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Below there are some more pictures taken during the site visit.

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All professional pictures and architectural sketches/animations are taken from: Werksviertel-Mitte. URL.: https://werksviertel-mitte.de/ ; City of Munich. URL.: https://www.muenchen.de/; SZ.de. URL.: https://sueddeutsche.de/

All other pictures taken by the author.

All maps are created or adapted by the author.

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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An area that deserves to be especially mentioned is Container Collective. It is located right at the entry to the Werksviertel -Mitte. Werner Eckart’s idea was to preserve the industrial charm. Container Collective is made of 27 shipping containers which are arranged in order to form a small plaza in the middle. Some of them were put on top of each other to create up to 3 floors. Container Collective was opened in 2017 offering affordable multi use spaces for small scale commerce, service, craft, gastronomy and events supporting subculture and creativity (Container Collective; Werksviertel-Mitte).

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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The latest project is the construction of Munich’s Concert hall on the area. Therefore Werk 2 was demolished. After a debate of 20 years, Munich gets a new so called Konzerthaus. The design decision upon the new building was made in the course of a competition in 2017. The winning proposal features a lot of glass and is considered to present openness and liveliness to serve as a calm pole in a heterogenous environment. The Konzerthaus has a large concert hall with 1.800 seats and a smaller one with room for 800 guests. Moreover there are rehearsal rooms, foyers and gastronomy in the building. It is going to host classic concerts played by the Symphonic orchestra of the Bavarian Radio (Werksviertel-Mitte; City of Munich 5).

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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Apart from these particularly interesting buildings, there are some smaller former industrial facilities which are used by artist or by small businesses (Werk 6 former locksmith building, Werk 9 former Zündapp production building, now fotostudio), as workshops for the public (Werk 10), or have a non profit purpose for children (Werk 5 action gym, Werk 8 self-organized kindergarten) (Werksviertel-Mitte).

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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Kantine and Nachtkantine used to be the canteen of the Pfanni factory. Today the first one is still used for gastronomy and the latter serves as an event location. Its logo was inspired by the Pfanny company's logo (Werksviertel-Mitte).

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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Werk 7 is a former storage building for potatoes which was transformed into an event venue for cultural performances. Next to it is Werk 11, a former research and development facility for new potato products.The building also had a modernization. It’s new name is Technikum and it is a concert and event location. Werk 13 is an extension of the Technikum and it is a multifunctional commercial building (Werksviertel-Mitte).

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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Another outstanding building is Werk 12 which was designed by the dutch architecture company MVRDV and opened in 2019. It is one of the few buildings that have been constructed from scratch after the demolition of a smaller warehouse. It represents an open architecture using materials like glass and concrete. The five meter tall letters on the facade are particularly striking and are a link to the graffitis that have a long history in the are. The building was built for a mixed use purpose, such as offices, entertainment, gastronomy and a gym (MVRDV; Werksviertel-Mitte).

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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One oft the most spectacular buildings is Werk 4. The former silo with a height of 30m was transformed into a climbing hall. A 4*plus hotel on top of the former silo is currently under construction, so that the building will reach a height of 85m in the end which makes it the tallest hotel in Munich. At the bottom there is construction underway for a hostel offering cheaper accommodation (Krügel 2015; Werksviertel-Mitte).

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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Werk 1 was Pfanni’s former office building. It kind of kept its previous purpose. Since 2015 it offers affordable loft offices and is used a start-up center with also co-working options and an event venue. At the moment it is home to over 40 internet and digital start-ups. Starting this year the building is enlarged and from 2022 onwards it is going to offer apartments and a kindergarten, too (Krügel 2015; Werksviertel-Mitte).

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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Apart form the buildings, there small transformations on the former industrial site which are improving the livebility of the neighbourhood. 160 wooden high bed cases are distributed over the area. They are used for urban gardening and - farming to set green highlights in the area. Another twist to make the area more cozy, are mobile benches, seats and tables made from wood and steel which can be moved on the rails that remained on the former production site (Bayerischer Rundfunk 2016).

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5 Brief history of Pfanni and its Munich production sites

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5 Brief history of Pfanni and its Munich production sites

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History of Pfanni and its Munich production sites:
https://werksviertel-mitte.de/ueber-uns/historie/
Timeline Slideshow:
https://www.werksviertel-mitte.de/timeline/Slideshow.html

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In Germany, the city of Munich offers an interesting urban environment, to have a closer look at the regeneration of former industrial sites, due to its extraordinary relevance for the city’s further development.
Munich has always been a city with a significant cultural, political and economic role. Companies like BMW, Pfanni and also Breweries like Paulaner were founded there and also had or still have their production facilities in the city. After World War II, several other industrial companies like Siemens, Agfa and Osram moved their headquarters to Munich and started their production there. Starting in the 1970s, changing markets, cheaper possibilities for production abroad, crisis and the tertiarization led to a decline in the number of producing companies and industrial facilities had to be closed (Braun, 2007).
Nowadays Munich is still home to big and innovative employers, particularly in the service industry, attracting people to move to and work in the city (City of Munich, 2019). This led to high tension on the land and housing market with prices skyrocketing (Kastner, 2019).
In Munich the reuse of former industrial sites offers great potential, in order to prevent urban sprawl and to protect the surrounding countryside. In the last years there have been different examples of underused or abandoned spaces which undergo this kind of transformation.

