Sustainably impressive: Audi House of Progress opens in the Autostadt Wolfsburg
- Audi Pavilion in the Autostadt is the first permanent Audi House of Progress
- Exhibition concept brings digitalization, design, performance, and sustainability to life for visitors
- With temporary Audi House of Progress locations in urban hot spots, Audi meets its customers on their home ground
Audi has completely redesigned its pavilion in the Autostadt Wolfsburg and converted it into the only permanent location for the Audi House of Progress exhibition concept. Now, the brand’s new experience center is opening its doors. Audi is bringing its four brand values of digitalization, design, performance, and sustainability to life for the site’s visitors. The Audi House of Progress concept offers them space to connect with the Audi brand and get to know the company, its products, and its values. The result is direct contact between people and brand. The locations are not sales outlets. On the contrary, they make the Audi spirit accessible through direct involvement with relevant content and products.
Unlike the Audi House of Progress in the Autostadt, all the other concept locations are temporary. Audi is opening them in urban hot spots as a way of going to the heart of its customers’ lives. In 2022, Audi House of Progress sites opened in Vienna, Seoul, and Milan, among other places. In addition to the permanent installation in Wolfsburg, in the spring of 2023, an Audi House of Progress will also open in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Additional locations are already being planned.
The road to the Audi House of Progress Wolfsburg
Alterations to the Audi Pavilion in the Autostadt amounted to a complete remodeling of the existing building’s interior. In addition to renovating its internal technology, the main focus was the exhibition concept. To increase transparency and create space for new exhibits and new sight lines, the reinforced concrete forming the rotunda which contains the central staircase of the building was opened up.
The new Audi House of Progress shows that Audi’s sustainable aspirations do not only apply to products, manufacturing, and the supply chain, but also to its touch points with customers and fans. The idea behind the Audi House of Progress is to no longer require alterations for new exhibits, which is completely in line with the goal of sustainability. The only things that will change are the digital content and the exhibits, like cars and furnishings. That way, new topics and products can be integrated into each exhibition quickly and easily. It will turn the company's promise that “future is an attitude” into a changeable concept with an emphasis on making the Audi brand tangible and real for visitors.
Right in the entry area to the Audi House of Progress, the Table of Visions offers a look at the company’s visions of the future. A moving walkway flanked by questions about brand topics leads away from there and into the pavilion’s exhibition areas, which span two levels.
Highlights of the exhibition
The first level houses exhibits on digitalization and design. Alongside the A6 e-tron concept and the Audi A8 60 TFSI e plug-in hybrid, there are exhibits that bring both subjects to life on an elongated lowboard. Examples from the digital field include digital OLED rear lights that playfully display various dynamic lighting scenarios and, in doing so, reveal the technology’s possibilities. Additionally, materials like the recycled substance Econyl, a clay model of the Audi e-tron GT quattro, and 3-D printed vases in current color options are also presented. Visitors can take sketches from Audi Design home with them.
In the Audi House of Progress, the Digital Matrix LED front headlights of the Audi A6 e-tron concept are converted into projectors and playfully demonstrate the potential of Audi Lighting Technologies. A floor projection for the performance area leads to the second level. The image is derived from the audio signal of a film that is shown in that area and it changes depending on the volume, intensity, and dynamics.
An Audi RS e-tron GT and a showcase for the Audi e-tron foil by Aerofoils bring the brand value of performance to life. Along with the Q4 e-tron, the Sustainability Table provides information about the circular economy and sustainable collaboration.
The heart of the pavilion is the “Blog of Progress” in the open rotunda, which spatially links both of the upper exhibition levels with the entrance level. The blog’s real-time content is generated from the Audi brand’s daily updated highlight subjects and brand focal points. Thanks to a social media installation, anyone who is interested can sit in the back seat of a concept car from the sphere family at the end of the tour.
