The new Haus der Gegenwart (House of the Present), which is intended to be a pioneering building with high levels of flexibility, functionality and openness, must also address the exposed location at the train station and present a new public face. To achieve all of this in a building is hardly possible without a certain degree of radicalism. Our project resists the temptation to erect a building that uses a special external form to announce itself. On the contrary, what we propose is a ‘decorated shed’. The gesture of the bend in the concave gable wall spatially defines the outdoor area, while the large surface of this end wall can be used as a screen. The volume of this compact and simple building remains recognizable, but it can change its façade for each new exhibition. This is actually an industrial building made of timber, a material that in the interior can be processed using the simplest means and thus offers exhibition-makers an ideal basis for their work.