To do this, we will remain committed

to implementing our business models.

However, we are particularly eager to work

together with our customers even more

closely than we have done previously to

create greater added value between us.

We help our customers to be even more

successful and in return for this we receive

a fair share of the added value which we

have created together. To achieve this, we

will adopt new approaches to our working

relationships, find new applications and

develop new ideas for products,” explains

John Feldmann in outlining the strategy for

BASF’s plastics segment.

Inspite of the raw material costsBASF concludes 2005 successfully

Dr. John Feldmann


13/40

M a r k e t s a n d P r o d u c t s1 3

It is hard to believe that back in the 18th

and 19th centuries, the small community

of Pradelles Cabardès became very

prosperous thanks to the snow and ice

that was stored every winter in under-

ground pits in the Montagne Noire. In the

summer, this white gold was then trans-

ported to the surrounding towns. With the

advent of ice machines in the middle of

the 19th century, followed later by the

invention of the refrigerator, this market

niche that had benefited the citizens of

Pradelles Cabardès for so long dried up.

Back then,

nobody would

have thought that 100

years later, the idea of preserving

snow and ice during the summer

months would make a comeback.

Today, the snow is no longer preserved

so that food can be cooled in the sum-

mer, but rather, so that winter sports ath-

letes can already train on snow in the

autumn. If athletes want to do well in the

first races of the season, they have to start

training on snow as early as possible. Thisis why many winter sports athletes sched-

ule their first training sessions in the Scan-

dinavian countries or in places where there

is eternal ice.

Summer clothes

for the snow

An idea from Finland has now allowed the

athletes who live in Ruhpolding, Germany,

to get an early start, training right at their

own door step. Last spring, the operators

of the biathlon center in Ruhpolding piled

up 8,000 cubic meters of snow to create a

seven meter-high mound that was then

covered with Styropor panels and white,

light-repellent and moisture-repellent

sheeting. All in all, it took 500 cubic

meters of the 20 cm-thick Styropor panels

to completely cover the mound.

It has been 55 years since BASF created

Styropor out of

polystyrene. In the

meantime, Styropor has not only become

synonymous with expanded foam, but it

has also been the basis for numerous

refinements. “There are two reasons why

Styropor is the right choice for helping

snow survive the summer: first of all, this

material offers a good cost-benefit ratio

and secondly, it is also highly resistant to

moisture,” says Dr. Riethues, who is

responsible at BASF for all of the Styropor

technical services and product develop-

ments.

5000 cubic meters

of snow

From April to the end of October, the ice

hill remained untouched. Only at the end

of October of last year was the Styropor

cover removed. Of the 8,000 cubic meters

hauled in, almost 5,000 cubic meters of

high-quality snow were still there, which

was a surprise since the organizers had

expected that up to 50 percent of the

snow would have melted. This meant that

enough snow had managed to make itthrough the summer and could then be

used to prepare the cross country ski

tracks and rifle range at the biathlon

center.

In view of the success of this project,

organizers in Ruhpolding are now toy-

ing with the idea of repeating the

summer snow storage and even

expanding the concept by stockpil-

ing 15,000 cubic meters of snow.

This would allow them to put

snow on the ski jump already

in late autumn.

Training on snow of days gone by

Training on snow in autumn? Styropor makes it possible

Thanks to its

resistance to

moisure Stropor

is ideal for

helping snow

survive summer.


14/40

M a r k e t s a n d P r o d u c t s 1 4

The first traffic light in the world was the

one set up on August 5, 1914 in Cleveland,

Ohio, in the United States. It had only two

lights, a red one and a green one. The first

tricolor traffic lights were only introduced

six years later in Detroit and New York.

Europe saw its first traffic lights in 1922,

initially only in metropolises such as Paris,

Hamburg or Berlin. Smaller cities such as

Helsinki and Lucerne, did not get their first

traffic lights until the 1950s.


15/40


„ W ait, look, listen, walk”, this

is the way kindergarten

children in Switzerland

learn how to cross the street. The children

are practicing the right behaviour in traffic

with this exercise, but this does not nec-

essarily make crossing streets any less

dangerous. This is why the notion of regu-

lating traffic using traffic lights has existed

since the middle of the 19th century: the

first traffic light was installed outside the

British Houses of Parliament in London in

1868. It was operated with gas but it

exploded soon afterwards. Only when it

became possible to use electric light with-

out problems did traffic lights experience

a rebirth, first in America and later on in

Europe. Vialis, a Dutch manufacturer of traffic systems, has been part and parcel

of this development almost from the very

beginning. For 80 years now, this compa-

ny has been producing traffic lights and

has in the meantime become the market

leader in traffic technology in the Benelux

countries.

Greater design freedom and better energy

balance – for Netherlands-based traffic

systems manufacturer Vialis these are

excellent reasons to use plastic housings

instead of conventional aluminum hous-

ings. Development staff at Vialis selected

BASF's Luran®S for the ViaLina traffic sig-

nal – the winner of the iF Gold Award

2005.. This material provides the high-

quality appearance and stability demand-

ed, alongside good weathering resistance.

Luran S is an acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate

(ASA) copolymer – part of the

PlasticsPlus TM line from BASF’s styrenics.

