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BMW Museum re-opens on 19.Jun.2008 - Munich

After 2½ years of construction
Owain Glyndwr
After a ca. two and a half years of construction, BMW opens the doors to the BMW Museum on 19th June 2008. Exhibition space has extended the exhibition space fivefold to more than 5,000 sq. m by this major architectural and design redevelopment . The unique bowl-shaped, world-famous construction by Viennese architect Karl Schwanzer that dates back to 1973 and remains the heart of the museum. Together with the BMW World Experience and Delivery Centre and the BMW plant tour, the museum provides a unique brand experience for visitors to Munich. Two days after its ceremonial inauguration, the Museum will be open to the public again from 21st June.

Brand museum

Vistors can experience the historical evolution of the BMW brand's competence and innovative strength, along with its achievements and sporting successes. The development of the BMW brand is traced from the past to the present and on into the future. At the core of the exhibition material are such icons of BMW's product history as the BMW R 32, the BMW 507 and the legendary BMW 2002. Some 120 exhibits, encompassing production and racing models as well as concept vehicles, bear eloquent testimony to the thrilling history of the BMW brand. Featured themes range from design and engine construction to advertising, aerodynamics and motorsport. Exceptional exhibition technology underlines the aspiration of the Museum's new concept: "Once again BMW is setting new trends and embarking on untrodden paths to link up the history of its vehicles with that of the company in an exciting and surprising way. Quite simply, fascination and passion is what it's all about," says Karl Baumer, Director of BMW Group Mobile Tradition.

Architecture

The extension of the BMW Museum into the neighbouring low-rise building has allowed the exhibition area to swell to five times its former size. Karl Schwanzer's architectural philosophy is further pursued in the newly claimed spaces: in addition to streets and squares, bridges and houses appear within a built-up space. The upshot is an urban architecture, a kind of "traffic complex" composed of the fundamental constituents of the automotive environment. Visitors will discover enclosed and open exhibition spaces, a configuration of ramps, numerous detailed views and broad vistas, and a series of ever-changing perspectives that will take them by surprise.


Allershausen
Well I hope they keep updating this one, because the old one felt like BMW stopped making cars in the 1980s.
NOFXmike
Isn't that was the BMW Welt is for? showing off their new cars and technology...
Allershausen
It wasn't just that they had no new cars, they had no recent ones either, it was seriously neglected and this refit is long overdue.
RockThrust
QUOTE(Allershausen @ Mar 7 2008, 12:29 pm) *
Well I hope they keep updating this one, because the old one felt like BMW stopped making cars in the 1980s.

Totally agree - it was dire.
modernclio
Yeah...I was amazed when I was at the old one. Didn't exactly inspire a lot of awe for the company, which is what all those corporate museums are trying to do, anyway. I'll definitely be checking the new one out, though. I'm always curious to see what kinds of exhibits can be put together with unlimited budgets and the desire to disguise marketing as a museum, my personal favorite being the waterfall at the Guiness Storehouse in Dublin.
maddul
Kinda fitting. BMW axes 8000 and re-opens a museum.
carandiru
It's a museum - if you want to see the latest models go to the nearest dealer...
Uncle Jamal
Is the first post a paid placement then?
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