The benediction of the church on 9 May 2015 ended the odyssey of the Leipzig parish community that has lasted over seventy years. Its permanent return to the centre of the city is manifested in the construction of the new St. Trinitatis church. ‘This will not remain solitary in foreign surroundings. It stretches its arms out to the city and gives itself to the city as a gift,’ summarizes Pope Francis in his greeting. For us as architects it was important to develop the new parish church out of the organism of the surrounding city. It obtains its presence through its high church building structure and church tower, but most of all through the inviting openness of the parish courtyard. With its building envelope made of masoned Rochlitz porphyry, the structure acknowledges its region and tradition. The sustainable building concept reflects the client’s wish for the careful interaction with creation. In his encyclical Laudato Si’ (Praise Be to You), which was published just a few days after the benediction of the parish church in Leipzig, Pope Francis defines the environment as ‘a collective good, the patrimony of all humanity and the responsibility of everyone. If we make something our own, it is only to administer it for the good of all.’2 (Pope Francis 2015, Chapter Two, paragraph 95).
Pizza! Always a delicious slice of memory. Of Italy. Of sun, espresso, the Vespa. Of the unique Italian instinct for lifestyle and dolce vita. Marché International tunes into this attitude towards life with its new restaurant concept, reinventing the pizza with White Monkey. To underscore this unconventional approach, the internationally aligned restaurant brand clearly positions itself as a pizza lab and bar: ingredients are combined in unusual ways; the pizzas are long instead of round, they are cut with scissors and shared amongst friends; the pizzeria becomes a cocktail bar, an urban meeting place that is open all day. In the constantly expanding yet fiercely competitive market of system gastronomy, it is crucial to do more than just present a coherent restaurant concept. With a Corporate Design that comprises not only interior design, but also the complete brand communication from logo to restaurant décor to website and social media presence, we have created a consistent and remarkable brand image for the White Monkey brand – with interdisciplinary thinking in place of salami tactics.
The station concourse, with a rectangular section and a slight longitudinal curve, is situated 20 metres below ground. Walls and ceilings of the elongated, column-free hall are clad with large, backlit prefabricated glass blocks set into a framework of fair-faced precast concrete. This gives the station concourse a bright and spacious feel. Extreme repetition of one and the same motif makes its actual dimensions almost intangible for passengers.
The last link in a ‘chain’ of buildings, the showroom references adjacent structures, onsite processes and the BMW car through its dynamic shape – forming naturally from the surface of the car park, extending its surfaces through two building parts which ‘rotate’ one around the other to contain showroom and other functions.
Walk By View of the Showroom
Architect: Zaha Hahdid Architects
Design: Zaha Hadid with Patrik Schumacher
Project Architect: Matthias Frei (Lph 1-4), Cornelius Schlotthauer (Lph 5-8)
Leipzig, Germany
2003 – 2006
Built Area: 4,000m2
Design Team: Caroline Andersen, Manuela Gatto, Jim Heverin, Jan Huebener, Markus Planteu, Lars Teichmann
The BMW showroom, which also serves as delivery unit of company cars and contains both garage and training academy, constitutes the last link in a chain of buildings created for the BMW plant at Leipzig.
Showroom at Night
The showroom occupies the main approach to the Zaha Hadid Architects designed Central Building, referencing adjacent structures, onsite processes and the BMW car through its dynamic shape.
Showroom Model
The building emerges naturally from trajectories established by the Central Building, forming from the surface of the car park, extending its surfaces to form two distinct building parts, pointed outwards in opposition yet seemingly rotating one around the other.
Showroom Model
With one building element the main showroom or exhibition hall is accommodated; an exposed concrete wall containing curved and rhombic passages houses workshop and academy. While the showroom façade presents as a light and open feature, through the use of ‘strip windows’, the workshop is finished in contrast – stonewalled and bitumen-grey, signifying its status as a place of concentrated endeavor.
Our Central Building for BMW constituted a radical reinterpretation of the traditional office – transforming the building and the functions it contains into a more dynamic, engaging ‘nerve-centre’ or ‘communication knot’ – funneling all movement around the manufacturing complex through a space that transcends conventional white collar/blue collar spatial divisions.
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