Funct iona l i t y and energy

e f f i c i ency

"Design of traffic signals hasn't changed

in the last 40 years, so the time had come

to modernize the appearance of our prod-

ucts,” explains Hans Dirkze, who heads

traffic engineering at Vialis. Dutch proces-

sor HSV searched for a material that com-bined design freedom with good process-

ability and the necessary mechanical

properties. "Test programs showed that

Luran S has substantially better flow

properties than conventional materials

such as ABS and polystyrene and is more

suitable for ViaLina's complex shape,”

says Luc Gysels from market develop-

ment at BASF Specialty Polymers. The

material also met every requirement relat-

ing to UV resistance, paintability, and

impact resistance.

Previous traffic signal housings were

designed for conventional incandescent

lamps, but new-design traffic signals have

energy-saving LED lamps which need

slimmer, less bulky housings. "This hous-

ing uses a flame-retardant grade of Luran

S with V-0 classification. Its guaranteed

minimum performance level is that all

flame is extinguished within 10 seconds

after outbreak of any fire," says RonaldKersten from Research and Development

at processor HSV.

Another motivator for using plast ics was

the energy balance study carried out by

Intron institute in the Netherlands on traf-

fic signals made from plastics and from

aluminum. Taking into account the costs

of raw materials, production, and trans-

port, together with recycling factors, plas-

tics have significantly better energy effi-

ciency.

Your contact: Luc Gysels,Tel. +32-5-625-3068

Clear road aheadfor designer traffic lightsVialis uses BASF specialty plastics

in traffic signals

Hans Dirkze, Head of Traffic Engineering at

Vialis


16/40

From a simple sign to a cult figure

How the little traffic light guys grew in stature


W ho hasn’t seen them, those

never-tiring little green and

red guys who discretely regu-

late traffic? Those little fellows on the

pedestrian crossing lights are already a

permanent fixture on our street corners

and they are here to stay. And now a

clever designer has turned them into cultfigures.

L i t t l e

guy

The first lights for pedestrians were simple

colored circles that switched back and

forth between green and red. However, it

was hard for children to remember the

meaning of the different colors. So, traffic

psychologists thought about what could

enhance the effect of the traffic lights and

came up with the idea of the human figure.

The b i r t h

o f a s ta r

In the former East Germany, Karl Peglau

created the little traffic light guys in 1961

that are still used in the part of the coun-

try east of the Elbe River. Who would ever

have thought back then that Peglau’s fig-

ures would rise to the status of cult stars

in the new millennium? In fact, these traf-

Germany Belgium Fran

Poland


17/40


fic guys had already displayed their star

potential in East Germany where, sporting

their typical flat hats, they appeared on

the popular “Sandman” kids’ TV program

and taught children about traffic rules.

Now designer Markus Heckhausen in

Berlin has founded Ampelmännchen

GmbH – a company whose Germanname means “little traffic light guys” – and

is showcasing the little stars with great

fanfare. He explains, “Especially the

cross-shaped red light fellow is an incred-

ibly powerful symbol. For a designer, this

was a true find.” Since its founding in

1997, the company has been selling more

and more mugs, ice cube trays and can-

dy bears in this shape in the trendy neigh-

borhood around Hackesche Höfe, a true

tourist attraction.

Traffic light guys can be found almost

everywhere in the world, in completely dif-

ferent designs: gangly in Slovakia and

with a fat head in Poland, as a cowboy in

Boston or as one of many different digitalstick figures in France – everywhere the

little guys have their own character. And

not all of them are guys: Belgium has

introduced a traffic light couple on a trial

basis; in Bolivia, it is an entire family with

father, mother and child while the German

cities of Dresden and Zwickau (Saxony)

now also have traffic light girls.

Canada

Germany

Hungary


18/40


W hereas the coaching staff was

still hotly debating which play-

ers would make the World

Cup team up until the very last minute, the

BASF team had already long since been

decided on. BASF plastics and finishing

products, which have become indispensa-

ble in our daily lives, will also be with us

during the World Cup. What would we do

without them? Well, of course, the World

Cup could be held without them but why

shouldn’t we accept their help when they

are so eager to join the game? Not only will

the nerves of legions of football fans be on

edge by the time of the kick-off to theWorld Cup, but BASF’s plastics will also

have to prove what they can do.

Debu t

The most important test match already

took place 16 months before the World

Cup. Lotteries in several sales phases gave

people the opportunity to buy tickets for

the World Cup matches. Anyone who was

not online was already offside. This was

also a time when BASF plastics were put

to the test. Ultradur HighSpeed was right

on the ball, being used for the delicate

plug-in connectors at the end of DSL lines

and phone cables. Many football fans owe

it to Ultradur components that they were

able to get their hands on tickets since

these connectors ensure smooth data

traffic on the Internet.

And now on tothe f i e ld !

June 9, 2006. The Zero

Hour. Kick-off to the 2006 World Cup. In

the completely sold-out Allianz Stadium,

fans are cheering the national teams of Ger-many and Cost Rica as they take to the

field. The jerseys worn by the German team

shine under the spotlights. This effect is

achieved thanks to the optical brightener

Ultraphor®. Its blue-violet shimmer empha-

sizes the striking contrast between the

black and white.

