After more than four years away, BAU—the world’s leading trade fair for architecture, materials and systems—will start in just a few days on the grounds of Messe München. From April 17 to 22, more than 2,200 exhibitors from 49 countries will present innovations and trends from the construction industry in an area of 200,000 square meters. In addition to numerous solutions and products, BAU also offers visitors a comprehensive supporting program with forums, special shows, conferences and award ceremonies.

The world’s leading trade fair BAU will demonstrate the diversity of the construction industry not only in the exhibition area with various trades, but also in the supporting program. The various visitor groups, such as architects, planners, developers and tradespeople, will have the opportunity to tailor the additional offerings to their own individual needs.

Congress: Construction 2023—what now needs to be done

On the first two days of the fair, the German Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building will hold a congress in the International Congress Center (ICM). The event will open on April 17 at 11:00 a.m. with a keynote speech given by the Federal Building Minister Klara Geywitz on the topic “Smart, climate-friendly, affordable—building in the decade of transformation”. Among others, the conference will include key topics such as “Climate-conscious and resource-saving construction” and “Resource bottlenecks—causes, effects, solutions”.

Forum C2: Meeting point for top international architects

There are many answers to the question of what the construction of tomorrow will look like. In the forum in Hall C2, visitors will receive a comprehensive overview of the various solutions future-proof architecture would offer. Notable international designers will offer insights into current projects at BAU in Munich.

Among others, Elisabeth Endres will speak about “The construction of tomorrow” (Monday, April 17), Kim Le Roux will present “Recyclable construction in practice” (Tuesday, April 18), Anna Heringer will demonstrate the risks resulting from “Upscaling the Earth” (Friday, April 21) and Erez Ella will offer insights into “Future cities: Data and design” (Friday, April 21).

In total, more than 40 presentations and discussion rounds will be held in Forum C2.

Four special shows on the key topics of BAU

In addition to theory, practice plays an equally important role at BAU. The accompanying special shows have been illustrating appropriate application examples for many years. The German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) is organizing their presence around the motto “Construction 2030—sustainable, climate-positive and circular” (Hall C2, Stand 518). Just next door, the Fraunhofer Institut BAU is focusing on “The construction of the future—digital, sustainable, affordable” (Hall C2, Stand 528) and will also cover BAU’s trend topics of “Digital Transformation”, “Resources & Recycling” and “The Future of Living”. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gerontotechnik (GGT) will also be in Hall C2 at Stand 101, shedding light on “the DNA of construction—digital, sustainable, authentic” using the new GGT model property. With regards to record temperatures, heavy rains, storms and droughts, the ift Rosenheim will address “climate-secure construction with sustainable and climate-resilient construction products” (Hall C4, Stand 502).

Innovation Hub B0 with Start-Up Area

The Innovation Hub in Hall B0 will offer an outlook of the construction industry of tomorrow. In the exhibition area, that was created using sustainable materials, universities such as the Technical University of Munich, the Technical University of Berlin, the Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland will present their current research projects. Keynote speeches and discussion rounds about cutting-edge innovations will also take place in the Communication Area. The main topics include “Construction for the cities of the future” (Tuesday, April 18), “Robot-assisted restructuring for re-use” (Wednesday, April 19) and “Urban mining design” (April 20).

In the Start-up Area 40 young companies will present their solutions and products for the construction of tomorrow. Here, a Start-Up Innovation Challenge between the participating companies will take place on April 20.

Baltasar Neumann Award celebrates its Munich premiere

For the first time, the Association of German Master Builders, Architects, and Engineers will present the Baltasar Neumann Award at BAU in Munich. The winner will be announced on April 19 in Forum C2. The other competitions are the “Innovation award for architecture and the building industry” (April 17) and “Built on IT—construction jobs with a future” (April 18). The supporting program for BAU 2023 is rounded off by conferences such as “Construction 2023—what now needs to be done” (April 17/18) and “Digital construction, planning and operating” (April 18) and the training camp for the German construction industry national team (every day in the Atrium West).