Imagine a leisurely walk through the Weissenhofsiedlung, a Stuttgart residential estate built in 1927 by a bunch of avant-gardiste icons of modern architecture such as Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius. Thanks to IBM Deutschland and the City of Stuttgart, these elegant white stuccoed, flat-roofed buildings came vividly to life in 2002, crossing three quarters of an eventful century, through WWII bombings and the postwar reconstruction period. The three-dimensional Weissenhofsiedlung was virtually reconstructed in its state in the late 1920’s in the Weissenhof Digital project by IBM, using CATIA 3D engineering design software and then animated to give viewers a “stroll-through” view of the housing development. To this high-visibility cultural project the IBM Germany TSC has contribued its expert translation know-how and successfully completed its mission on time for the site’s 75th anniversary celebration presided by the Lord Mayor of Stuttgart. The virtual tour is available on the Weissenhof bilingual Web site.