Now comes the friendly handshake with the

opponent and the referees, after which the

match can start, also for BASF. Kick-off! By

the way, the whistles could also be made of

BASF plastics. As soon as the first goal is

scored, the next BASF helpers spring into

action. The spectators jump to their feet

and cheer. When 66,000 people jump up at

the same time, the structure of the stands

is subjected to extreme

loads. This calls for a

construction material that

compensates for the vibra-

tions thus generated and that

is also as stable as steel or con-

crete. It is at this point that a member

of the BASF team steps in – a Sandwich-

Plate-System (SPS) developed by BASF’s

subsidiary, Elastogran, together with its

partner, Intelligent Engineering Ltd. SPS

plates consist of two steel plates surroun-ding an elastomeric core made of PUR.

Another plus point of the SPS plates is their

low weight. In comparison to concrete,

structures made with SPS weigh almost 70

percent less.

The score is 1 to 0. Who scored the goal?

How many minutes into the match? Wasn’t

he offside …? Now, the technicians and

reporters have their hands full in the stadi-

um’s recording studio. Millions of fans all

over the globe sit in front of their radios and

TV sets, eagerly awaiting the commentaries

and images. Since the human ear can alre-

Little helper for huge success All the work that BASF plastics have to perform during the World Cup 2006


19/40


ady perceive even the smallest distortions

or acoustic reflections as noise, the press

boxes have to have particularly good sound

insulation. This is a job for Basotect, a spe-

cialty foam made by BASF. This routined

pro has already proven its capabilities in

professional sound-recording studios time

after time.

The ball is on the move again and BASF is

part of the dribbling maneuver. Elastollan®

is the name of the polyurethane plastic

made by BASF Group company Elastogran

that goes into the manufacture of the soles

and studs of many football shoes. This

material is not only lightweight and sturdy,but it also protects the joints of players and

is non-skid. In this manner, Elastollan®

ensures that players don’t slip at the decisi-

ve moment.

The a l l - rounder

Half-time. Take a deep breath. Now fans

need something to calm their frazzled ner-

ves. While the players retreat to the locker

rooms, fans swarm around the drinks con-

cessions. What are those silver trays? They

are the “Fritz-dein-Sitz” seat cushions made

of Neopor, a true all-rounder. These seat

cushions have circular depressions that

function as cup holders in the bottom of the

cushion, so that up to six drinks cups can

be carried securely. And this provides the

answer to that all-too-often asked question

known to every football match spectator

during half-time: can you bring one for me,

too?

The fifteen minutes are over. In the stadium,

the fans are once again seated and

anxiously watching the match. In the

meantime, the sun has disappeared

behind the stadium. The temperatu-

re drops. An unpleasant chill creepsinto the plastic seats on the

stands. This is when the “Fritz-

dein-Sitz” seat cushion made of

Neopor gets to play in its

favorite position.

Thanks to its

infrared

absorbers

and infra-

red reflec-

tors, the

heat conducti-

vity of Neopor is

very low, with the result that spectators can

sit on soft cushions and stay warm until the

end of the match. And speaking of which,

the work of the BASF team is far from over

after the 90-minute game. The end of one

match marks the beginning of others. After

all, now it is the turn of the young genera-

tion of players. BASF still has in its ranks

several young, talented players eagerly

awaiting their debut. One particularly promi-

sing candidate is Neopolen P foam.

The artificial grass,

XL Turf, made by the

Swiss company XL

Generation, containsNeopolen P as its

underbase and it has

already been tested in a

pilot project of UEFA, the

European football associ-

ation. It has been officially

approved for European

matches since the 2005-2006 playing sea-

son. Neopolen is extremely durable and

requires little maintenance. In particular, it

absorbs shocks, thus reducing the risk of

injury to players. We are really looking for-

ward to its debut on the field.

“Fritz-dein-Sitz” – a

seat cushion made

of Neopor

BASF plastics also

go into the cards

and whistles used

by the referees

The soles and cle-

ats are made of

Elastollan®


20/40


T he English main editorial office of the Guinness World

Records annually registers 5000 applications for absurd,

funny or amazing world records. For 50 years now, this is

the place where all kinds of world records have been centrally com-

piled and published. The tallest person, the oldest dance instructor

or the most people brushing their teeth, all of these world records

are included in the Guinness Book of Records. Another likely candi-

date for a world record, although without being entered in the Guin-

ness Book, is the engineering plastic Ultradur® High Speed, thanks

to its properties. This PBT (polybutylene tereph-thalate) flows twice

as fast as conventional Ultradur® and has now become the first

engineering plastic to receive BASF’s eco-efficiency label.

Studies have demonstrated that products made of Ultradur High

Speed are considerably more eco-efficient than products made of a

standard PBT. The good flowability of this new material not only

makes the production of injection-molded plastic components

cheaper but also helps to save energy, thus protecting the environ-

ment.

The eco-efficiency label is awarded to products or methods that

perform better from an environmental and financial standpoint thancomparable products or methods. With an eye towards this, the

product undergoes an eco-efficiency analysis certified by the Ger-

man Technical Control Board (TÜV) of Rhineland/Brandenburg in

accordance with specified guidelines. The analysis is subsequently

submitted for a critical review by an independent third party in

accordance with DIN ISO 14040 to 14043. In the case of Ultradur

High Speed, it was Professor Hungerbühler of the Swiss Federal

Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, who wrote the

expert opinion. The eco-efficiency label is then valid for the products

examined in the analysis and applies to the customer benefit as

defined in the eco-efficiency analysis. The results have to be

reviewed again after three years since the market situation and other

boundary conditions might have changed.

