The basic shape of the pavilion is derived from the octagon of Karlsruhe’s palace tower. However, as the pavilion is not at the center of the Karlsruhe circular plan, the underlying octagon is distorted into a seemingly irregular object that responds to external local and internal functional features. The result is an almost animated building, whose fundamentally point-symmetrical arrangement appears asymmetrical and dynamic due to its deformation.

The use of hyperbolic paraboloids (HP surfaces) echoes the convex-concave formal vocabulary of Baroque architecture. The HP surfaces are oriented in such a way that they alternately open and close the pavilion inwards and outwards. They function both as a structural principle as well as for the formation of space.