Bench with beautiful views

The Lugano-based BSI Bank is drawing attention to itself in a clever and highly effective way: It is the first financial institution in Switzerland to present itself in 3D on Google Earth. The works of art in the bank’s buildings can be admired on a separate website.

Editorial - February 4, 2009

How does a bank stand out as modern and customer-oriented in the midst of the financial crisis? In times of tight budgets, a large-scale advertising campaign is just as inappropriate as excessive bonus payments. But if you keep completely quiet, you miss the chance to draw attention to yourself in the general calm of the crisis. The oldest credit institution in Ticino, the BSI Bank in Lugano, had a clever idea: it is the first bank in Switzerland and the first building in Ticino to be visible in 3D format on Google Earth. The free Google Earth software makes it possible to view countries, cities, individual streets or buildings around the world via satellite images. If you search for "Palazzo BSI" under "Lugano" on Google Earth, you will surf directly in front of the Palazzo Riva and the Palazzo BSI, the complex of historical and modern buildings of the BSI headquarters in Lugano. A virtual tour around the building, which is located directly on Lake Lugano, is just as possible as a visit to the bank's buildings or a view of the street from the roof of the building. This puts the BSI Bank in the same league as famous buildings such as the Louvre in Paris or Hamburg City Hall, which can also be admired in 3D format on Google Earth.

Enjoying art in three dimensions
The BSI presence on Google Earth is also linked to the website www.virtual.bsibank.com, where surfers interested in art can stroll through the Palazzo BSI and view works by contemporary artists. The paintings and installations spread over five floors were created especially for the BSI Bank premises by Daniel Buren (France, born 1938), Robert Barry (USA, 1936), John Armleder (Switzerland, 1948) and Liam Gillick (Great Britain, 1964). Visitors can take a guided 360° virtual tour of the exhibition or take a gallery tour on their own. They can view the works up close - art enjoyment without the barriers. Background information on the artists is provided by short films in which the curator of the BSI Art Collection, Luca Cerizza, introduces the artists and their work. A section with information about Palazzo BSI is also planned. "The presence of two of the most representative BSI buildings on Google Earth is due to the bank's strong technological orientation and its tireless efforts to make its increasingly important collection of contemporary art accessible to everyone worldwide, not only through traditional channels such as exhibitions," says Gianluca Balò, Head of Web Communication at BSI.
The presentation is certainly a successful move: with architecture and art in three dimensions, BSI Bank is doing image work at its best. The surfer imagines himself in a gallery for modern art and architecture rather than at an asset manager - and the subject of bonuses is off the table, at least for a few entertaining minutes.

Anne-Friederike Wilhelm