Processors benefit from the flowability of Ultradur High Speed,

which has been markedly improved by incorporating a nano addi-

tive, since the processing temperature as well as the injection and

holding pressures in the injection-molding machine can be lowered.

Energy savings of up to 20 percent can be realized here. As an

alternative, the cycle time can be reduced by up to 30 percent. The

mold can have a simpler design and new parts can have thinner

walls, thus saving a considerable amount of material. The number of

rejects also drops since it is now easier to fill the mold with this

easy-flowing plastic. All in all, this makes Ultradur High Speed the

favourable product, both in terms of cost and environmental impact.

In 2005, BASF augmented the eco-efficiency analysis by developing

a computer program with which the customer can calculate pre-

cisely the advantage that results from a substitution of standard PBT

against Ultradur High Speed under his specific production condi-

tions. This tool is called the eco-efficiency manager and it allows

BASF sales personnel to go directly to the customer’s premises and

perform this calculation.

Further information: www.basf.de/ultradur

Eco? Logical!Ultradur® High Speed likely to be a

record breaker

0,7

1,0

1,3

1,3 1,0 0,7

costs ( standardised)

e n v i r o n m e n t a l i m p a c t

( s t a n d a r d i s e d )

Standart-PBT Ultradur High Speed

Employees discuss the test results: Ultradur High Speed flows

twice as fast as conventional Ultradur.

Ultradur High

Speed – cost-

effective and

environmentally

sound


21/40


B ASF launched “Plast icsPlus™

design”, a new service package

for product and industrial desi-

gners. The core of this exclusive new ser-

vice in the Styrenics Operating Division’s

PlasticsPlus range, is “designfabrik™”,

the design factory. The former plastics

color laboratory has been transformed

into a stately place where designers can

obtain advice about the design and colo-

ring of their plastic products. The key-

note speaker at the opening of the

design factory was Dieter Rams, former

chief designer of the Braun company,

whose understated visual language left its

imprint on industrial design.

Faster conversion of designer

ideas into actual products

“To an ever greater extent, design is

becoming an integral part of the corpora-

te policies of our customers. Our packa-

ge is aimed at helping our customers to

convert their ideas more quickly into

actual products,” explains Dr. Christian

Bonten, head of the design factory. BASF

specialists use PlasticsPlus design to

assist in the choice of the right color,

using a color library containing approxi-

mately 20,000 samples in various colors.

They advise on the selection of the opti-

mal production process, on the design

that is appropriate for plastics, and on

the pre-selection of a suitable material.

One mi l l i onco lo r impress ions

A color competence center is integrated

into the design factory. Up to 50 different

surface textures can be produced here.

Surface characteristics play a crucial role in

the color effect. For instance, a color on a

glossy surface looks different from the

same color on a matt or corrugated surfa-

ce. “With 20,000 samples and 50 different

surfaces, we can create up to one million

color impressions,” explains Norbert Mos-

bach, head of the color competence cen-

ter. We also have light booths that show

how color tones appear under all kinds of

light. Together with the customers, it takes

BASF color experts just one working day

to create samples showing the colors

requested by the customers.

“BASF needs to intensify the activities of its

design factory. This is where young desi-

gners in particular can acquire knowledge

that they cannot get anywhere else,” says

Prof. Dr. Dieter Rams, commenting on

BASF’s new service. The service package

also includes the issuing of color certifica-

tes as well as the guarantee of uniform

color standards world-wide. This is a servi-

ce for which BASF already received the

Gillette Omnimark Award in 2004.

Fur ther coopera t i on w i th

i ndus t r i a l des igners

The collaboration between BASF plastic

specialists and industrial designers, howe-

ver, goes well beyond the design factory.

For example, workshops are held in early

summer, where industrial designers get

together with BASF experts and work out

new areas of application for engineering

plastics.

Further information: [email protected],

Dr. Christian Bonten: Tel. +49 621 60 59349

Explosion of colorsBASF inaugurates new designfabrik™

Samples with various surface textures.


22/40

M i s c e l l a n o u s 2 2

A design trouble maker? A grey eminence of the

bio-form? A highly gifted and consistent observer

or a driven, shape fanatic who could not leave his

fingers off anything, from cigarette lighters to an almost

monstrous passenger jet, and who has rubbed almost

everyone the wrong way at one time or another? A force

for good or a utopian? A philosopher? A loud-mouth? A

pop star?

One thing is for sure though: what Berlin-born Colani clearly is

not, an industrial designer of the classic stamp who is willing to

bow to the constraints of flat surfaces in order not to rock the

boat of handed-down product notions. Where did it come from,

this drive to make the world fit his mold, to take the world in his

hands, so to speak, and give it a new shape? In an out-of-the-ordinary interview, plastics magazine attempts to see what

makes this revolutionary tick. See for yourself the opinions held

by a man who can be accused of many things but certainly not

of being ordinary.

Here we are, in 2006, and certainly there are those who

look back with nostalgia at the design of the 60s and 70s

as the zenith of plastic-based design. How does Luigi

Colani see plastics in 2006?

Plastic went through its discovery phase in the fifties and sixties,

at a time when the plastics industry experienced a boom and

designers sprout out of the ground like wild mushrooms. Such

uncontrolled growth is the kiss of death for creativity. In this vein,

“To rekindle the imagination of those

down there”Design virtuoso Luigi Colani discusses form philosophy,

dreary design and Chinese roofs

Color library in the design factory.


