Munich Day #12 - 1/21/2011

Today Is January 20^th, 2011, day 12 and the last day of class. Today, a couple of us took the train to the Sedlinger Tor stop, and then the number 27 bus to an architecture bookstore. This bookstore was having an exhibit on Bjarke Ingels Group. Bjarke Ingels is a young architect who just released a book entitled “Yes is More, and Evolution of Architecture”. His work can be classified as modern contemporary. This exhibit had several models and diagrams on display. Newly familiar with his work I find it inspiring and different.

After the small exhibit we continued onto the 5th day of the BAU trade show. After seeing most of the exhibitors, we revisited some of the more interesting companies like Rockwool, glass foam, and Lava. I was able to receive a lot of literature on these companies as well as a collection of details, which I will be able to reference in future projects.

As my final blog entry, I would like to thank Patrick Charles for being our professor and tour guide during this great trip. We have seen over 30 great buildings, met with 5 architecture and engineering firms, talked to dozens of locals about culture and German life, and have eaten so much wiener schnitzel, and curry-worst. This class has really been a great learning experience for culture, architecture, and life. We will be leaving Sunday for home and starting spring semester back on the Bristol Campus on the 26^th. See you in the U.S

-Michael Dario Tancredi

Munich Day#11 - 1/20/2011

Day 11 started with the fourth day of the BAU trade fair, which was definitely the most interesting and entertaining day for me. Leaving the youth hostel at 8:30, we took the U1 train to Hoptbanhouf Central Station and then jumped on the U2 train to Messen Ost, where the fair was located. Upon arrival we again browsed through some of the exhibits until 1:00. Then first of two great lectures began. Stefan Behnisch of Behnisch and partners gave the first of the two lectures. Based out of Stuttgart, this firm is one of the leading architects working with new age sustainable practices. Mr. Behnisch says, “sustainability equals quality, and context is the most important idea when thinking about sustainable architecture and urban planning”. He also says that there are the same buildings everywhere because of energy and energy provides architects with an excuse for poor design. He finalized his intro with the statement, “If we take away energy we start to design a new architecture”.

Stefan Behnisch continued his presentation with a number of projects his firm is working on and had already completed. He went over the Genzyme building in Cambridge, MA. This building is one of the only buildings in the world with a LEED platinum rating. He followed Genzyme with a high-rise building on the University of Toronto campus. His main focus for this building was to maximize the envelope. His key work was flexibility. By creating larger floor heights, this building has the ability to convert into any other building. For example, if it is a hospital, it can turn into a dormitory, offices, or apartments. Mr. Behnisch finished the lecture talking about the new UMASS Amherst building and Baltimore Law School. His presentation was very inspiring and motivating, and I am really happy I was able to learn from him.

Thomas Auer of Transolar presented the second lecture of the day. This presentation started with some eye opening facts. In 2011, 50% of the world is currently living in cities. By the year 2050, 75% of the world will be residing in cities. With this being said he began the PowerPoint presenting a building in Pittsburgh by Behnisch and Gehl Architects, as well as Masdar City by Sir Norman Foster. He talked about some interesting designs to promote a more sustainable lifestyle. For example, by not providing a parking garage in office building, this forces employees to use public transportation. By not providing a café, employees are forced to either bring their own lunch or utilize local restaurants and cafes. Studies show that local restaurants increased business by 200% when surrounding offices did not have a cafeteria. Mr. Auer also spoke about some of the responsibilities architects sometimes forget. “Every architect is responsible for the micro climate on the site, you need to have control of the weather conditions you create”.

These two lectures really excited me about the future of architecture. I am very motivated by the many possibilities, new products and design methods for the future.

Munich Day #10 - 1/19/2011

The tenth day of our trip started with a stop at the old Siemens building; now home to a Munich based Real Estate Corporation. The highlight of this building was its central atrium space, enclosed with a concave glass roof. Across the street from this building is the new Siemens building, by architect Richard Meir. Cladded in white panels in typical Meir fashion, this building is nothing spectacular architecturally but a humble building in its own right.

The next stop of the day was the Sammlung Museum Brandhorst by Sauerbruch & Hutton architects. Completed in 2008, this museum is cladded in a multi colored rain screen façade. The architects used a louver system to optimize the natural day lighting. In this museum we saw a lot of great works by artists such as Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, and Cy Twombly.

The next stop for the day was the school at Munchen – Riem, by Mahler Gunster Fuchs architects completed in 1997. We had a tour of the school from the head master that had much to tell us about his school. The first thing the head master told us was that every architect should worry about the function over form. With this being said he began to tell us everything that he thought was wrong with the school. The natural ventilation system did not work properly, the windows did not let in enough natural light, and the entrance was not recognizable to the students or teachers.

