The Gabonsa Pavilion, a striking and versatile temporary structure, is the fruit of a collaborative endeavor between ambitious students from the Hochschule Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences and the creative collectives Gans Anders and Bonanza, both hailing from Innsbruck. Erected for the Gabonsa Music Festival, this innovative design aims to transform the Rossau Recreation Centre—a former municipal landfill—into a vibrant public space through a series of cultural events. Spanning 16 square meters, the pavilion seamlessly blends elements of furniture, artistic installation, and architectural design, serving concurrently as a communal seating arrangement, a distinctive visual marker, and a central gathering point for social interaction, thereby encapsulating the festival's adventurous and experimental spirit.
Gabonsa Pavilion: Fostering Community and Innovation in Innsbruck
In a compelling demonstration of interdisciplinary collaboration, students from the Hochschule Kaiserslautern University of Applied Sciences, under the guidance of lead architects Prof. Fabian Wagner, Louise Daussy, Antonio Winter-Schlaf, and Nils Fischer, unveiled the Gabonsa Pavilion in Innsbruck, Austria, in 2025. This 16-square-meter installation, designed by Lucy Hartmann and Stella Feuerstein, with structural engineering by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Larissa Krieger, was conceived for the Gabonsa Music Festival. It represents a significant effort to revitalize the Rossau Recreation Centre, a site with a past as a landfill, into a dynamic hub for cultural engagement. The pavilion's multifaceted design allows it to function simultaneously as a comfortable seating area for festival-goers, a prominent landmark within the landscape, and a communal space that encourages interaction and exchange. Its construction involved the collaborative spirit of Bonanza & Gans Anders, further emphasizing its community-centric design. The project, documented through the lenses of Susanne Oberhollenzer, Toni Schade, Christoph Schwarz, and Fabian Wagner, stands as a testament to innovative architectural thought applied to public space reactivation.
This project exemplifies how thoughtful design can breathe new life into neglected urban spaces, transforming them into vibrant communal assets. The Gabonsa Pavilion underscores the power of temporary installations to create lasting impressions and foster a sense of community. It serves as a compelling model for future urban revitalization efforts, demonstrating that even former industrial sites can be reimagined as dynamic cultural landscapes through creative collaboration and an experimental approach to architecture.