“Who is this giant?”

Not even Ghostbusters' legendary Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man can compete with this gigantic, 30 meter high Paavo! Plastered to the side of a Frankfurt shopping mall in celebration of his first concerts as Music Director of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra this week at the Alte Oper, we would say the city is just a wee bit excited.

According to the HROnline website, it took an enthusiastic group, many parts of it participating free of charge, to make this project come together. The advertising agency Schitto Schmodde Waack supplied the idea, the city of Frankfurt helped cut bureaucratic "red tape", the purchase yard AG freed up its facade and supported the project in a variety of ways. Finally, the “Society of the Friends and Promotion of the HR Symphony Orchestra” made the unusual installation possible financially, by being responsible for the costs - above all craftsman and material costs. Wednesday and Thursday night seven scaffold construction specialists and advertising technicians labored, in order to attach the installation on the facade. Before this could be attempted, a large size photo with extremely high resolution of the conductor had to be made and applied on water and wind-resistent materials. An enormous aluminum Dibond plate for the head and shoulders was fastened high above the external facade of the building with an aluminum stand, a basic structure 22 meters wide, stabilizing the body and legs.

What a grand welcome to Paavo's new city!