World service: BMW's sales and events centre in Munich reflects an increasing urge for spectacle.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 This article focuses on a specific subtopic of Formula One. A Formula One race takes place over an entire weekend, with two free practice sessions on Friday, a practice session and a qualifying session on Saturday, and the race on Sunday. , 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 Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, CBE (born 9 October, 1939) is a prominent English architect, particularly noted for several modernist buildings, including the international railway terminal at London's Waterloo Station and the Eden Project in Cornwall. , Rolls-Royce; UN Studio for Mercedes-Benz (p74); Ron Arad Ron Arad may refer to:
Born october 31 1950 in Baghdad, Iraq. for VW and BMW BMW in full Bayerische Motoren Werke AG German automaker. Founded as an aircraft engine manufacturer in 1916, the company assumed the name Bayerische Motoren Werke and became known for its high-speed motorcycles in the 1920s. (p50). [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In Munich, at the site where the first BMW engines BMW has used the following engines in its vehicles: Straight-4
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
An Olympic Park is a venue or group of venues set up when a country hosts the Olympic Games. List of Olympic Parks
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 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 en·vel·op tr.v. en·vel·oped, en·vel·op·ing, en·vel·ops 1. To enclose or encase completely with or as if with a covering: "Accompanying the darkness, a stillness envelops the city" by a huge steel roof that resembles a billowing bil·low n. 1. A large wave or swell of water. 2. A great swell, surge, or undulating mass, as of smoke or sound. v. bil·lowed, bil·low·ing, bil·lows v.intr. 1. 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. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 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. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] |
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