MONOLITH CRAFTED IN COLOGNE

The centerpiece of the appearance was a wide-spanning temple portico that took up the entire front. In our Cologne workshops, a massive, deliberately archaic design language was created for this: a load-bearing wood and steel framework, clad with CNC-milled components and refined with a tactile sandstone finish. The result looks as if it were carved from a single block – a monolith you just want to touch. The real art, however, lay in the invisible: a cantilevered gable that manages without visible supports, and media technology that seamlessly disappears into the antique stone surface.

"Architecture instead of set design."

That was the brief for the world premiere of Sid Meier's Civilization VII at Gamescom 2024 – and the guiding principle for the entire 2K Games presentation. We developed a concept that deliberately blurred the lines between temporary exhibition construction and historical monument: Anyone approaching the stand from the hustle and bustle of the hall didn't enter a set, but a structure – a monumental framework that brings together classical high culture and high-end gaming in a single gesture.