BMW Museum: Experiencing The Complete Fascination Of BMW
The BMW Museum is re-opening for the public at its traditional location next door to the BMW Group Headquarters in Munich on 21 June 2008, offering the visitor a truly innovative synthesis of architecture, exhibition art, and communication media.
The focus, naturally, is on 125 original exhibits in 25 exhibition areas, various lines of development presenting the dynamism and innovative power of the BMW brand throughout its history of more than 90 years.
After re-opening, the BMW Museum is expecting 400,000 visitors each year. “We are very happy to note that following the opening of the original BMW Museum in 1973 we have again succeeded in creating an innovative and modern museum concept, offering a unique brand experience the world over at our home address through the combination of the BMW Building, the BMW Plant, the BMW Welt, and the BMW Museum”, states Dr Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG.
Ever since its original opening in 1973, the “Museum Bowl”, as it is affectionately called, has not only been the home of the BMW Museum, but also a true landmark in architecture. Now, in creating the new concept for the Museum, the Museum Bowl has been enlarged by the directly adjacent single-story building belonging to the BMW Group Headquarters, the so-called “Four-Cylinder”, enlarging the exhibition area to 5,000 sq m or 53,800 sq ft.
The new exhibition concept not only provides a chronology of history, but also highlights specific themes and lines of development which started in the past, continue into the present, and allow forecasts of the future. Both the media presented as well as the individual exhibitions and style of presentation give further emphasis to these lines of development and make them a genuine, sensual experience.
The way in.
The BMW Museum does not keep out or draw a line to its direct urban environment, but rather symbolically takes up the surrounding message and continues that message inside the building. A system of ramps dynamically flowing into the Museum area and appearing almost weightless, as if the ramps were hovering in space, forms one entity with the open and closed exhibits and exhibition areas. Modern facades, networked paths and fascinating perspectives, in turn, create an exciting, urban-like outlook.
Indeed, the BMW Museum is conceived as an urban “transport structure” made up of the various elements in its surroundings all characterized by the spirit of mobility: streets, squares, bridges, and houses. This concept is then underlined and further accentuated in the truest sense of the word by the bituminous terrace floor leading all the way through the Museum, a specially treated asphalt surface highlighting the particular flair and touch of the road, bringing contents and functions close together.
“It was important to us to create an architectural structure with a long-term, convincing message, carrying its design language through its contents”, states Professor Uwe R. Brückner, the architect who created the new BMW Museum. Hence, the new BMW Museum is able to bridge the gap between the original architecture of the Museum Bowl dating back to the 1970s and still full of timeless elegance and modern style today, on the one hand, and the media architecture of the 21st century to be admired within the BMW Museum.
The ramp system connects 25 exhibition areas with seven interacting theme blocks, in each case offering the visitor a greater insight and a more profound look at a specific subject. This enables the visitor to actively relate information he has already gained from other theme areas with various aspects of the new space created in this way.
This particular style of interior architecture gives the various exhibition highlights both a vertical and a horizontal arrangement. The new single-story building offers an additional area of 4,000 sq m or 43,040 sq ft in various sections for permanent exhibitions held at the BMW Museum, while inside the Museum Bowl itself, the exhibits and exhibitions constantly change, focusing from time to time on different subjects and highlights.
The real experience is the journey through the Museum.
Through its inherent self-learning concept, the Museum enables the visitor to interact directly with the development of BMW as a company and a brand, thus independently and authentically coming to terms with the particular competences of the BMW Group. Various entertaining exhibitions focusing on different highlights all come together to provide a sequence of unique emotions and images extending from one area to the next. In the process, the various vehicles, concepts, architecture, configuration and media design all join forces to create a truly innovative exhibition concept in every respect.A central path guides the visitor through time and space, showing him the way to the individual exhibition highlights. But nobody is forced to follow a specific sequence when visiting the exhibition areas - rather, there is enough space for all visitors to find and create their own, individual way through the Museum.
Separate areas within the Museum focus on the overriding topics of Design, Technology, Model Series, Company History, Motorsport, the History of the Motorcycle, and the BMW Brand. These individual “Houses”, as they are called, are made up of several rooms on various levels highlighting different aspects of each specific theme. As an example, the “Technology House” is subdivided into the rooms “Engines”, “Lightweight Technology”, and “Aerodynamics”. And each “House” has its own identity additionally borne out by its unique, characteristic design.
Presentation of exhibition highlights and “Mediatecture”.
The media highlighting BMW cars and motorcycles through their special,
all-embracing “Mediatecture” generate a particular appeal and, at the same time, have become part of the overall architecture themselves.
