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BMW Welt Munich

A functional ‘tornado vortex’

Futuristic architecture for cars and car enthusiasts

The BMW Welt in Munich is part of a new generation of communication buildings for the 21^st century. It is a piece of open city, financed, built and made available to the public by a private business. In a prime location, right between the heady heights of the Olympia Park and the BMW tower (known affectionately as “the Four-Cylinder” and only a metre shorter than Munich’s landmark, the Frauenkirche), a gigantic roof – 16,500 sq metres in size – now sweeps cloud-like into the pale blue sky. Although ten times the size of the Acropolis, the roof is supported by just twelve hinged columns and one impressive steel structure in the shape of a double cone.
Yet even a monumental building like this relies on its parts being as good as the whole. This applies to form, construction and infrastructure alike – and, indeed, every part of this multifunctional event and vehicle delivery centre has been thought through to the tiniest detail. The German bathroom manufacturer Duravit supplied the products for the bathroom areas.

A complex piece of city

The BMW Welt represents a real-life portal, open to all BMW customers and fans: a metallic shrine for car enthusiasts who enjoy “pure driving pleasure”.
BMW customers are now able, for a small fee, to collect their car directly at source. The company had anticipated around 45,000 collections per year and overall visitor numbers of up to one million. Within just a few months of opening, these estimates have already been exceeded: In March 2008 the millionth visitor was welcomed.

In the year 2000, BMW held an international architectural competition for the BMW Welt building – Coop Himmelb(l)au from Vienna were the winners. The foundation stone was laid in July 2004, and the opening ceremony took place in October 2007. In their competition entry the architects had proposed a ‘grand gesture’ of a building, the sweeping roof representing lightness and openness. “Cloud builders” was the nickname Coop Himmelb(l)au were soon given on its account. Wolf D Prix, one of the firm’s two lead architects, explains: “I wanted an open design – and I don’t just mean open in terms of the space, but also an openness in thinking, allowing for open systems.” Since then, 55,000 cubic metres of concrete and 9,000 tonnes of steel have gone into the construction of the building – raising their ‘cloud’ into the sky has been no easy feat for the architects. However, Wolf D Prix now exudes a justified sense of achievement. What he refers to as open architectural landscapes becomes strikingly clear on the main level, with its wide-open views past seemingly floating galleries towards the double cone structure.

Tornado vortex and drop of honey

The double cone, which dominates the front of the building, has fascinated visitors right from the start. It has its origins in the shape of the girders that support the floating roof above – and thereby epitomises the shift in contemporary architectural debate: the archaic dictate of post and beam is being replaced with free forms, completely shaking up traditional architectural categories. Architects like Prix now think in terms of force fields, which the computer draws up, calculates and details for construction in steel or reinforced concrete. Prix calls it a three-dimensional digital chessboard. Thanks to the latest computer modelling software, his poetic architectural concepts can take shape in reality.
It is said that, for the BMW Welt’s double cone structure, the architects studied simulations of the air flow inside a tornado vortex, while the arc on the inside of the lower cone was inspired by the still image of a drop of honey as it stretches just before separating from the spoon.

An iconic building with bathroom designs by Duravit

The BMW Welt is an outstanding building and Coop Himmelb(l)au’s masterpiece. The element of water is also represented throughout all parts of the building; and bathroom manufacturer Duravit furnished the bathrooms in areas such as lounges, restaurants, shops and showroom. More than 160 pieces of sanitaryware within the building bear the Duravit label. The avant-garde architects and the luxury car maker made sure that their high standards of design were met in every detail of the building. Several different ranges of the Duravit brand were used in the various bathroom areas. Washbasin units from the ceramic ranges Vero and Starck 3 as well as wall-mounted toilets and Starck 1 urinals reflect the high aesthetic and functional
standards of the building. The washbasins and toilets of the Starck 3 Vital range are the ideal choice for accessible bathrooms. Duravit bathroom designs are the perfect match for the wide range of requirements posed by the building’s different bathroom areas, from stylish bathrooms to the WC for the disabled.

The link between car and building is evident not just in shapes and materials, but also in the overall philosophy. A great source of pride is the “harmonic blend of architecture, latest technology and efficient use of resources”. Solar cells from the enormous roof area provide energy to heat the filigree-steel façade. This has advantages for thermal comfort inside the building: floors and wall spaces are utilised for climate control, acting as an energy-efficient heating and cooling system.

BMW customers coming to collect their new car also have the opportunity to take a guided tour of the high-tech manufacturing plant and, from mid-2008, they will be able to visit BMW’s automobile museum next door, which is currently being remodelled and enlarged to five times its previous size.

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