The Stock Exchange Egg: Reference objects

The KEDO economics campus at János von Neumann University in Kecskemét will soon house the hum of a stock market that is unmatched anywhere in the world. It is all about a steel egg and its Prefalz shell.

‘Achieving the egg was, of course, complicated,’ says Lajos Hartvig. „88 Tonnen wiegt das Objekt und es sollte frei im Raum schweben.“ Entsprechend herausfordernd war die Konstruktion des Gebäudes drum herum. The architects embedded the egg into a strictly axial building structure to create a contrast. It is reinforced with discs that form the floors of two interior spaces. ‘We had several ideas for how to cover the steel construction,’ says Hartvig. The original plan was to use 3D-printed components made from Corian or acrylic glass for the façade, similar to the Kunsthaus Graz. „Das war aber zu teuer für die verhältnismäßig kleine Oberfläche des Eis.“ Mit PREFA konnte letztlich die Form gedeckt werden, „ohne dass der Charakter einer Schale verloren ging“, ergänzt Ágnes Székely, die mit diesen Details im Projekt betraut war. This also applies to the invisible properties of the material. While the load-bearing steel construction weighs as much as 87 cars, the layer of Prefalz aluminium only weighs around a tonne. The weight ratio of shell to body is similar to a real chicken’s egg.

Special building-based solution