The “Mediatecture” is made up of a layer of LEDs directly connected with a layer of glass, interacting with one another to illuminate the Exhibition Houses. The facades are made up of more than 700 sq m (7,532 sq ft) of LED surfaces and a total of 1,765 million light-emitting diodes serving as the central source of light for the Museum, presenting the entire exhibition in the “right light” in the genuine sense of the word.
The facade areas surrounding the central unit within the Museum, the BMW Square, are actively illuminated in a constantly changing process, this special media effect on the facades de-materialising and dynamising the static elements.
A further highlight is the “Acousmonium” creating a unique area of sound under-lining the visual impressions of the exhibition through its consistent, ongoing acoustic effect. Interactive elements form different levels of information and actively integrate the visitor into the exhibition itself and everything that is going on. Apart from touch-sensitive surfaces, the “Company House”, for example, presents extra-large, oversized picture books. Then, looking at the photos and leafing through the books, visitors hear a text explaining the particular events shown in the photos and described on the accompanying pages, thus receiving helpful background information.
Another important innovation in the use of audiovisual media offers visitors the same fascinating experience at the end of their Museum tour: This is a truly exceptional panorama projection on the inner wall of the shell to be admired around the upper edge of the Museum Bowl. Here, at this particularly point free of pillars or support elements and with a wall area up to 120 meters or 394 feet in length and up to 6 meters or almost 20 feet in height, high-performance beamers offer an impressive 360° panorama film projection.
A personal journey through time with outstanding icons in style.
The various lines of development of the BMW brand and the company are impressively demonstrated by the trend setting vehicles BMW has built and created in the last 90 years, original BMW exhibits arousing particular memories among many visitors.
The most significant favorites and eye-catchers to be admired in the new BMW Museum include the Isetta, the BMW 2002, the R32 motorcycle, the BMW 328 and the BMW 507, as well as the H2R world speed record car. Automobiles, motorcycles, racing cars, engines and components impressively demonstrate the diversity, continuity and innovative power of the brand, with all exhibits naturally having been restored lovingly and true to the original from top to bottom.
A guided tour is certainly the best option for the enthusiastic visitor seeking to gain a greater insight into BMW’s various lines of development. This tour takes about 1 1/2 hours, but may be shortened for specific groups, depending on their particular interests. The maximum number of participants in each case is 15, with private groups of 5-15 visitors having the additional option to book exclusive tours.
The self-guiding exhibition concept nevertheless enables the visitor, even without a tour, to experience all the areas and highlights to the museum in their entirety - especially as the Cicerone Service is available at all times to answer any questions visitors might have.
Visitors wishing to take some time out during their tour will find everything their heart desires in the M1 Café of the BMW Museum. Indeed, the view alone from the terrace of the M1 Café to the BMW Welt and the adjacent Olympic Grounds is worth more than a short break. And last but not least, visitors are able to purchase memoirs of an unforgettable day at the BMW Museum in the Museum Shop when leaving.
Museum learning program for children and young people.
The Museum learning program for children from 6-13 and young people as of 14 years of age likewise seeks to create an active experience of selected exhibits in the BMW Museum.
Focusing on the exhibits from various perspectives, the program touches on several areas of knowledge relevant to education such as technology, history, and design, enabling children and young people to develop an overriding, multi-perspective and networked impression of the various exhibits. “Teaching in the Museum” therefore becomes “Entertainment in the Museum”.
The one-hour tour of the Museum complete with a dialogue tailored to the existing knowledge and interests of the participants is followed by creative, practical work in the Creative Workshop of the BMW Museum. And to provide further follow-up at school or at home, the special “Knowledge Bricks for Young People” publication as well as the “Children Creative Pages” offer ongoing information and incentives all about the subject of “Mobility” geared to the age of the respective group.
13 Engines » BMW Museum: Experiencing The Complete Fascination Of BMW
[...] BMW Museum: Experiencing The Complete Fascination Of BMW Automobiles, motorcycles, racing cars, engines and components impressively demonstrate the diversity, continuity and innovative power of the brand, with all exhibits naturally having been restored lovingly and true to the original from … [...]
BMW Museum: Experiencing The Complete Fascination Of BMW
[...] BMW Museum: Experiencing The Complete Fascination Of BMW Various entertaining exhibitions focusing on different highlights all come together to provide a sequence of unique emotions and images extending from one area to the next. In the process, the various vehicles, concepts, architecture, … [...]
2 Static » Blog Archive » BMW Museum: Experiencing The Complete Fascination Of BMW
[...] BMW Museum: Experiencing The Complete Fascination Of BMW …on the facades de-materialising and dynamising the static elements. … This tour takes about 1 1/2 hours, but may be shortened for specific… [...]