After conducting a concert at Munich’s Gasteig concert hall, Leonard Bernstein offered a scathing edict for the building: “burn it down.”
The Gasteig’s behemoth structure of brick and mirrored glass never met Bernstein’s decree. Instead, it has stood for decades, garnering vitriol from those who resent its postmodern aesthetic. In a design competition hosted by the Gasteig, seventeen architecture firms have attempted to change the concert hall and cultural center’s public perception with varied renovation schemes.
Among the three firms selected to move on to the next round of the competition is Auer Weber. They will have three months to refine their design before the final winner is chosen. The firm's current design centers around “amphitheatre-esque steps at the crossing of Rosenheimer Straße and Am Gasteig, over which the future landmark of the copper-toned philharmonic concert hall will rise.” The public steps respond to the present perception that the Gasteig is fortress-like and unwelcoming; they also engage the design competition’s interest in making the Gasteig “an attractive, lively and open place for all age and population groups” in Munich. As Auer Weber puts it, the stairs will be “glazed into the city center.”
Auer Weber also proposes effectively covering the brick facade with folded metal—a gesture that references the concert hall’s curtain. By refreshing the building from the outside in, the firm hopes the Gasteig will be able to “embrace its visitors with more clarity and transparency.”
Auer Weber’s design, along with the 16 other competition entries, can be seen in the exhibition “Der Neue Gasteig” in Gasteig until June 15th and again from July 15th-August 30th.
News via: Auer Weber
