Olympic Village, Munich

The Olympic Village is a residential complex in northern Munich originally built to house athletes and now serves as a permanent neighborhood. The site features buildings of varying heights arranged across landscaped grounds and connected by pedestrian pathways.

The complex was built in 1972 to house Olympic athletes and later converted into permanent residential units and student housing. This transformation showed how Olympic infrastructure could be repurposed as lasting urban residential space.

The village served as a gathering place for athletes from around the world during the Olympic Games and preserves this memory in its layout. Residents and visitors today walk the same paths that once connected competitors from different nations.

The complex is best explored on foot, as pedestrian paths and walkways are central to its design. Visitors should know that roads run underground beneath the walking paths, so vehicle and foot traffic are kept separate.

The architectural system with pedestrian paths above and roads below was an innovative solution for separating different types of traffic. This design concept from the 1970s is still studied by urban planners as an example of creating quiet and safe living spaces.