The design ‘New Concert Hall for Stuttgart’ shows a new venue for the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra. Today, the previous venue ‘Liederhalle’ is considered one of the most important German cultural buildings of the post-war period. Despite everything, the call for a new concert hall in Stuttgart is growing louder. ‘Stuttgart clearly needs a new concert hall. Everyone who makes music in this city agrees on that,’ said Felix Fischer, orchestra director of the SWR Symphony Orchestra, to the German Press Agency in Stuttgart.

As an enthusiastic concert-goer, I know the existing ‘Liederhalle’ building well and also know that it no longer meets current requirements in terms of the facilities for the concert experience. A new building could ensure that there is also space for musicians to rehearse and that a concert venue remains the centre of cultural and social life in the city.

With regard to the planning of the area around Stuttgart's main railway station, more concrete ideas for a new cultural centre as an extension of the Kulturmeile have been under discussion since 2009. There have already been designs by Christoph Ingenhoven and Werner Sobek. However, no agreement has yet been reached, even though the Mayor for Urban Development and the Environment, Peter Pätzold, declared back in 2016 that Stuttgart needed a modern, attractive environment for the future railway station. Since then, public participation has been ongoing, which has now also led to this ideas competition.

The concept of the ‘Schlossgarten Philharmonie’ design is clearly characterised by the location of the site at the main railway station. The direct underground access to the station and the extensive outdoor areas flow through the foyer, creating a large and inviting public space. Music education programmes and the ‘practice houses’ are also attractive contact points for all musicians in the city and are open to the public.