275 architecture firms submitted tenders for the BMW Welt, and the jury’s decision was unanimous. The winning design was by Professor Wolf D. Prix and the Viennese architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au.
As a student, Professor Prix attended lectures by Professor Karl Schwanzer, the architect of the BMW headquarters - the so-called 4-Cylinder Building - and the BMW Museum. On one occasion, Professor Schwanzer’s lecture was interrupted as there was a call for him. When he came back he said to his students: “Today is like Christmas for me – I have won the BMW Tower!” Exactly 30 years later, Professor Prix was giving a lecture in Vienna himself. This lecture was also interrupted: “You have won the BMW Welt competition!”
The planning phase ended on August 1st with the start of construction work: with the well-known firm of architects Coop Himmelb(l)au as the chief planner and some 30 sub-planners, over 120 architects and engineers were involved in total. The Parkhaus West and the Park-and-Ride areas were cleared for the building project.
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Photo album courtesy of LOONITICZ INC