Isarphilharmonie Munich: From temporary quarters to a sound miracle

The new Isarphilharmonie concert hall in Munich was to be an interim solution for the Bavarian capital’s philharmonic orchestra and its international guest artists, who give around 80 concerts a year here. The Gasteig cultural building on Rosenheimerstrasse, which had been used intensively for thirty years and opened in 1984 and was once home to the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, was due for a general refurbishment. So where to put the world-class classical and contemporary music concerts and the other facilities that were housed in the Gasteig?

It is still unclear when the Gasteig will be completely renovated. But a good solution has been found: An almost derelict inner-city site on the Isar in the Sendling district was suitable for conversion and expansion, and in just 18 months of construction, the Isarphilharmonie München was opened to plans by Gerkan Marg and Partners (gmp ). It quickly won the hearts of its users, musicians and audiences. Even without a concert, a tour of Munich’s new cultural quarter is well worthwhile. Many visitors even regret that it was only built as an interim solution.

Few districts in Munich are as intensively affected by new neighborhood planning as Sendling. Once an industrial location, a working-class district and, with many cooperative buildings, a simple neighborhood for small people, many new buildings and chic commercial spaces typical of the 21st century are to be built here in the near future. The Isarphilharmonie München, with its cultural and educational buildings, is a trendsetter for the future of the district. Hans-Preißinger-Straße 8 is the exact address of the Isarphilharmonie München. With the initials of the street name, which honors the late leading SPD local politician Hans Preißinger, and the house number 8, the cultural area with the concert hall was also given its official name: HP8. The Isarphilharmonie München is not quite as conveniently located for the city’s music lovers as the Gasteig, but is nevertheless very much in vogue and well attended. Coming from Brudermühlstrasse or Schäftlarnstrasse, the visitor first encounters an existing building on the site, Hall E. This is the disused transformer hall of the former municipal utility site on the Isar, which today also houses the foyer of the Isarphilharmonie München. It is located just a stone’s throw from Hall E. A few steps further on, the University of Music and Performing Arts and the Munich Adult Education Center have moved in. Behind Hall E and the concert hall facing the Isar, there is another event hall. All new buildings have been constructed using the time-saving modular construction method.

The cultural quarter with the Isarphilharmonie Munich and the surrounding cultural and educational buildings is an urban planning project by gmp. The existing building, Hall E in the original industrial style from 1929 with a façade of red brick and grey concrete, has been retained as the center and entrance to the area. The HP8 design has given it a new lease of life in Munich’s cultural scene: with its imposing building height and atrium-like space lit from above with surrounding galleries structured horizontally by blue balustrades, it almost looks like a cathedral. People can move around the open floors and use the various facilities. In addition to the foyer of the Isarphilharmonie Munich on the first floor, these include a location for the Munich City Library, seminar and meeting rooms, rooms for cultural education, catering and a further event hall. Hall E and the concert hall are separated by a gap that is bridged by a narrow connecting structure. The joint construction allows the old and the new to stand side by side: The façade of Hall E remains visible, history and the present become a tangible unit in the Isarphilharmonie München.

“An audience that sees well also hears well,” said Yasuhisa Toyota at the opening of the Isarphilharmonie Munich. Yasuhisa Toyota is the President of Nagata Acoustic in Tokyo, a company that is one of the world’s leading pioneers in sound architecture. Nagata Acoustic has been responsible for the most important concert halls in the world, including the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and the House of Hungarian Music in Budapest. Yasuhisa Toyota’s art and his team’s technical know-how can be found in the concert hall of the Isarphilharmonie in Munich. From the very beginning of the planning process, gmp worked with Yasuhisa Toyota and his team to develop the geometry of the space from an acoustic perspective. The sawtooth-like, largely overlapping arrangement of the prefabricated elements and their rough surface in combination with the shape of the stage area, the rising parquet floor and the seating result in a precisely coordinated interplay of sound-reflecting surfaces. The wood-clad walls have a dark glaze, creating a calm and intimate atmosphere despite the public nature of the venue. The audience sees the stage as a bright solitaire – their attention is focused on it and the sound of the music.

The new building by gmp for 1,900 concertgoers consists of two structurally separate systems. The centerpiece of the Isarphilharmonie Munich is the concert hall, built using a time-saving modular timber construction method, which is fitted into an external steel structure. Together with the structural engineers schlaich bergermann partner sbp, gmp developed the hall as a plug-in system made of solid timber elements. These were prefabricated at the same time as the outer steel structure was being erected and then joined together on site. The use of single-shell ceiling and wall elements greatly reduced the construction time. Once the Isarphilharmonie Munich has completed its task as interim accommodation, the modular concert hall can be dismantled and its building materials reused elsewhere.

Read more about another great building that Munich has: the Olympic Stadium.