23/40

M i s c e l l a n o u s2 3

I feel that recent years have been marked

by stagnation. The path that you are now

pursuing at BASF with PlasticsPlus design

is absolutely the right approach. The trou-

ble is, now you have some catching up to

do – 50 years’ worth. Let me spell this

out for you: build your design factory and

put an end to the creative vacuum

brought about by the success of plastic

as a material. Plastics manufacturers now

have to rediscover the creativity of the

50s and 60s. “Go back to go forward,” is

all I have to say about this.

For you, plastic is really the material

of choice. With your furniture collec-

tion, you were the first to make plas-

tic accepted in the better circles. If

you were to engage in wishful think-

ing, what properties would you like to

see in today’s plastics?

Stored in my archives. I have plastic

developments that would make your hair

stand on end. Ultra-light compound pan-

els that can be extruded in a single

process step. Mind-boggling technology.

However, this is the starting point for the

thinking process. But for the plastic to

actually find a use, it needs us designers

and not only engineers.

Now that you have complimented

BASF, please tell us what the best

consulting service for industrial

designers should look like.

The problem lies in a lack of vision.

Visionary thinking is not taught in the hal-

lowed halls of academia. The designers

being spewed forth out of these places

are all would-be engineers. They fill their

portfolios with sketches and technical

descriptions but they can’t even model a

cone out of clay. Any designer without abackground in sculpture will always have

trouble with the third dimension. It’s as

simple as that. Designers go to their

drawing boards, take the right angle and

pull up the drawbridge. In one fell swoop

they have annihilated 50 percent of their

possibilities.

You know, the problem is this: designers

pick a color and then do their thing over

and over again. What is missing here is

teaching them about shape. Imparting

them with knowledge about shape, color

and the right processing techniques, cre-

ating a breed of young designers who

know how to describe form-philosophical

processes – that has to be the goal of the

schooling, since 99 percent of designers

cannot do this. They might have a vague

idea but they don’t have a clue about

turning it into reality because they lose

their way in colors and angles of inci-

dence. When a car is built, it looks like a

sip of lukewarm water. People like me will

still have to rave and rant for another 20

years to force the designer crowd to

make their corners round.

What should designers be able to do

in the near future?

Young designers have to be able to play

to the tune of what BASF is offering them.

The point is to combine knowledge about

engineering science, color and plastics

technology with mold-construction

finesse. Just look at all the mediocre

design that surrounds us; we are worlds

away from ergonomic shapes. I have just

signed a contract to design new bath-

room fixtures. Let me tell you, I’ve seen

tubs I wouldn’t dream of undressing and

getting into, those boxes with all those

The maestro Colani playing with one of the 20.000 color samples.


24/40

M i s c e l l a n o u s 2 4

straight edges! But we are creating an

ergonomic shape that conforms to the

body and we don’t shy away from contro-

versy, even if I am labeled a grouch who

gets into arguments with the people who

hire me. Today, as a young designer, you

have to work for peanuts when you first

start. That is horrendously bad for the

image of design. Design is going down

the drain in Europe. I recently headed up

a jury in a competition sponsored by

Hyundai in Seoul and saw the designs

submitted by young Korean designers. I

was shocked, there is no other way to say

this. They are so much better than ouryoung European designers. There are cre-

ative forces at work in this Asian region

that should scare the living daylights out

of us. I have to summon up all of my

knowledge in order to be able to keep

pace with them. They are outstanding,

there is no other way to put it.

Now let me ask you something else.

Who does Colani admire or for which

product would Colani say, “yes, that

worked”?

Oh, now I have to think long and hard;

and that is all I am willing to say. There

are a few products in nature that come

close to perfection, for instance, an egg

or a seashell. Hats off to such magnifi-

cence in nature, it is just great! Over 95

percent of designers don’t know the first

thing about nature and even avoid it like

the plague.

You have had several teaching

assignments in China. What knowl-

edge is Professor Colani imparting to

his students? What fundamentals of

design do you teach?

None. I merely answer their floundering

questions. China is a country where justten years ago design was forbidden as a

capitalist indulgence. Naturally, they ask

all kinds of questions and are constantly

inviting me to head up juries where I have

to judge cars, airplanes and ships. They

still lack international flair; Europeans will

need to show much greater presence

there. The next 10 to 20 years will see an

unparalleled boom in that country.

What makes the Asians so strong?

They come from a different cultural back-

ground. Just look at the roofs of Chinese

houses and compare it to the roofs of Euro-

pean houses. Any moron could draw a roof

here. In China, however, the roofs are

curved. They have elevated intricacy almost

to an art. And they build temples that have

withstood earthquakes for millennia. Their

craftsmanship is vastly superior to ours. Not

because they are more intelligent but

because they have a different ancient struc-

ture that they have preserved for thousands

of years. Over the course of 5000 years of

recorded cultural history, the Chinese held

on to the top position for 4800 years. Sim-

ply because they were there before us. They

were already bathing in perfumed baths,weaving silk and painting porcelain and they

also invented the compass. That is high-

tech stuff. They had rocket aircraft. The

large dynasties waged war with 10 meter-

long kites that towed rockets. A scout sat

on the top of them, flew over enemy lines

and back again – 2000 years ago. Brilliant!

