One of the best-known projects initiated by the Friends is the "Auerworldpalast" made of willow rods. Under the direction of the Swiss architect Marcel Kalberer and the group Gentle Structures, volunteers from all over the world came to Auerstedt in the spring of 1998 to "plant" the largest living willow structure. The prime example "Auerworldpalast" has inspired quite a few follow-up projects.
The first full moon festivals in the Auerworldpalast with live concerts under growing willows were already included in the official program of the European City of Culture Weimar in 1999. The renewable natural building quickly developed into a visitor magnet and was described in detail in international architectural journals.
The author duo Marcel Kalberer / Micky Remann has also contributed to the popularization of the principle of willow construction with the books "Das Weidenbaubuch" and "Grüne Kathedralen" published by AT-Verlag.
However, the greatest fame of the Auerworldpalast has caused the annual Auerworld festivals held there. It is difficult to say which moments are the most beautiful ones at the Willow Tree Palace: The quiet ones, when you look at this bizarre natural structure from below, or the exciting ones, when a thousand dancers move around the palace to the rhythm of the music.
The natural building of the architect Marcel Kalberer and his Baukunstgruppe Gentle Structures is based on the oldest building methods of mankind. Especially the Mudhif structures made of woven reed, as they have been known in Mesopotamia for about 5000 years, inspired the architect to build with nature. In his search for a native plant with which comparable constructions could be made, Kalberer came across the pollard willow. Its shoots, bound together into arches, are ideal for building hybrid works of natural art. "The difference between house and garden dissolves. Here, the janitor is also the gardener," laughs the architect. www.sanftestrukturen.de/Weidenbau/Weidenbau