BMW Welt, Munich

BMW Welt is BMW’s exhibition, delivery, museum, and event venue, and it is Bavaria’s most visited tourist attraction. The sweeping glass structure gives this stop an unmistakable presence: Wolf D. Prix and Coop Himmelb(l)au designed it in the deconstructivist style.

Construction ran from August 2003 to summer 2007, and the building opened on 17 October 2007. Look at the broad roofline and the faceted glass enclosure: an 800 kW solar installation sits on the roof of the main building. Inside, the vehicle display brings together BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, and BMW Motorrad, along with motorsport, technology, and new developments.

The delivery hall makes collecting a specially ordered car a staged experience: visitors wait in a vast glass-walled space as vehicles ascend on circular lifts from below and reach the handover zone. BMW Welt also hosts events and includes shops for branded goods and accessories, as well as a restaurant. Its opening followed a major architectural competition, and the winning commission went to the Vienna-based practice Coop Himmelb(l)au. The result is not a conventional showroom but a dramatic meeting place where vehicles, architecture, and performance share the same setting.