OREANDA-NEWS. The prize winners of the architectural competition for the expansion of the Mercedes-Benz World in Stuttgart were announced last friday. The architectural firm of REX, located in New York, convinced the 18-member jury with its overall concept and was elected as winner of the competition.

The Mercedes-Benz World, which was officially opened on May 19, 2006, consists of the Mercedes-Benz Museum and the Mercedes-Benz Center. The areal is located directly in front of the Mercedes-Benz Unterturkheim Plant across the Mercedes-Benz Arena in NeckarPark.

The future presentation of Mercedes-Benz in NeckarPark is to become an international brand center of Mercedes-Benz. This is where the past, present and future of the brand and the automobile are to be experienced. The aim of the architectural competition was to develop a viable concept for a space where science and research can be experienced. It is characterized by openness and transparency, and awakes curiosity and optimism for the future.

Ola Kallenius, Member of the Divisional Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, responsible for Marketing & Sales: "In the Mercedes-Benz World we will enable a broad international public to experience the past, present and future of the Mercedes-Benz brand. The draft concept of REX convinced the jury with its future oriented approach."

Fritz Kuhn, Lord Mayor of the City of Stuttgart: "The NeckarPark already is a main attraction for visitors. Every year, 12 million people flock to highlight events in sports, to concerts and into the Mercedes-Benz Museum. The lab for science and future topics will become another attraction. That's shown by the result. Currently, the NeckarPark is the most important urban development area. In the coming years, many more exciting attractions will become home here."

The main focus on the lab for future and science topics is on research themes and future topics in connection with the automobile. The focus of the topic presentations will be on people. Moreover, parts of Daimler's art collection as well as Genius, the young knowledge community of Daimler, will also be integrated. In addition to the exhibition area for topics of the near and distant future, audio rooms and seminar areas are also planned in order to involve the visitors actively. Along with the future lab, the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center will also be moving into the expanded Mercedes-Benz World.

The architectural competition was launched in the summer of 2012. In a meeting in February 2013, the jury selected three outstanding concepts from the eight concepts that were originally submitted by regional, national and international architectural firms. The jury agreed on the subsequent revision and optimization of the concepts together with the architectural firms of Barkow Leibinger of Berlin, haas cook zemmrich of Stuttgart, and REX with a registered office in New York. With the nomination of the winners today, the architectural competition is now complete.