Garching Research Campus, Munich, DE
This project is based on the hypothesis that the future extension of the U-Bahn towards the airport will have a profound and dramatic impact on Garching and its Research Campus. If this hypothesis comes true, not only will the there be a need to understand how the campus might expand beyond its current boarders, but also how Garching city itself can accommodate and react positively to previously unforeseen development pressures.
The desire to suggest a modification to the city of Garching might be seen as a taboo - but we see a tremendous opportunity. Our proposals for Campus Mitte and Campus West could be understood as being a first step towards the creation of Campus FAR West, an extension of both city and campus that combines nature, knowledge environments, living and working to create a highly connected, world-class university and research town.
The challenge has been to show how, in a context characterised by wide roads, open spaces and isolated buildings devoid of street life, these types of environments can be ‘designed in’ to new phases of the masterplan, to achieve a sense of urbanity with urban principles that can foster possibilities for inter-disciplinary synergies between faculties, start-ups and research institutes.
Our masterplan defines a network of Knowledge Corridors - various forms of indoor and outdoor social spaces - where one might cultivate social relationships and synergies. These spaces have been linked to an over-arching landscape framework that becomes the means to achieve diverse movement, integration, identity and synergy.
Street vitality is focused on urban nodes around the U-Bahn station, on the southwest corner of the site where connectivity to Garching is encouraged and around the new Mensa building where the buildings are closer together and where the porous and perforated urban fabric is ideal for cultivating social engagement and exchange.
Garching Research Campus, Munich, DE
Client
Technical University Munich
Programme
100.000m2 of new learning facilities, labs, office spaces
90.000m2 new IT faculty building, 10.000m2 student housing and amenities
4.000 new parking spaces
Site
185 ha
Design team
S333 with m8 Architekten and GROSS. MAX