Graffiti artists make UEFA EURO 2024 big
In a campaign for the UEFA EURO 2024 Host City Stuttgart, three graffiti artists have given the Talstraße substation of Stuttgart Netze a fancy new look.
One of the largest works of graffiti art in the state capital of Baden-Württemberg has recently been emblazoned on the exterior facade of the Talstraße substation, diagonally opposite the gas boiler. In addition to the lettering "Stuttgart" and a skyline of the city, it shows a quadriga drawn by three horses, symbolizing Stuttgart ("Stutengarten"). The people in the Roman chariot symbolize the fans and emotions that are coming to the city as a result of the European Football Championship. Other stylistic elements - such as balls, crystals and flags - complete the mural, which is around 20 meters long and almost eight meters high.
The graffiti was sprayed on the facade over the past few weeks by three well-known artists in the scene: Christoph "Jeroo" Ganter, Reinald Pehla (REGArtificial) and Maximilian Frank alias "Rast". "In my part of the mural, I tried to capture the atmosphere and architecture of Stuttgart and translate it into sculptural lettering. Important features such as the vineyards, the burial chapel or the Tagblatttower are just as important as the hills in the background and the atmosphere they create. In this way, I try to combine lettering art with pictorial elements. Lettering in particular has inspired and challenged me artistically all my life. There is a lot of aesthetics in lettering, but also dynamics and architecture," says Maximilian Frank alias "Rast".
The design was enabled as part of the Spectaculars of Host City Stuttgart, which will make the European Football Championship visible throughout the city during UEFA EURO 2024. "Football, art and culture are perfectly combined in this unique facade design. That's why we wanted to have such spectacular graffiti designed for UEFA EURO 2024. The location on Talstraße is perfect, as many fans head towards the stadium from the east of Stuttgart," says Thomas Pollak, overall project manager of Host City Stuttgart. The artists based the design on the color scheme of the European Championships. However, it will retain its impact far beyond the UEFA EURO 2024 and continue to draw a lot of attention.
"I am really delighted with what the artists have done with the facade of our substation. We are thus making a further contribution to enhancing the cityscape - and in tune with the European Championships," says Marlies Hummel-Dietz, Commercial Director of Stuttgart Netze. Harald Hauser, Technical Managing Director of the company, adds: "The graffiti campaign at the Talstraße substation fits in perfectly with our long tradition of artistic design of our facilities. We are very grateful that the painting could be realized as part of the Host City partnership". Since Stuttgart Netze was founded in 2016, the electricity grid operator has made the facades of selected facilities - primarily substations - available to graffiti artists for painting. An overview of all previous campaigns can be found here (only in german).
In substations, electrical energy from the high-voltage grid with an electrical voltage of 110,000 volts is transformed to 10,000 volts for further distribution in the city. A substation essentially consists of at least two power transformers and a switchgear. Most substations are located in large buildings, but some are also designed as open-air facilities. In the state capital's public electricity grid, a total of 24 substations ensures a secure and reliable supply of electricity to citizens, businesses and industry. A descriptive explanatory film on the Stuttgart Netze homepage (only in german) shows how the electricity grid in Stuttgart is structured.
About Stuttgart Netze:
Stuttgart Netze is responsible for the secure distribution of electricity in Stuttgart. We own the 5,600 kilometre-long high-, medium- and low-voltage electricity grid and keep the cables, grid stations and substations up to date with the latest technology. We also expand and strengthen the grid when, for example, charging stations for electric vehicles are needed, citizens install solar systems or new buildings are connected to the grid. We also take care of public street lighting on behalf of the state capital. We also own the gas grid. We will also operate this ourselves in the future. Security of supply is always our top priority. To achieve this, we rely on modern technology, processes and materials as well as the experience and qualifications of our employees. We are a company of Stadtwerke Stuttgart with around 350 employees.