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After the examination of the urban situation of Pfanni’s former production site and after taking a closer look at the transformation and regeneration of the area and its surrounding, it has proven to be true: Abandoned and underused former industrial sites offer lots of potential for reactivation and amelioration in an urban environment. The Werksviertel-Mitte serves as a good example, how a former industrial site and its infrastructure can be reused, renewed and integrated into the city, while still paying respect to the history of the area by preserving old buildings. The transfer from an industrial site, with temporary use of the area, to a new neighbourhood has been successful. The plan for Pfanni’s former industrial site has brought improvements respecting the three columns of sustainability.
However there is one reason for criticism. A lot of the surface of the Werksviertel-Mitte remains sealed by concrete. There are many spots which could be transformed with the help of urban gardening in order to create multiple new green open spaces possible for the area.
How much potential as milestone, as officials want to claim it, the Werksviertel-Mitte really has for the future quarter Werksviertel and how it provides impulses for a new urban lifestyle in Munich’s East has yet to be proven with the completion of the new quarter.

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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9 Presentation of different buildings and their transformation

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Currently several buildings have been completed. All of them were former industrial buildings which were predominantly preserved and transformed to reuse them.

Since April 2016 the centerpiece of the new district exists: Werk 3. It is the first of the former production buildings that had complete modernization. It also got a facelift and is now painted in the Pfanni colors. It features loft offices, artist’s studios and an exhibition space, as well as showrooms ans stores. The advertising agency “Avantgarde” has its offices there and together with “thewhitebox” which offers subsidized spaces for artists, they form the creative heart of the area.
On the ground floor there are also culinary and nightlife options, as well as an information point and two display windows showing the area’s history.
Furthermore on the roof top, apart from the great view, there is a 2500sqm farm which serves as a natural reserve. This was Werner Eckart’s Idea. It is also used for the education of children growing up in the city about nature. There are three beehives, two ant colonies and even seven sheep, rabbits and chicken (City of Munich 3. 2015; Bayerischer Rundfunk, 2016; Krügel 2015; Werksviertel-Mitte).

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Bayerischer Rundfunk (2016): Bericht: Eine Stadt in der Stadt. URL.: https://werksviertel-mitte.de/2016/05/28/bayerischer-rundfunk-bericht-eine-stadt-in-der-stadt/ (19.07.2020).
Boresema R., Rouwendal, J., Van Duijn, M. (2014): Transformations of Industrial Heritage: Insights into
Braun, H. (2007): Historisches Lexikon Bayerns. URL.: https://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/Lexikon/Industrialisierung (19.07.2020).
Böck, C. (2019): Pfanni wird 70: Markenjubiläum einer Erfolgsgeschichte. URL.: https://werksviertel-mitte.de/2019/09/02/pfanni-wird-70-markenjubilaeum-einer-erfolgsgeschichte-werksviertel-mitte/ (19.07.2020).
City of Munich. Department of Labor and Economic Development. (2019): Munich as a business location. Facts and Figures. München.
City of Munich 2. Department of Urban Planning and Building Regulations. URL.: https://www.muenchen.de/rathaus/Stadtverwaltung/Referat-fuer-Stadtplanung-und-Bauordnung/Projekte/Ostbahnhof.html (19.07.2020).
City of Munich 3. (2015): Kultfabrik schließt - das neue Werksviertel kommt. URL.: https://www.muenchen.de/aktuell/2015-12/kultfabrik-schliesst-das-neue-werksviertel-kommt.html (19.07.2020).
City of Munich 4. Ein architektonischer Meilenstein für München. URL.: https://www.muenchen.de/aktuell/2018-04/grundsteinlegung-hochhaus-werk4-werksviertel.html (19.07.2020).
City of Munich 5. Siegerentwürfe für das neue Konzerthaus im Werksviertel. URL.: https://www.muenchen.de/aktuell/2017-10/konzertsaal-werksviertel-siegerentwuerfe.html (19.07.2020).
Container Collective. URL.: http://www.containercollective.de/ (19.07.2020).
External Effects on Housing Prices. Tinbergen Institute. Amsterdam/Rotterdam.
Fernández Águeda, B. (2009): Urban planning in industrial cities: The reversibility of decay.
Kastner, B. (2019): Hans-Jochen Vogel über die Bodenfrage. URL.: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/bodenreform-hans-jochen-vogel-mehr-gerechtigkeit-rezension-1.4685469 (19.07.2020).
Knoll, G. (2015): Der Knödel ist gegessen. URL.: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/ehemaliges-pfanni-gelaende-am-ostbahnhof-der-knoedel-ist-gegessen-1.2627247 (19.07.2020).
Krügel, C. (2015): Wie sich das Wersviertel verändert. URL.: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/pfanni-gelaende-am-ostbahnhof-wie-sich-das-werksviertel-verwandelt-1.2585672 (19.07.2020).
MVRDV. URL.: https://www.mvrdv.nl/ (19.07.2020).
Otto, J. (2013): Die Ur-geschichte des Urban Gardenings. URL.: https://www.evidero.de/die-ur-geschichte-des-urban-gardenings (19.07.2020).
Power, A., Plöger, J., Winkler, A. (2008): Transforming cities across Europe. An interim report on problems and progress. LSE. CASE. London.
Shannon, K., Smets, M. (2010): Landscape of Contemporary Infrastructure. NAI Publishers. Rotterdam.
thehighline.org. URL.: https://www.thehighline.org/ (19.07.2020).
UN ORG. (2018): 68% of the world population projected to live u urban areas by 2050, says UN. URL: https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html (19.07.2020).
Werksviertel. URL.: https://werksviertel.de/ (19.07.2020).
Werksviertel-Mitte. URL.: https://werksviertel-mitte.de/ (19.07.2020).
Wüst, M. (2016): Kunstpark Ost - Die Anfänge (Geländegeschichte Teil 2). URL.: https://werksviertel-mitte.de/2016/10/10/kunstpark-ost-die-anfaenge/ (19.07.2020).

