Back then in the office
BMW's Four-Cylinder Tower by Karl Schwanzer Turns 50
© BMW AG, BMW Group Archiv
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Not only Munich's Olympic venues have something to celebrate this year; the four-cylinder high-rise of the Bavarian Motor Works does too, the futuristic office building near the Olympia Park having seen its completion in 1972. The international competition for the publicity-garnering architecture of BMW's corporate headquarters was won by Karl Schwanzer.
© BMW AG, BMW Group Archiv
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The Austrian's concept for the world's largest four-cylinder tower almost 100 m in height focused on a flexible arrangement of space and a prestigious facade design. The 22-storey facade is hung from a cruciform steel structure on the roof.
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The uppermost storeys of the suspended construction were the first to be built, and were fabricated at ground level, hydraulically elevated and then completed in several segments.
© BMW AG, BMW Group Archiv
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The automotive group's new flagship building cost 103 million Deutschmarks and saw its inauguration in 1973. The bowl-shaped museum and the four-cylinder tower form a sculptural ensemble reminiscent of Oskar Niemeyer's Brasilia.
© BMW AG, BMW Group Archiv
Beautiful new office world
The clover-leaf layout of the offices is organized into four circle segment sections, thus enabling short distances for the staff but previously requiring Karl Schwanzer to set up a 1:1 mock-up of a complete clover-leaf-shaped storey at the Bavaria Film Studios to convince the management board, the supervisory board and major shareholders of his plan. Today about 1500 workplaces are accommodated in the renovated high-rise, declared a heritage-listed building in 1999. In earlier times the offices with their rubber trees, typewriters and windows affording views onto Munich and the Olympia Park were regarded as ultra-modern. Karl Schwanzer called his innovative concept mainly encompassing open-plan layouts "constructed communication". On looking at yesterday's beautiful new world, one thing in particular stands out: only female employees are to be seen at the typewriters. In the 1970s the allocation of roles was anything other than gender-balanced.
© BMW AG, BMW Group Archiv
Renovation
After 30 years in operation, the high-rise was renovated and modernized in 2004–2006. No changes were made to its outer appearance but the facade elements were cleaned and reinsulated. The working conditions on the office floors have now been upgraded through provision of fresh air and improved lighting, with a newly designed slat system and daylight-controlled lamps ensuring balanced light for the workplaces. Even after the renovations, the BMW Tower has lost nothing of its character as a technically innovative building and proud corporate headquarters.
New Work or boutique office? See Max Scharnigg's essay in Detail 10.2022 and in our databank Detail Inspiration.
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