Funf Hofe, Five Courtyards for the Munich City Centre, Germany

Related people

Addison Godel (was created by)
Pierre de Meuron (was created by)
Jacques Herzog (architect)
Herzog and de Meuron (architect)

Date

2001, phase 1 opened;1996;1994

Description

In 1994, the HypoVereinsbank held a competition for the redesign of an entire street block in the center of the city. The L-shaped property was reorganized by creating a network of courtyards that engages the previously nearly inaccessible block, integrating it into the urban environment. The courtyards are cut into the amorphous structure of the existing buildings and form the core of the conversion concept, which is surrounded by the reorganized buildings as though they were a fill mass. Circulation through the Funf Hofe is defined from east to west by the Perusahof (Perusa courtyard) and the Prannerpassage (Pranner arcade), from north to south by the Viscardihof (Viscardi courtyard), the Salvatorpassage (Salvator arcade), and the Maffeihof (Maffei courtyard). The central passageway is the 14-meter-high Salvator arcade, over which creepers are suspended to form a hanging garden. The Portia and Perusa courtyards allow fresh air to flow through the shopping arcades and also offer a view to the sky above. Folded, perforated sheet-metal screens drawn over the illuminated facades result in an interplay between light and shadow. The Prannerpassage arcade complements the neo-Baroque facade to the west.

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