For those who’ve ever wandered via the streets of Munich, you’ve in all probability observed the large cylindrical towers looming over downtown. Whereas it might appear like the headquarters of some evil empire destined to take down James Bond as soon as and for all, it’s truly the place a few of the greatest efficiency vehicles on the planet come to life.
The BMW Tower—appropriately nicknamed ‘Vierzylinder’—has stood over Munich for greater than 50 years. Serving as the worldwide headquarters for BMW Group since 1973, it is considered one of Germany’s most recognizable company buildings and an architectural landmark beloved by auto fans and design nerds alike.
Naturally, the bizarre form raises an apparent query: Why was it designed that means? Because it seems, the reply is rooted in BMW’s engineering identification.
Welcome to Motor101, our sequence devoted to answering the web’s greatest automotive questions. From the origins of iconic designs to the engineering breakthroughs that formed the world’s biggest vehicles, we uncover the tales behind the autos you’re keen on.
How BMW’s Iconic Headquarters Occurred
Austrian Architect Karl Schwanzer
Photograph by: Karl Schwanzer Archive
The early Nineteen Seventies have been a transformative time for Munich. Town was making ready to host the 1972 Summer season Olympics, and officers wished to showcase a daring, trendy imaginative and prescient of Germany to hundreds of thousands of holiday makers from world wide.
The plan centered round a brand-new Olympic Park, with BMW’s headquarters serving as considered one of its defining landmarks. Architectural agency Behnisch & Companion designed the Olympic Park, whereas Austrian architect Karl Schwanzer was commissioned to create BMW’s new headquarters.
Schwanzer drew inspiration from the work of Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, whose sweeping modernist buildings helped outline the brand new capital metropolis of Brasília within the late Nineteen Fifties and early Sixties. Relatively than designing a standard workplace tower, although, Schwanzer envisioned one thing that mirrored BMW’s engineering heritage.
His thought was easy: Construct a skyscraper that resembled the 4 cylinders of an engine.
The ‘Engine Block’ Design
Photograph by: BMW
From a design standpoint, the “engine block” idea wasn’t only for appears. The constructing consists of 4 interconnected cylindrical towers, every representing an engine cylinder and functioning as its personal structural core. Workplace areas are suspended round these cores relatively than supported from beneath—an progressive thought for the time.
As an alternative of being constructed flooring by flooring from the bottom up, most of the workplace flooring have been truly assembled at floor stage after which lifted into place utilizing hydraulic jacks earlier than being connected to the central assist construction. The development methodology was thought-about groundbreaking within the early Nineteen Seventies and helped create the tower’s distinctive look.
Standing roughly 99.5 meters (326 toes) tall with 22 occupied flooring, the BMW Tower was accomplished in 1972 and formally opened the next yr. Though it now not ranks amongst Germany’s tallest skyscrapers, its silhouette stays one of many nation’s most recognizable.
One of many constructing’s most putting options is its base. Relatively than showing to relaxation on the bottom like a conventional workplace tower, the construction seemingly hovers above its basis. That floating impact was completely intentional, emphasizing lightness, precision, and technical innovation—the identical qualities BMW wished individuals to affiliate with its vehicles.
In an inside memo from 1973, BMW stated of its new headquarters:
‘The largest four-cylinder on the earth—a landmark for town of Munich alongside the Olympic Park. Ergonomically compact inside and clearly contoured outdoors, it’s a boldly conceived experiment and a milestone within the historical past of structure. BMW has created house for its increasing enterprise with an administrative centre of the New Class.’
Nonetheless An Icon At this time
Photograph by: BMW
Subsequent door sits the long-lasting BMW Museum, whose round form earned it the nickname “the salad bowl,” whereas the futuristic BMW Welt opened in 2007 because the model’s buyer supply and exhibition middle. Collectively, the three buildings kind one of many world’s most recognizable automotive campuses.
Greater than half a century after its debut, the BMW Tower nonetheless appears futuristic. And whereas BMW has developed from constructing compact four-cylinder sedans to high-performance M vehicles and electrical SUVs, its headquarters stays a everlasting reminder that engineering has at all times been on the coronary heart of the model.
