by Alexandra den Heijer
Last week was all about German universities and campuses. I was traveling with a group of Dutch campus managers and we visited campuses of TU Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munchen, Stuttgart University and Heidelberg University. The lectures and tours confirmed our collective problems and similar challenges: many 60s and 70s buildings, (re)considering city campuses, sustainability issues, housing for international students and creating a place to meet. Visiting other campuses always gives you new ideas, but usually also makes you proud of what you have and what you do.
TU Munich, campus Garching
The campus tours and lectures were combined with short visits to the sites of BMW (BMW Welt @ Olympia Park Munich), Mercedes Benz (Museum, architect UN Studio) and Porsche (Museum, Delugan Meissl Associated Architects), which could also be considered as campuses. The labs, production halls, flagship stores, museums, restaurants and espresso bars – sometimes spread over the city and usually concentrated on one site – and their employment base of knowledge workers and relations to regional universities indicate many similarities. Consequently, my next book could be called “Managing the automobile campus”…
Studentenbungalows im Olympischen Dorf - Munich
Mercedes Benz Museum (architect UN Studio) in Stuttgart
Managing the university campus 