The archive · Design & Visual · Marketing decision · 2021
Mercedes-Benz turns its IAA 2021 stand into a free public art and music hub in Munich
Mercedes-Benz replaces its Munich auto-show stand with a floating Janet Echelman sculpture that becomes a night light show and a free concert stage.
Mercedes-Benz
What it had to solve
At IAA 2021 — the motor show newly staged in Munich — Mercedes-Benz wanted a sustainable brand experience in the centre of the city rather than another conventional exhibition stand.
How it works
For IAA 2021, the Munich motor show, Mercedes-Benz wanted a sustainable brand experience in the centre of the city. A conventional exhibition stand could say the right words about the future, but it would still be a stand — so the brand chose to give the city something instead.
The result was Earthtime 1.26 Munich, a floating sculpture by Janet Echelman. By night the sculpture was transformed by a light show; by evening the same space became a stage for neo-classical musicians, turning the presentation into a versatile hub in the middle of Munich.
Everything was open to everyone free of charge, so the brand experience worked for the city itself and not only for people who came to the show — a cultural contribution rather than a sales display.
The project is preserved in the D&AD awards archive, which records no attendance or reach figures; its significance is the choice itself: an automotive brand spending its presence budget on public art and music, and letting the stand be a gift.
Why it lands
- Free and open to everyone, the installation worked for the city rather than only for show visitors — a cultural contribution, not a cordoned booth.
- A floating sculpture with light and live music gave the brand an emotional, shareable presence without a single car on a turntable.
- Sustainability was demonstrated through a public art experience instead of declared in stand copy.
- Staging it in the city centre put the brand where the public already was, instead of asking people to come to a trade fair.
What it did
The brand's trade-show presence became a cultural contribution to the city — a public artwork and free concert venue rather than a cordoned booth — and the project is preserved in the D&AD awards archive, which records no attendance figures.
What you can take
When the brand story is sustainability and the future, spend the show budget on giving the host city a public artwork: the stand becomes a gift people can use, not a booth they pass.
Since then
At IAA 2021, Mercedes-Benz's Munich presence became a free public cultural venue rather than a conventional stand, and the installation is preserved in the D&AD awards archive as a spatial-design case. The archive records no attendance or commercial figures; what the work changed was the template — an auto brand spending its trade-show budget as a gift to the host city, with sculpture, light and neo-classical concerts instead of product displays.
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