Michael Hardi, an obituary

Michael Hardi has left a huge gap in Munich. “He had so many ideas and plans for the future of urban planning that we wanted to implement together,” said City Planning Councillor Elisabeth Merk in an official statement. Like many others, she is shocked by the death of the head of the Department of Urban Planning. On November 11, 2023, Michael Hardi died at the age of just 48 from the long-term effects of an accident. Until his unexpected death, Hardi played a key role in shaping urban development in Munich for over two decades. An obituary.

After studying architecture and training as a government master builder, Hardi began his service as a trainee builder at the Department of Urban Planning and Building Regulations in 2002. Just five years later, he became office manager and press spokesman, as well as personal assistant to Professor Christiane Thalgott, who held the position of City Planning Councillor from 1992 to 2007. Michael Hardi also remained in the same position for her direct successor, Professor Elisabeth Merk. In 2010, he took on a new challenge. As Head of Urban Development Measures, he was responsible for numerous projects and strategies in the Munich metropolitan region.

“He was always very innovative and played a key role in shaping the development of the Bayernkaserne during this time, for example,” explains City Planning Councillor Merk in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung. There, for example, Hardi advocated having a climate report drawn up even before the urban planning competition. What is now considered standard for large construction projects, in order to investigate the possible consequences of a development for the urban climate at the earliest possible stage, was not yet the norm at the time. Nevertheless, Michael Hardi’s foresight put it on the table. The Munich barracks sites, better known today as Neufreimann, will in future provide 5,500 apartments with affordable rents for 15,000 people. Michael Hardi and his colleagues laid the foundations for this major project more than ten years ago. In addition to the development of Neufreimann, Hardi was also instrumental in advancing the Munich North East project.

These are just two milestones in his extraordinary career and his constant commitment to better urban design. After a total of 13 years at the City of Munich, Michael Hardi changed direction again in 2016 and took up a position as Head of Construction at GEWOFAG Holding GmbH. In his new position, he oversaw numerous residential construction projects. These included the stilt construction with 100 subsidized apartments in timber construction at Dantebad. It is a pilot project in Gewofag’s “Housing for all” program. Half of the apartments are allocated by the social services department to households who are entitled to a subsidized apartment. The other half is made up of recognized refugees and homeless people. Shared washrooms, an open roof terrace and four communal rooms with table football, table tennis and kitchenettes create a sense of community. The nationally acclaimed housing project was built in just 180 days.

“He was able to do what not many of us architects can do, namely think on very different scales,” says City Planning Councillor Merk, describing Hardi’s special talent in the SZ. After around four years at GEWOFAG, Michael Hardi returned to his roots in 2019 and took over as Head of Urban Planning in the Department of Urban Planning and Building Regulations. His death is a great loss – not only for his family and friends. But also for his colleagues and the City of Munich. Michael Hardi is a planner who did things differently and was committed to a more liveable city for everyone. As a result, he will also leave his mark on the city posthumously. Or in the words of City Planning Councillor Elisabeth: “His design approaches and visions will always remain present in Munich’s urban development.”

Projects that Michael Hardi supported at LHM will continue to have an impact in the future. For example, the developments in the north-east of Munich.