Architects:peter haimerl.architektur

Area:381m²

Year:2023

Photographs:Sebastian Kolm,Basti Arlt

Manufacturers:Sky-Frame,Aluminum foam Geradts GmbH,Bauder,Cielo, Duravit; Duten,Custom made,Screed, sanded,XAL

Lead Architects:Peter Haimerl, Doris Astner, Ulrich Pape, Anton Philipp, Philipp Khoury

Structural planning:Ingenieurbüro Fuchs

Building physics:bauphysik 4.0

Light planning:Candela GmbH, Planning,Püls & Schuberth, planning and execution

Construction management:Strukturdesign

Construction company:Dechant, concrete work and prefabricated parts

Fire Protection Planning:ING. Brandschutz

City:Lichtenfels

Country:Germany

Text description provided by the architects. In the southwest of the town square in Lichtenfels, trees are growing and a building is opening up new space. A space of nature and architecture. Interior and exterior. Nature and mathematics. Programming and handicraft. Forest and city. A laboratory. An office building. A museum. A café. A new urban space.

The Archive of the Future, a think tank of innovations. Lichtenfels is a basket-weaving town. The artisanal use of willow has shaped the town, created wealth, and enabled the construction of an urban square of high quality. The town's buildings represent the individual families and a space for action and communication for the civic community.

As the center of the town square, the Archive of the Future continues this tradition -citizens take responsibility for their town, present themselves, and create a new social place in the process. The Archive of the Future takes the artisanal use of natural materials into the future. It transforms the growth of trees into the digital and from the virtual back into reality.

Two digital trees grow in generational steps, branching out from the trunk and forming ramified crowns. The metal branches bend down and form a light urban space in analogy to the arcades of historical cities. The Archive of the Future consists of two golden trees attached to a filigree glass structure.

It’s open to everyone, offering a venue for the most diverse array of activities that will surprise and inspire. A stage, it will provide a platform for live events to take place, both onsite and online, for the whole world to see. Alternating digital exhibitions will continuously present the latest innovative achievements from across the globe.

The Archive of the Future will be a meeting place and center of communication for all those wanting to share in shaping the future. A virtual Future Lab will demonstrate how innovation can be generated and will motivate people to actively take the future into their own hands.

The Archive of the Future is nurtured by the ideas and the vision of those who contribute, collaborate, and present here. It is open to all innovative thinkers, optimists, designers, and interested, enterprising, forward-looking people. The Archive of the Future gives you a staging ground for innovative impulses and, through your participation, always remains in motion.

Project gallery

Project location

Address:Marktpl. 2, 96215 Lichtenfels, Germany