© HISM

UniCredit HQ Munich

Notwithstanding the city’s rich history and a global reputation, much of Munich feels bland. This competition’s site is no exception. Haidenauquartier seems the unwitting manifestation of a ‘city without properties’. Taking an S-Bahn train from Marienplatz past the site is as much a journey through time as it is one toward a progressive loss of soul. It is this loss of soul that our scheme wishes to address. The buildings and public spaces we propose aim to retroactively attribute character to an area which may never have had one, giving it a much needed, long overdue face to the most public of arteries passing by: the S-Bahn. At the same time, the limited footprints of the proposed new buildings allow for a maximal focus on public space, enabling, among others, a wholesale preservation of the site’s natural features.

Frans Parthesius
Frans Parthesius