11 Oct 2021
The new building in the heart of Munich will house scientific facilities for cutting-edge physics research at LMU and will also be used as a forum for communicating current research topics to the public.
The winners have been chosen in the competition to design the LMU's new "Forum der Physik" building in Munich's English Garden. First prize for the most compelling design goes to architects agn Niederberghaus & Partner GmbH from Ibbenbüren.
Organized by Munich's State Building Authority 2, the architecture competition for the new building on the LMU physics campus saw 23 architectural firms and landscape architects submit their designs. Besides congratulating the overall winner, the jury chaired by architect Markus Hammes was impressed by the following competitors:
2nd place: Reinhard Bauer Architekt BDA, Munich, with Hackl Hofmann Landschaftsarchitekten GmbH, Eichstätt
3rd place: Henn GmbH, Munich, with Rainer Schmidt Landschaftsarchitekten und Stadtplaner GmbH, Munich
4th place: AV1 Architekten GmbH, Kaiserslautern, with HDK Dutt & Kist GmbH, Saarbrücken
Special recognition goes to:
"I am delighted with the choice of winner and I congratulate all the award-winning architectural firms," says Professor Bernd Huber, LMU President. "For many years now, LMU has been the home of internationally outstanding research in the field of physics. The new building that will soon be constructed on the physics campus will perfectly support the faculty's cutting-edge research with matching facilities, while simultaneously representing our work to the outside world with the innovative nature of the building."
The new "Forum der Physik" marks the continuation of LMU's expansion of its strong physics campus in the English Garden in the heart of Munich. It joins the Nano Institute, which opened its doors in June 2019 as the first building block on the physics campus. The new building will house scientific facilities but will also be used as a forum for communicating current research topics to the public. Construction work is expected to begin in mid-2025.
Bernd Sibler, Bavaria's Minister of Science, comments: "The new physics campus will be at the heart of LMU in Munich's city center. The announcement of the winner of the architecture competition for the Forum der Physik today is a strong signal of how the Forum will be the linchpin and thus the architectural calling card of the entire physics faculty. The new building will emphatically strengthen the international visibility and attractiveness of Munich's physics offering and of Bavaria as a hub of science, not least because the achievements of the Faculty of Physics are a crucial part of maintaining the status of Munich's two universities as institutions of excellence long term. And excellent scientific achievements demand an excellent framework. The contemporary and innovative new building for the Forum der Physik will set new standards of excellence."
"The State Building Authority is pleased that the years of preparatory work are now bearing fruit with the culmination of the architecture competition and that we can now move into the building planning stage as the next big step towards bringing the new Forum building to life," says Thomas Kaßner of Munich's State Building Authority 2.
The new "Forum der Physik" building offers a main usable area of 4,800 square meters including an exhibition space with cafeteria, seminar rooms and lecture halls and will also be the new home of the Chair of Physics Education. Additionally, the building will house the offices and laboratories of the three Chairs of Meteorology, alongside a weather station.
"The Forum der Physik will enable us to showcase the new physics campus. Exhibitions and events will be held there to report on the latest work of our faculty and address the public in general as well as students, teachers and parents in particular. The winning architectural design not only features compelling architecture but also supports these goals in the ideal way," says Professor Ralf Bender, Dean of the Faculty of Physics.