Let us talk about your beginnings, the

automobile. Even though the accepted

wisdom says, “Design differentiates,”

cars are increasingly losing their indi-

viduality. Why?

“ Build your design factory and put an end …


25/40

M i s c e l l a n o u s2 5

I am of the opinion that automotive devel-

opment has become impoverished. The

problem is that the thought processes that

should be the domain of creative people

are actually implemented by engineers.

That’s is why the automobile industry is

sick and continues to make ever bigger

cars, even in the face of dwindling energy

reserves. If I were to organize a car show

and switch the brand names of the cars,

then even I as an expert – and I know

every car make in the world – would get

some wrong. I wouldn’t know whether it

was a Ford, a Skoda or something else.

Why? Thirty, forty years ago, you could tellthe difference between an American car, an

Italian car, a Russian car, a French car or a

German car from a mile away. These were

automobiles with character made by cre-

ative people, like me. Today, they all look

equally uncreative, it couldn’t be any

worse. We are too quick to be satisfied

with too little. When I read the magazines,

they already get excited about a piece of

decorative trim or about the oval exhaust

pipe of a car. And they do not see the

machine as such, as the glutton it is in

view of the vanishing fossil fuel reserves.

Where have we ended up with our think-

ing? Germany used to be the land of poets

and thinkers. Perhaps we are still poets but

thinkers? Alas, no longer.

1953: Colani develops the first automo-

bile with a body made completely of

plastic. How come it was never serially

produced?

Because we were stonewalled by the steel

industry. Today, companies like yours are

the youngsters in the production of materi-

als that can be shaped. But just keep one

thing in mind: your basic material is oil so

you are faced with the immense challengeof reinventing your product.

Colani once said, “A car has to be

slow, silent, fun and lightweight.” What

does that mean?

This is a formula for the future that no one

has yet managed to turn into reality. I have

such cars. Your people came to my place

and saw these cars. Vehicles made of two

plastic halves into which we stick a hybrid

engine that is just the size of a shoe box.

These cars are slow, reaching a mere 145

km per hour, they are certainly fun since

they have a Colani shape, and they are

light since they weigh a mere 350 kg. But

the important aspect is that they guzzle

only 1.2 liters of fuel per 100 km. That is

really good stuff.

Colani has never been an evolutionary

but rather a revolutionary. Where did

this urge come from not to develop the

world but to change it instead?

What makes a person like me become a

revolutionary? I will tell you. The lame suc-

cession of step-by-step developments.

Yeah, so I build a sand castle up there that

is actually feasible. But I only do that inorder to rekindle the imagination of those

down there, to kick them back into action.

Preserving continuity is the big mistake

nowadays. Just look at the way things are

today: this country is stinking rich and

everybody says we don’t have money and

of course, this has an impact on young

designers who just build normal things in

hopes of selling anything at all. That is a

huge mistake!

Further information:

www.colani.de

… to the creative vacuum brought about by the success of plastic “


26/40

62stcudorPdnastek raM

The residents of American suburbs love

wood. Decks, stairs and siding – they are

all made of wood. Unfortunately, this mate-

rial has one major drawback: it is not very

durable and it does not offer many color

choices. An intelligent alternative came

from the neighbors to the north, from

Canada.


27/40


Houses in American suburbs are

traditionally made of wood and

so are decks, stairs, siding and

railings. This is the image that stays with

visitors from all over the world when they

think back of their vacation in the United

States. Even though wood looks good, it

has one major drawback: it is not very

durable and requires considerably more

upkeep than, for instance, plastic ele-

ments.

More color,please!

Now the Canadian manufacturer Com-

posatron Composite Technology hascome up with a solution to this problem:

in a co-extrusion process, the core mate-

rial made of vinyl or a vinyl-wood mixture

is coated with Luran S, BASF’s acryloni-

trile-styrene-acrylate polymer. The com-

posite material thus extruded not only

looks like wood but also reduces mainte-

nance to a minimum. The railings made

of this composite material last longer and

are easier to care for than wood.

Homeowners who wanted weatherproof

composite railings to match their decks,

docks and porches were once limited in

their color choices. Thanks to Luran® S

acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate (ASA) from

BASF, Composatron Composite Technol-

ogy of Toronto, Canada, can now offer

homebuilders, contractors and their cus-

tomers a choice of six colors that deliver

the look, feel and beauty of natural wood,

but with minimal maintenance. The new

colors include cedar, sand, mahogany,

light grey, slate grey and redwood.

“Composite railings last longer and are

easier to maintain than wood, but for

years it was difficult to produce color rail-

ings that would not fade. Given the

strong reputation that our white railings

have achieved in the marketplace, we

knew that any extensions to our productline would have to meet our stringent

standards for quality and durability. We

needed a capstock that delivered out-

standing weathering performance, with-

out fading or chalking,” said Jim Pratt,

head of research and development and

product technology for Composatron.

High performance

guaranteed

The color composite railings — part of

Composatron’s Premier-brand product line

— have been displayed this January at the

International Builders’ Show in Orlando,

Fla., at the booths of both BASF and Com-

posatron.

Composatron selected BASF’s Luran S

ASA, a specialty plastic that provides long-

term color stability in a wide range of colors

in railing, siding and fencing applications as

a capstock over vinyl and vinyl-wood com-

posites. Luran S ASA is part of BASF’s

PlasticsPlus™ specialty plastics portfolio.

