World service: BMW's sales and events centre in Munich reflects an increasing urge for spectacle

Architectural Review, The, June, 2005 by Christian Brensing

The hyper competitive world of the European car industry is forcing manufacturing companies to devise ever more elaborate events, spectacles and locations in order to sell their products. Next to Formula One racing, architecture has become a favourite means of promoting the right image. Over the last few years, many of Europe's leading car manufacturers have succumbed to the lure of buildings designed by superstar architects. The list includes Norman Foster for McLaren; Nicholas Grimshaw, Rolls-Royce; UN Studio for Mercedes-Benz (p74); Ron Arad, Maserati, and Zaha Hadid for VW and BMW (p50).

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In Munich, at the site where the first BMW engines were assembled in 1917, the famous Bavarian motor company is currently building a huge, multifunctional car sales and event centre, appropriately entitled BMW Welt (BMW World). Cultivating an air of exclusivity, only cars and motorcycles by BMW will be shown here; there will be no vehicles from other BMW owned companies such as Mini or even Rolls-Royce.

In autumn 2001, 27 short-listed architects submitted their designs for the 73 000sqm building. Joint first prize winners were Coop Himmelb(l)au from Vienna and Sauerbruch Hutton (Berlin), but in the end, the Viennese duo impressed the jury the most with their bold design. Lying opposite the Munich Olympic Park, the new building will occupy a site next to the famous 'quadruple cylinders' BMW company headquarters designed by Karl Schwanzer in the early 1970s.

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According to BMW, the centre marks a new generation of communication buildings for the twenty-first century, and Coop Himmelb(l)au's design lives up to the client's extravagant expectations. The six-storey structure (with three storeys below ground for car storage) contains four separate buildings enveloped by a huge steel roof that resembles a billowing cloud. The Double Cone is a flexible event space; Premiere houses VIP lounges, administration, shops and restaurants; Forum is a 600 seat theatre; and the Hall functions as a lobby and shopping mall for visitors and car owners who will come to collect their new vehicles. Each day a maximum of 250 customers will have the opportunity to watch their new car being delivered into BMW World.

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A range of distractions, from restaurants, shops and VIP lounges, to driver briefing and training and special events, aims to keep prospective car owners in the building for between six and eight hours. Around 850 000 visitors are expected annually. Yet the visitor experience is only half the story. Below ground, in the caverns of the three-storey 'underworld', cars are lovingly conditioned for their big appearance. Up to 250 cars can be stored in a fully automated rack system. Prior to delivery, they undergo technical checks and finally are washed and spruced up for their new owners waiting upstairs.

BMW World has been on site since August 2003 and is currently Munich's biggest building site now that the new Allianz Arena by Herzog & de Meuron for the 2006 World Cup is finally finished. (BMW World is scheduled to open next summer.) To cope with the complex site conditions and detailed design, Coop Himmelb(l)au are working with Munich-based engineers Schmitt Stumpf Fruhauf & Partner and local architect Manfred Rudolf, who are supervising the building's progress. As the building evolves, it is passed by thousands of motorists every day, heralding the prospect of another major addition to the Munich scene.

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