Gasteig Cultural Center Redevelopment
Receiving almost two million visitors per year, the Munich Gasteig is Europe’s largest cultural center that houses a unique combination of programs: concert halls of various sizes, an auditorium, educational facilities, and a public library. Completed in 1985, the original Gasteig is a fortress-like compound that hides its functions from public view.
HENN’s proposal preserves and transforms it into an open, democratic space whose cultural and educational programs become part of a dynamic exchange—between the individual facilities and with the city.
Cultural bridge
The heart of the New Gasteig is the Kulturbrücke or Culture Bridge—a centrally located bridge-like glass structure that connects the center’s many functions and lets the vibrancy of its interiors radiate into the city surroundings. Its transparent, open architecture stands in deliberate contrast to the monolithic character of the existing building.
The Culture Bridge functions as a circulation system, lobby, exhibition area, and event space. It creates a new place for encounter and engagement. HENN employs this simple yet radical gesture to transform the Gasteig from an inert container of culture into an active collaborator—a space where employees, students, and visitors all take part in making cultural production visible in the city.
Individual transformations
Each of the Gasteig facilities—the Philharmonic, the Carl Orff Hall, the Munich City Library, the Munich Center of Further Education, and the University of Music and Performing Arts—underwent its own transformation. In collaboration with renowned acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota, the Philharmonic was given a complete acoustic redesign while the library, constructed at the height of print media, was upgraded for the digital age: Its closed-off, silent spaces were opened up and new collaborative areas added.
Preserving an identity-defining place
The Gasteig redevelopment and extension adds a new chapter to its history while simultaneously responding to our climate crisis. About 30,000 tons of CO2 are embodied in the fabric of the existing structure – equivalent to approximately 285 hectares of mature forest. By preserving the load-bearing structure as well as most of the masonry inside and out, the New Gasteig not only continues to contribute to the city’s evolution; it also provides a model for the sustainable redevelopment of our cities in the future.
The modernization of the Gasteig cultural center radically reconceptualizes the building and the role of culture within the city. Now more than ever, we understand and appreciate the power of art, music, literature, and education to reflect and elevate society during moments of prosperity, and to provide comfort and stability during times of hardship. Its open, transparent and inviting design lets the New Gasteig anticipate a future in which it will continue to be relevant and once again welcome millions of annual visitors.
Key Info
Collaboration Partners
ARGE Mayr Ludescher Partner + Buro Happold Ingenieure GmbH, Climaplan GmbH, ibb Burrer & Deuring Ingenieurbüro GmbH, Wolfgang Sorge Ingenieurbüro für Bauphysik GmbH & Co. KG, Nagata Acoustics International, Inc., Rainer Schmidt Landschaftsarchitekten GmbH, Bartenbach GmbH, Ingenieurgruppe Walter, ATI - ARGE Theater-Ingenieure, a+p Architekten GbR, Büro Uebele, ARGE Hochmuth Beyer GmbH & Co. KG + skena, FC Planung, Sakosta, Schimmel + Moog, Frank + Bumiller + Kraft - Grundbauingenieure VBI GmbH
