BMW Headquarters, Office building in Milbertshofen, Germany
The BMW Headquarters, known in German as the BMW-Vierzylinder, is a 101-metre tower of four vertical concrete cylinders arranged in a cross and joined at their centres. Each cylinder is split horizontally above its midpoint by a recessed facade, and a blue band circles the shafts where the halves meet. The cylinders hang from cantilever arms on four reinforced-concrete core tubes holding lifts and stairs, above a recessed base. Karl Schwanzer designed it; the adjacent museum forms the cylinder head.
Built between 1968 and 1972 and inaugurated on 18 May 1973, the tower was designed by Austrian architect Karl Schwanzer, who also planned the adjacent BMW Museum. Its floors were assembled on the ground and hoisted into place, saving scaffolding and time. On completion it was Munich's tallest office building, surpassed a few years later by the 114-metre Hypo-Hochhaus. It has been a protected monument since 1999 and was renovated from 2004 to 2006 by Peter P. Schweger's office.
The tower's form echoes the four cylinders of a car engine, with the adjacent museum shaped as a cylinder head. BMW logos on the facade need approval from the city of Munich, which generally seeks to prevent advertising on buildings. For the 1972 Olympics and the 1975 film Rollerball, the branding was removed.
The tower stands at Petuelring in the Am Riesenfeld district, beside the Olympiapark and BMW's main factory, with the BMW Museum directly next door and BMW Welt across the Lerchenauerstraße. The cylinders hang from a central core, so the base is recessed and the four shafts are best seen from a distance. The building is a working corporate headquarters, so visits are to the exterior.
Each floor was assembled on the ground, complete with facade and glazing, then hoisted up the central concrete core, so work continued below as the next storey rose. This saved enormous scaffolding and shortened construction. The four cylinders hang from cantilever arms projecting from the core, which also houses lifts, stairs and services.
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