Inauguration of two outstanding new buildings
After just 10 months of planning, the Wangen Tower and Hybrid Flax Pavilion were opened to the public as part of the opening ceremony with prominent figures from culture and politics. The two innovative buildings were planned according to the latest findings in digitalisation and lightweight construction research and show visitors in different ways how bio-based materials can open up new paths for regenerative architecture.
The tower and pavilion were designed by researchers from the IntCDC Cluster of Excellence at the University of Stuttgart and realised in cooperation with local companies.
The Hybrid Flax Pavilion, situated at the heart of the Landesgartenschau site and surrounded by the rejuvenated River Argen, serves as a pivotal exhibition structure. It stands as a pioneering example, introducing a new wood-natural fibre hybrid system as an alternative to conventional building methods. This innovative approach combines slender cross-laminated timber with robotically wound flax fibre bodies in a novel, resource-saving load-bearing system made of regional, bio-based building materials with strong ties to the region. Flax was historically processed in the local textile industry, whose old spinning mill site was renovated as part of the Landesgartenschau. The pavilion's distinctive undulating roof, circular floor plan, and centrally positioned climate garden seamlessly blend architecture with the surrounding landscape.
With an impressive height of around 22 metres, the Wangen Tower offers breathtaking views over the Allgäu and the Alps. It is the world's first accessible tower to use curved cross-laminated timber components that self-shape as the wood shrinks. The tower's load bearing, spiraling timber structure offers a unique spatial experience and, with a material thickness of just 130 mm, represents a resource-saving and at the same time high-performance timber structure.
Fostering knowledge exchange between research and construction companies, both buildings were realised in collaboration with regional companies. The bespoke, resource-saving, fully dismantlable and reusable structure was enabled by integrative computer-based planning methods and digital production processes.
Both buildings are the result of many years of research by the Cluster of Excellence Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture (IntCDC) led by Professor Achim Menges, Head of the Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) and Professor Jan Knippers, Head of the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the University of Stuttgart.