Before we entered the BAU conference for the third day we stopped at my precedent building the two liter multi family housing by Lichtblau Architekten. This building is a passive haus standard building which is the new energy efficient building standard in Germany. With 9 apartments inside the multi family housing, it efficiently only uses 20w/m2. Quite good for today’s building standard!

After all of this site seeing we again traveled into the convention to see some exhibitors and ended the day with another classic old world German meal at Pschorrs restaurant in Fraunhofferstrassen.

Munich Day #9 - 1/18/2011

Today has been the second day of the BAU conference. Detail, was the word of the day. We started the day walking up and down the aisles of the exhibition looking at all of the different window details. There were over 50 companies providing architechts with full façade designs, double layer glass, triple layer glass, quadruple layer glass, and essentially any architectural window detail you can think of.

Besides the glass companies there are 18 football-sized halls filled with exhibitors promoting their product. One company, which I found very interesting, was the Bentley computer software. One of their employees showed me their great BIM modeling software. With this software you can build your building, and at the same time build the HVAC, and electrical system. This program is great for real world situations and hopefully a program I will be using in the future.

Munich Day #8 - 1/17/2011

Today is the first day of the Bau Munchen ’11 Architecture trade show. Located in Munchen – Riem area the massive building holds over 500 vendors and over 100 speakers. When we got there, we traveled around the venue quickly looking at the exhibitors, and some of the more interesting details. We then, saw the end of a lecture given by Peter Cook of CRAB architects. His vision on life and architecture is incredible and visionary. I was extremely inspired by his words and had so many ideas running through my brain at the conclusion of his paper.

Leaving the lecture we traveled to another part of the venue where we entered the symposium portion of the exhibition. In this massive lecture hall we sat and listened to several papers by the Department of Urban Planning, Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics, Technische Universitat Darmstadt, Deutsche Energy Agency, Jana Reverdin, Dr. Gerhard Hausladen, Professor Graubner, and last but not least, Dr. Werner Lang. After these intellectual lectures we all traveled up stairs to a classic old world Bavarian dinner, compliments of the trade fair. Today was a very interesting day and I am looking forward to the next Bau Days to come.

Munich Day #6 - 1/15/2011

Our first stop of the day was at the BMW Center by Wolf D. Prix in Dostlestrasse, Munich. The car manufacturer has a factory, dealership, and two museums located in this town. The BMW Velt (world) building in particular is extremely modern in design. The façades' are composed of mostly glass, steel,and rainscreen panels. It uses a double façade to help naturally ventilate the building.

With many interesting curves and delicate connections this building is a must see for any car/architecture lover when visiting Munich.

The second stop, Olympic Park was a couple meters away. Designed by Behnisch and partners, this park is home to one large sky tower, one Olympic pool, one indoor soccer complex, one indoor track, and one incredible, professional soccer stadium. This park held the Munich Olympics and is still used today for its great facilities and beautiful views. Most of the buildings in this park have a metal fabric, tent like roof. This roof is a cable stayed structured like a horse saddle, pulled on two sides and is held up by extremely large masts.

After taking the train to MarianPlatz, Munich we took a trolley ride tour around historic town. We were able to see many interesting sites, and ended the day with a classic German meal.

Munich Day 5 - 1/14/2011

Our first stop of the day was at the Oktoberfest service center in Munich. This building holds the police, fire brigade, emt’s and help services for the huge annual fall festival. The building is meant to be a temporary structure for solely the festival but is open year round for the department of leisure. The building is designed to blend in and not distract the visitor. Its copper façade blends in with the earth tone tree filled background. The façade is composed of two different types of panels: stretched copper panels and plain copper panels. Over 50% of the building had to be underground so the architects created 4 courtyards all below ground level. Each courtyard is designated for one of the services held inside of the center. The site and building seem unoccupied all year except for months before and after the festival, but when the gates in front of the building open up, you know it is Oktoberfest!

The next stop was again at the Herz de Jesu by Allman, Sattler, and Wappner. During this visit we met with the structural engineer of the project. We were able to examine the primary portal frame and its connections, as well as the secondary and tertiary bracing needed.

The third building today was a private art museum designed by the architects Herzog and De Meuron. This three-story building has gallery space in the basement, offices on the ground floor and again galleries on the 2^nd story. This museum has a wood and concrete structure. With very simple design the architects articulated the materials of wood and glass on the façade.