Future prospects:
The utilisation workshop

In the spring of 2017, representatives from various sectors were invited to a two-day utilisation workshop, initiated by the Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Architects and conducted in cooperation with the city of Mannheim, to work out ideas and solutions for possible future uses. The outcome is that a sustainable concept is now being generated, as a basis for all further measures.

Following a detailed site visit with experts from Mannheim’s city administration on the first day of the event (31 March 2017), five interdisciplinary workgroups met on the following day to develop ideas and approaches for future utilisation. The aim was to provide statements, sketches, designs and text material that could all be presented to the public that same day:

1) Leisure, sports, park, regional

Games and sports offer valuable social experiences. Open spaces and parks are important in dense city areas, and improve the quality of life in the borough. What opportunities for recreational activities might be realised in the Multihalle?

2) International meeting venue and place for development

The Multihalle is not a building as such. It is a pavilion and ‘platform’ for the community – a system that, in its structure as well as in its intention, is open for the city’s interdisciplinary activities and events, today as in the future. How can such a utilisation be further developed?

3) Investor Model

Money is available in the world, it just needs to be distributed accordingly. The renovation of the Multihalle can be a meaningful investment for companies if they can generate added value from it. For whom could this venue be interesting and in which form? What ‘images’ must be created for potentially interested parties?

4) Open concept

A fundamental brainstorming far from the set topics in the other groups. Anything goes!

5) Climate and construction

Climate and construction experts are now investigating the technical issues. Should the design of the pavilion follow its function, or should future utilisations be adapted to the possibilities of the pavilion? How much leeway is there?

Photos:
Arthur Bauer

A detailed documentation of the utilisation workshop can be viewed here (German only).

During the course of the utilisation workshop, a Letter of Intent – a joint appeal to the state of Baden-Württemberg to support the preservation and renovation of the Multihalle – was drawn up and signed by all the participants.

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