This temporary pavilion for an exhibition on artificial intelligence will add another space of knowledge to the Experimenta ensemble.

The Experimenta Square on Heilbronn’s Kraneninsel, already framed by the Hagenbucher Speicher, the distinctive extension building and the banks of the River Neckar, finds a spatial conclusion on its western edge in the curved façade of the new KI Pavilion. Under a light canopy where stepped platforms invite people to linger or converse, the building acts as a kind of modern ‘stoa’ on this ‘forum of knowledge’.

The building derives its characteristic shape from a sequence of concave outer walls that respond to the crowns of the surrounding trees. On the inside, these circular segments organise the exhibition, which gradually opens up to visitors as they move through the space. The gently curved, translucent entrance façade brings soft daylight into the exhibition and lets the interior shine outwards at night. On the opposite side, a panoramic window opens up between the wall elements framing the view over the Neckar Canal.

The lightweight, elemental timber construction has been fully prefabricated and allows for flexible assembly and reuse at different locations. The renewable building material wood binds CO2 in the long term, prefabrication and elementisation lead to an efficient use of materials and facilitate the recycling of components.

By juxtaposing the disembodied nature of artificial intelligence with a sensually tangible space and the haptics of a natural material, the pavilion broadens the scope of its exhibition and presents itself as a building that refers to the future.