Audi TT: Unveiling of a spectacular car sculpture

Here are more pictures from the unveiling of the Audi TT sculpture at the Brandenburg Gate during the world premiere of the new Audi TT Coupé.
Go here for the full gallery.

# Giant sculpture as part of the initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas”
# Prominent guests from the worlds of politics, sport and society
# The new Audi TT Coupe shown to the public for the first time

The events that took place directly in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Thursday evening were extremely revealing. At 19:00 h, AUDI AG, official partner of the initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas”, and FC Deutschland GmbH unveiled a giant car sculpture on the “Platz des 18. Mдrz”. “The Automobile”, a 2.5:1 scale sculpture, is part of the “Walk of Ideas” which comprises six sculptures at prominent locations in Berlin that will be on show until the autumn. The evening continued in spectacular fashion when the Ingolstadt brand presented the new Audi TT Coupe to the world public for the first time, also in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

Around 500 invited guests attended the event in Germany’s capital. As well as a number of international journalists, guests included the German Vice Chancellor and Minster of Labour and Social Affairs, Franz Muntefering, the Bavarian Prime Minister Dr. Edmund Stoiber, the Hungarian Economics Minister Dr. Janos Koka, footballers Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane from Real Madrid and Andreas Gцrlitz from FC Bayern Munich, FC Bayern Munich Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and former German football star Gerd Mьller, who now trains the FC Bayern Munich amateurs.

The guest list also included Olympic biathlon champions Michael Greis and Ricco GroЯ, racing driver legend Jacky Ickx, his daughter Vanina Ickx, who will be driving for the Audi team in this year’s DTM, and her team-mate Mattias Ekstrom.

The guests were welcomed by the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, Jьrgen R. Thumann, Chairman of the Federation of German Industry (BDI), Mike de Vries, Managing Director of FC Deutschland GmbH, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, and Stephan Gruhsem, Head of Communication at Audi.

The automotive sculpture stands as a symbol for “Germany, the car-making nation”. As Winterkorn explained: “The initiative ‘Germany – Land of Ideas’ fits in excellently with our brand essence ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’. 45,000 highly qualified and motivated employees at our German plants in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm make our success possible. Audi is committed to Germany as a location. Our commitment therefore fits in extremely well with the objectives of the initiative. After all, we develop and produce fascinating cars here in Germany with a passion and a wealth of ideas.”

With Audi’s assistance, the giant sculpture took just eight weeks to build. The shell is made from the innovative foam Neopor and sits on a steel supporting structure. The sculpture consists of 16 different segments, is 10.20 metres long, 3.25 metres high, 4.50 metres wide and weighs around 10 tonnes. Its surface, which covers 150 square metres, has been coated with a metallic gold-silver paint. A heavy-haulage low loader with police escort took it through the night from Fulda, where it was created, to Berlin.

As far as colour, material and clarity are concerned, it matches the style of the other sculptures in the “Walk of Ideas” – but is more realistic and less abstract. Audi Design was responsible for its styling. Details such as a tank cap or door handles were deliberately omitted, as was a brand logo.

Following the unveiling of the sculpture, Audi had another sensational premiere to offer: the eagerly awaited Audi TT Coupe, which was presented to the world public for the first time. Three examples of this new sports car drove up to the Brandenburg Gate where they were presented to the international media.

Then the guests, including actors Daniel Bruhl, Thomas Heinze, Benjamin Sadler, Gedeon Burkhardt and TV presenter Kai Pflaume were taken by the Audi shuttle service to the “Audi TT Night” which was held at the permanent representation of the State of Baden-Wьrttemberg in Berlin. The evening event there was hosted by Desiree Nosbusch, who conducted interviews with, among others, Audi Chairman Winterkorn, the chief designer of the Audi brand group Walter de’ Silva, the famous designer Richard Sapper and Audi’s head of concept development Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg.