The competition for the ZKM introduced a prototypical program for the late 20th century—the media and technology center—reflecting the new immanence of digital and electronic imagery in daily life. This project responded to the competition brief with a proposal composed of four parts, including a public passageway, a core, two specialized compartment spaces, and an electronic “casing” or exterior.

The urban line of exchange is a linear public passage proposed as an alternative to the concentric Baroque structure of the historical Karlsruhe. It offers a new urban system based on communication and interchange placed at the historical edge of the city, luring the old limit into a new typology.