“Like all of the specialty plastics in our

PlasticsPlus portfolio, Luran S ASA has

unique features that enable our customers

to bring innovative products to market.

Luran S ASA is tough and resistant to

chemicals, and has proven to be colorfast

in a wide range of applications,” said Her-man Savenije, Business Director of BASF’s

Styrenic Copolymers in North America.

Composatron’s Premier composite color

railing is manufactured with an exclusive

technology called Strandex. Similar to the

individual strands that make a rope

stronger, Strandex technology makes com-

posite-extruded products stronger. Com-

posatron backs its railing systems with a

20-year warranty against warping, rotting,

splintering, and peeling.

Further information:

www.LuranSConstruction.com

www.composatron.com

So, an old house?Luran S makes wooden houses colorful and durable


28/40

82snoitacilpp A

T he Mercedes SLK-Class

already has it, the S-Class is

just going into production with

it, and other manufacturers are cast-

ing envious looks its way. The new

molded skin from the polyurethane

system, Elastoskin®, is the talk of the

town. Even though some purists are

finding it hard to turn their back on

leather, the use of PU for car interiors

is a growing trend. As well as being

ultra-light, incredibly versatile, and

low in emissions during production,

the molded skin also boasts a high-

quality finish.

The beauty of the new material is that it

can be used for the instrument panel,

side-door panelling and the glove com-

partment. The new Mercedes S-Class is a

great example, making good use of PU

and the expertise behind it. Together with

Faurecia Interior Systems, ELASTOGRAN

developers worked quickly to prepare the

molded skin for production. For the first

time, the car will have a molded skin

construction for the whole control panel.

The new polyurethane technology has two

distinct advantages in its top-quality look

and smooth, appealing texture.

Think leather, see PU

The material has even more to offer. ELAS-

TOGRAN’s Hermann Völker, who is

responsible for marketing this innovative

system, explains that in contrast to the nor-

mal spray process, the molding process

facilitates ‘defined constancy of wall densi-

ties’. This, together with the material’s abili-

ty to take on the exact contours required,

allows greater scope from a design point of

view. Gaps can be left for integrating ele-

ments or other synthetic parts and, as

valves can easily be laser-drawn into the

molding, airbags can be incorporated

seamlessly. Because the material can be

molded so precisely, the finished result is

a high-quality surface that even experts

find difficult to distinguish from leather.

The new S-Class: behind the scenes

A total of 120 staff work on the produc-

True beauty lies within

ELASTOGRAN has set new standards in car interiorswith its fine PU molded skin.


29/40

A p p l i c a t i o n s2 9

tion of molded skin parts for Faurecia at

the Wörth site. Precision is the big priority

here. For Eckhard Keese, works manager

at Faurecia Interior Systems, production

of the molded skin is a ‘unique chal-

lenge’. After all, the process is unlike any-

thing attempted before. But Faurecia and

ELASTOGRAN’s joint experience in pro-

cessing polyurethane quickly led to effi-

cient, integrated production sequences,

and the results speak for themselves. In

fact, next time you encounter the

Stuttgart flagship you will probably need

to rub your eyes hard to see – and even

then won’t be sure – whether the S-Class

in front of you is furnished with PU or with

leather.

How the molded skin is fitted in the S-Class:

Every PU molded skin is built up in

two layers. First a varnish component is

used to determine color. Then the liquid

polyurethane is added into the closed

mold tool. The gap in the mold

determines the thickness of the skin,

which can range between 0.8 and

20mm. After a hardening period, the

skin is back-foamed with the semi-hard

Elastoflex polyurethane system. The

instrument panel consists of three sep-

arate parts: upper, lower and the glove

compartment. A transfer system is

used to produce three components

and a roundtable facility for back-foam-

ing. At Faurecia in Wörth, this process

is used to produce 1,300 molded skin

parts every day, while the door-

cladding parts are produced at the

Scheuerfeld plant. The end result?

Each day 360 to 400 vehicles leave the

Daimler-Chrysler site sporting PU

molded interiors.

B a c k r o u n d

The new cast skin

is employed for

instrument panels

and other things.


30/40

A p p l i c a t i o n s 3 0

Clack, clack, clack – the new

summer clogs coming out of

Italy, the shoe country par

excellence, have all the makings of

becoming the latest fad: original

designs, cool details, colors and mate-

rials. For example, the soles and heels

are made of wood that is not real

wood, but rather a material that is

even better, namely, Elastopan S Feel

Wood

It looks like wood, it feels like wood, it

sounds like wood, it is hard like wood –

among the latest developments of Elasto-gran Italia in Villanova d’Asti are shoe soles

with a realistic wood grain. They look like

they are made of a piece of genuine wood

and they are just as hard. These new soles

made of Elastopan S Feel Wood are incre-

dibly strong and, as mentioned above,

hard. At the same time, this material exhi-

bits a tailor-made elasticity, which is why

nails and screws can be used in these

soles without any problems, just like real

wood. This is how customers are offered a

harmonious design and a processing

advantage.

