Press release

New projects selected for the IBA’27 Network

The International Building Exhibition 2027 StadtRegion Stuttgart is going from strength to strength: The first project proposals were announced in March, and now a whole list of further proposals has been added. A total of 51 projects are currently planned for the IBA’27 Network. The network is a collection of diverse proposals that take an ambitious approach to the future of building, housing and working in the Stuttgart Region. The idea is that they will mutually benefit each other and the IBA as a whole in the coming years. They are submitted and implemented by different partners: municipalities, independent contractors, research institutes and community initiatives.

»IBA’27 is making major progress on many levels«, says IBA’27 Director Andreas Hofer. »We are receiving project proposals from the whole of the Stuttgart Region as well as from beyond its borders. We are delighted about this. It’s a good sign that the response to the IBA is developing a ripple effect.« Hofer says that the many discussions in recent months have given him and his team an increasingly good overview of the range of possible projects and their potential for an exhibition with international relevance. »Project families are also starting to develop, for example to link work and housing in a productive city, transform large-scale 1960s and 1970s building complexes or develop approaches for the Neckar.«

The range of proposals just selected for the IBA’27 Network is large. They include proposals for entire town districts, such as the development of a 15-hectare urban quarter to the west of Backnang town centre. Projects that are technically very ambitious are also included, for example the plan to cover the A81 motorway in Freiberg am Neckar with a lightweight construction that can be built upon. Several ideas relate to the repurposing of existing buildings and spaces. For example, an above-ground bunker in Stuttgart is to be converted into an energy-efficient residential and office building with neighbourhood community spaces. In Wendlingen, the impressive industrial architecture of a former cotton mill is to be transformed into a mixed-use residential and commercial area. And the Stuttgart association Stadtlücken is proposing that spaces formerly used as car parks be permanently repurposed as ›cooperative urban space‹ with co-working spaces, rehearsal spaces for bands, cafés or a mobility station.

The idea behind the IBA’27 Network is to promote an exchange between these projects – both mutually and with the IBA’s 21 working groups, where specialists and committed residents explore different topics. Proposals are included in the IBA’27 Network based on the respective project qualities. In a further step, construction projects from the network are identified in dialogue with the initiators that have considerable potential for further development with a view to the exhibition year 2027. Those projects receive intensive support from the IBA team in the new category ›IBA’27 Projects‹. Several particularly ambitious large-scale urban development projects are to act as anchor points for the exhibition year 2027 as ›IBA’27 Neighbourhoods‹. The decision of whether a project qualifies as an IBA’27 Project or IBA’27 Neighbourhood is taken by the supervisory board of IBA 2027 GmbH at the recommendation of the board of trustees. The exhibition programme for 2027 will be put together from all proposals by the board of trustees before the presentation year.

The collection for the IBA’27 Network will be continued over the coming years.

The International Building Exhibition 2027 StadtRegion Stuttgart is going from strength to strength: The first project proposals were announced in March, and now a whole list of further proposals has been added. A total of 51 projects are currently planned for the IBA’27 Network. The network is a collection of diverse proposals that take an ambitious approach to the future of building, housing and working in the Stuttgart Region. The idea is that they will mutually benefit each other and the IBA as a whole in the coming years. They are submitted and implemented by different partners: municipalities, independent contractors, research institutes and community initiatives.

»IBA’27 is making major progress on many levels«, says IBA’27 Director Andreas Hofer. »We are receiving project proposals from the whole of the Stuttgart Region as well as from beyond its borders. We are delighted about this. It’s a good sign that the response to the IBA is developing a ripple effect.« Hofer says that the many discussions in recent months have given him and his team an increasingly good overview of the range of possible projects and their potential for an exhibition with international relevance. »Project families are also starting to develop, for example to link work and housing in a productive city, transform large-scale 1960s and 1970s building complexes or develop approaches for the Neckar.«

The range of proposals just selected for the IBA’27 Network is large. They include proposals for entire town districts, such as the development of a 15-hectare urban quarter to the west of Backnang town centre. Projects that are technically very ambitious are also included, for example the plan to cover the A81 motorway in Freiberg am Neckar with a lightweight construction that can be built upon. Several ideas relate to the repurposing of existing buildings and spaces. For example, an above-ground bunker in Stuttgart is to be converted into an energy-efficient residential and office building with neighbourhood community spaces. In Wendlingen, the impressive industrial architecture of a former cotton mill is to be transformed into a mixed-use residential and commercial area. And the Stuttgart association Stadtlücken is proposing that spaces formerly used as car parks be permanently repurposed as ›cooperative urban space‹ with co-working spaces, rehearsal spaces for bands, cafés or a mobility station.

The idea behind the IBA’27 Network is to promote an exchange between these projects – both mutually and with the IBA’s 21 working groups, where specialists and committed residents explore different topics. Proposals are included in the IBA’27 Network based on the respective project qualities. In a further step, construction projects from the network are identified in dialogue with the initiators that have considerable potential for further development with a view to the exhibition year 2027. Those projects receive intensive support from the IBA team in the new category ›IBA’27 Projects‹. Several particularly ambitious large-scale urban development projects are to act as anchor points for the exhibition year 2027 as ›IBA’27 Neighbourhoods‹. The decision of whether a project qualifies as an IBA’27 Project or IBA’27 Neighbourhood is taken by the supervisory board of IBA 2027 GmbH at the recommendation of the board of trustees. The exhibition programme for 2027 will be put together from all proposals by the board of trustees before the presentation year.

The collection for the IBA’27 Network will be continued over the coming years. Proposals for the IBA’27 Network (German only)