In recent years, the condition and obvious importance of infrastructure projects have increasingly drawn public attention. Yet there are other projects that remain less visible despite their enormous scale and significance, playing a pivotal role in Germany’s standing as a global hub for scientific research.
One such project is the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) accelerator complex, currently under construction at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt; it is set to become one of the world’s largest research facilities. The underground complex features a dual-ring system with a circumference of 1.1 kilometers and 14 associated research buildings. In the future, ions will be accelerated to near-light speed here to investigate fundamental questions regarding the structure of the universe—exploring “what holds the world together at its core.”
To undertake the planning of a project of this magnitude, the firms DGI Bauwerk and schneider+schumacher formed the joint venture “ion42″—a name combining “ion” (a charged particle) with the number 42, which, in Douglas Adams’ cult classic *The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy*, is the answer to the “Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.”
The exhibition illustrates the complexity of the planning and construction process—which has spanned more than eighteen years—through plans, texts, and models. This information is complemented by photographs taken by Kirsten Bucher and Norbert Miguletz, who have been documenting the extraordinary scale of the construction site and its progress on a monthly basis for years. This material, along with additional texts and explanations, forms the content of the book *Form Follows Beam*, published by Park Books to mark the occasion. The book not only highlights the project’s challenges but also underscores the pivotal role of architectural design—an aspect that often remains hidden in structures so heavily dictated by technical requirements. In this sense, both the exhibition and the book stand as impressive testaments to successful work at the intersection of architecture and infrastructure, as well as architecture and science.
schneider+schumacher was founded in 1988 by Till Schneider and Michael Schumacher in Frankfurt am Main; today, the firm has offices in Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, and Vienna, as well as in Tianjin and Shenzhen (China). DGI Bauwerk was founded in 1985 by Bernd Tibes in Berlin and maintains offices in Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg, in 2025, the firm merged with léonwohlhage Architekten.
Published to accompany the exhibition:
ion42. *Form Follows Beam – Architecture for a Particle Accelerator*
Editors: Florian Heilmeyer, Christian Holl, Johannes Hucht, Steffen Knöll
Photographs: Kirsten Bucher, Norbert Miguletz
Park Books, Zurich 2026