The new center will be built in the famous Stuttgart Palace Park, the capital of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, next to the parliament building. When designing a building on the territory of a monument of landscape gardening and in the immediate vicinity of an architectural monument (the parliament building is a striking example of German modernism, not so long ago endowed with the status of a protected object), the architects were able to find the most gentle solution.
The new center, designed for 65 thousand visitors a year, Henning Larsen Architects gave the form of an amphitheater, which was buried in the ground. Around the open area, designed in the image and likeness of the ancient Greek agora, there is a foyer, several conference rooms and one exhibition hall. All these rooms face the square with fully glazed walls, and special cylindrical skylights make them even lighter.
Wide stone steps lead from the park to the square. As conceived by the architects, such a compositional solution not only allows the new volume to be an organic part of the landscape, but also symbolizes the democracy of the parliament: the square is the best suited for holding rallies, debates, and meetings with voters.
The underground part of the projected building is closely adjacent to the parliament, but Henning Larsen Architects, in their concept, provided for the possibility of complete isolation of these two objects from each other. In particular, this will allow holding events of the widest profile in the new center, including in the evening, without regard to the schedule of politicians.
