Munich Airport Center/ Munich, Germany/ 1999
Type: Airport, Commercial, Mixed-Use, Office, Transportation
Size: 538,200 sq ft / 50,000 sq m
Status: Completed 1999
Recognition: AIA Chicago Chapter Award; International Prize for Textile Architecture
The Munich Airport Center was the first airport in the world to bring together a mixture of programmatic functions in a large international hub with an articulate architectural expression.
At the time it was built, airports began to develop a growing diversity of services comparable to those of a bustling city. The Munich Airport Center offers a layer of organization atop this mix of services. Its covered forum provides a central plaza for an “aerotropolis” and becomes the integral nucleus of the complex. Connections between retail, hospitality, dining, and service functions as well as the transition between rail, vehicular, and air transportation occur across this dramatic urban space.
The Munich Airport Center creates a visible and livable identity for the gateway to Munich. The grand gesture of the roof brings clarity to the complex transportation networks threading beneath. The landscape extends below the arching canopy, aerating the heart of the complex with an open but protected space. This new urban room establishes a rich sequence of forms, spatial conditions, and landscapes at the convergence of ground and air transportation.