But the

best is yet to

come: Elasto-

pan Feel Wood

displays uniform qua-

lity and fewer fluctua-

tions in its material proper-

ties than natural wood, so PUR

is miles ahead of the original mate-

rial. By using the wood-like soles

made of Elastogran, manufacturers

have clear-cut production advantages

and all eyes will certainly be on those

wearing the shoes in the evening. Poly-

urethane offers the assurance of con-stant quality, making it part and parcel

of the trendy scene. A thin outsole

made of PUR, TPU or rubber under the

imitation wood is sufficient to safe-

guard against skidding.

Wearing Elastopan under yourfeet gives you an unexpected

lightness in your step

Elastopan S Feel Wood is an environmen-

tally friendly, water-expanded shoe system

based on a novel comnination of raw

"Let’s talk about wood, baby ..." Attention! Optical illusion. The new shoe fashion for 2006 is all about wood that

is not even real wood, but rather, Elastopan® S Feel Wood. Any questions?


31/40


materials. These sophisticated soles are

produced in a closed mold like other shoe

systems are. The grain is imprinted into the

sole by the mold, thus creating the typical

wood look. Once the sole has been

manufactured, the surface structure

can easily be further processed

and finished. Polyurethane

can be dyed without

any problem. The

special wood

grain is

highligh-

ted

when the soles are subsequently coated.

Color tones, nuances, special color effects

and, if so desired, other design elements,

can all be easily realized. Be it elegant

cherry wood or beech, anything that cur-

rent tastes dictate can be made. The spe-

cial advantage is that this system adheres

well to other materials, particularly to

coatings. In the final analysis, the

result is better than the

original. The

soles not only

feel like

wood, they also sound like it with every

step. But they are also much more com-

fortable and durable. So there you are. If

you spot something quite exciting in the

form of sandals, high heels or clogs with a

sophisticated wood design this summer,

you will certainly wonder, “Is this wood that

I hear clacking there, or is it perhaps Ela-

stopan S?”

In any case, feel good, feel wood..

Further information:www.elastogran.de

Feel Wood – Facts

Material: Elastopan® S – shoe

sole systems

Application: shoe soles made of

imitation wood

Properties: degree of hardness

comparable to that of

wood, good adhesion

to surface coating,

can be used with nails

B a c k r o u n d

Elastopan S can

fulfill all shape and

color requirements.

Wood or not wood?

Elastopan S!


32/40

W

hen travelers pass through

the heather fields of the

Lüneburger Heide and arrive

at the Uelzen train station, they can expect

to find anything but a gray, dismal, con-

crete building. Instead of the dark, drafty

passages, neglected architecture and graf-

fiti on the walls, travelers are greeted by

well-lit, friendly halls, colorful, ornamented

columns and turrets with shiny golden

cupolas. From 1999 to 2001, this train sta-

tion – which dates back to the time of

Emperor Wilhelm II and which used to be

the most important railroad junction

between the German cities of Hamburg

and Hannover – was extensively renovated

on the basis of drawings by Friedensreich

Hundertwasser (1928-2000). In the famous

style of Hundertwasser, architects deliber-

ately avoided corners, replacing them with

organic forms, and the planners made sure

there was no shortage of color either. They

boldly created a blend of esthetics and

functionality: the train station was intended

to be an artistic attraction and, at the same

time, make travelers passing through feel

as comfortable as possible.

Ultramid B3Sin Use

Thus, for instance, the entire building was

created without barriers. This architecture

provides easy access to senior citizens and

the handicapped, in part through the use of

products made by Hewi, a company head-

quartered in Bad Arolsen in the German

state of Hesse which, for 75 years, has

been adorning buildings with contemporary,

architecturally harmonious details, ranging

from signs and electronic locking systems

to bathroom fixtures, all the way to door

Harmonious down to the last detailUltramid products in the Hundertwasser train station in Uelzen

The Hundertwasser train station in Uelzen – like something from One Thousand and One

Nights.

A p p l i c a t i o n s 3 2


33/40


Columns in a riot of

colors – not two

alike.

Hundertwasser

was very fond of

soft and round

shapes.

and window fittings. Hewi makes use of the

advantages offered by the BASF plastic

Ultramid. Thus, all of the sanitary installa-

tions of the Hundertwasser station, includ-

ing grab bars, handrails, armatures and

door handles are made of Ultramid B3S, an

engineering plastic based on polyamide 6.

The special features of Ultramid are its posi-

tive properties when employed for articles

of daily use: Ultramid is particularly well-

suited for mechanically stressed parts

which entail high demands in terms of their

resistance to breakage. This plastic also

stands out for its very good thermal charac-

teristics as well as its resistance to light and

its favorable hygienic values, all properties

that account for the long service life of

these fixtures made of Ultramid.

Express i veCo lo rs

Sturdy, reliable and good-looking – in addi-

tion to the functional plus points of this

BASF plastic, the Hewi company also takes

advantage of the option of using colored

Ultramid. For their new design of the Uelzen

train station, the architects chose colorful

door handles and armatures from among a

palette of twelve vivid colors. The barrier-

free grab bars and handrails are deep black

so they could be precisely incorporated into

Hundertwasser’s differentiated color con-

cept: he used mosaics in black and white,

interspersed with red and blue stones. The

round shapes of the Hewi products

employed also reflect the soft organic shap-

ing of the newly designed mosaics,

columns and curved walls. So, it is no won-

der that this station in Lower Saxony, once

a starting point and hub for travelers, has

long since become

plastics_1_2006_en.pdf

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