Central Bus Terminal

Munich

competition 2002 - purchase

in cooperation with Prof. Sill Architekten
 

The urban quality of the project is determined by an inclined public pedestrian level, which merges two different heights. With the inclined level,  the bus terminal is integrated into the urban context. The terminal building is oriented south and following the tracks, flanks them distinctively. Roof and wall are elements which in their reduced architectural form “define space” and in their function “give shelter”.
The transmission of the principle of simplicity onto a complex system of sophisticated operations is the leitmotif here:

GIVE SHELTER - GENERATE ACCESS - GRANT VIEW

The pedestrian level of the city square allows a clear separation of streams of traffic into passengers, passers-by and motor vehicles. The terminal’s activities can run smoothly without interruption, without ‘intersection’. Buses approach the platforms on the ground floor level while passengers arrive at the terminal building over the inclined level and proceed down to the bus-station on the level below. After using the ticket-machines, they move down to their particular platforms.

A significant advantage of the public pedestrian plain is that a multiple mix of uses transforms this place into a lively urban space. A place where the mobility of pedestrians and buses is balanced by the „permanent occupants“ of the office-levels “hovering“ above. A place which, thanks to its concept and its mix of different uses, is filled with bustling life right round the clock. In contrast to its flowing character, surprise elements of landscape architecture like wooden decks or deck-chairs invite one to pause for a moment.

As if reflecting the complexity of the design, the architectonic form also increases in complexity: the area under the roof becomes habitable, offering in significant architectonic form the most diverse kinds of office-use. Reaching out over the public pedestrian level, the „lived-in roof“ of rented offices, with its introverted interior world, forms the shelter for the levels of the bus station.