Which architect designed the BMW Headquarters tower in Munich?

Austrian architect Karl Schwanzer designed the BMW Headquarters tower in Munich.

Known as the BMW Tower or BMW-Vierzylinder, the headquarters was conceived as four vertical cylinders arranged around a central core. The form echoes a four-cylinder engine, turning BMW’s mechanical identity into an architectural idea. Schwanzer also designed the neighboring BMW Museum.

Construction took place from 1968 to 1972, with the building completed in time for the 1972 Summer Olympics. The formal inauguration followed on 18 May 1973. The tower rises about 101 metres and contains 22 floors, with its distinctive cylindrical office sections suspended from a central support structure rather than resting directly on the ground.

The BMW campus includes the headquarters, the museum and, across the road, BMW Welt. The tower is often confused with BMW Welt because both are prominent Munich landmarks, but BMW Welt was designed decades later by the architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au and opened in 2007. Schwanzer’s tower was declared a protected historic building in 1999.