Munich newspaper kiosk finds new life on BR campus

A glass newspaper kiosk that served travellers at Munich’s Hauptbahnhof for nearly 40 years has been relocated to the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation’s campus in Freimann, BR reports. It had been at risk of demolition along with the station wing where it stood.

Designed by Munich architect Dieter Schaich in the mid-1980s, the pavilion was built so it could be dismantled and assembled elsewhere. Five Munich architects persuaded Deutsche Bahn not to demolish it and found a new home for it with the broadcaster.

The 12-metre-long pavilion will be used by Querbeet, a BR gardening programme that maintains a display garden on the Freimann campus. Presenter Sabrina Nitsche said it would provide a bright, sheltered space for filming decorations and other items in bad weather.

The architects who organised the move say reusing buildings and components can conserve resources and protect cultural value. Andreas Ferstl said construction in Germany accounts for about a third of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions and generates large amounts of waste.

The team, which also includes Philipp Reichelt, Kerstin Oertel, Europa Frohwein and Emily Grünecker, is calling for new rules to make reuse easier. The pavilion project involved complex questions over responsibilities, liability and transfer agreements, they said. Demolition would have been cheaper for Deutsche Bahn, while the architects contributed more than 350 hours of unpaid work.

Grünecker said the move was possible because Schaich had planned for the pavilion to be dismantled and rebuilt. She called for more consideration of circular construction, in which materials are designed for reuse or buildings are made to last.