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School of Architecture Urban Planning Construction and Engineering
Msc in Urban Planning and Policy DesignAcademic Year 2019/2020
Contemporary Cities: Descriptions and Projects
Prof. Eliana Rosa Queiroz Barbosa
Teaching Assistants: Elena Batunova, Marco Vedoà

Student: Tobias Tesch
July 2020

City and Infrastructure.

Former industrial sites and vacant spaces: Challenge and opportunity.

Case study on a specific urban situation.
Transformation and regeneration of Pfanni’s former production sites in Munich, Germany.

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In the course of the decision making process for the new quarter, the visions for the new Werksviertel neighborhood have played an important role.
The history of the former industrial sites in Munich’s East can still be seen today. The former production facilities continue to influence the district. Historic buildings are put into contrast with modern buildings. This combination of old and new structures creates a unique future district. In the next few years, the vision of a modern city with a high livability is going to be realized. A city which is open to all citizens. The Werksviertel understands itself as a melting pot for different social classes. It is a place that inspires, that promotes creative exchange and that is constantly reinventing, changing and developing itself. According to the principle "compact, urban, green", all uses of daily life should be combined in a compact area: living, working, leisure like shopping, travel, culture, sport. Apart from creating a working and leisure environment, the situation of Munich’s problematic housing market is also taken into account. There are plans for approximately 1.100 new homes with over 340 apartments dedicated to social housing. The center of the new district is going to be a park, from which a network of green and open spaces extends across the area (City of Munich 2; Werksviertel.de).

Considering the role for the Werksviertel Mitte which is located on the former Pfanni production sites, it is at the heart of the new quarter, working as a lighthouse project for the transformation plans of the whole Werksviertel district.
For Werner Eckart it is important that the former production buildings are not demolished, but are regenerated to preserve the character of Pfanni’s industrial heritage. He also manages to recall Pfanni’s role for the area by using the company’s color theme (orange, brown, masg potato yellow) for the buildings and logos, similar to that of the company, for facilities like “Die Kantine”.
Revitalized industrial facilities and numerous new buildings serve as architectural exclamation marks and create a metropolitan area which is unique in Munich. There is going to be a multi-use environment  in this new neighborhood with apartments, offices, art and concert venues, workshops, clubs, bars and restaurants, hotels, shops and leisure facilities. A highlight and attractor for the area will be the new Munich Concert Hall (City of Munich 2; Werksviertel; Bayerischer Rundfunk, 2016).

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7 Decision Process on Plans and Projects

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7 Decision Process on Plans and Projects

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The planning process started in 2001. In this year the city of Munich organized an urban - and landscape planning competition for the whole future Werksviertel area. One year later the Department of Urban Planning and Building Regulations developed a structural plan based on the winning design. In 2007 a positive decision was made on the further developed structural concept. This was followed by a development decision for the construction plan Nr. 2061 in 2011. 2012 was the year of birth for the brand Werksviertel. The concept plan was further developed in combination with citizen participation in 2013. In 2016 the decisions were approved and the land use plan was changed. One year later the decision was approved by the city’s design commission. Finally 2018 marked the start of the of the implementation of the development plan (City of Munich 2; Werksviertel.de).

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After the Pfanni production sites had been closed, the facilities continued to exist and the area became an abandoned and vacant space. But this situation didn’t last long. In the end of 1996 Kunstpark Ost (KPO) opened its gates to the public. The former production facilities were leased to Munich entrepreneur Wolfgang Nöth, who set up an event and entertainment area. There were many different discos, bars, restaurants, venues for concerts, halls for markets, as well as ateliers for artists and spaces for small businesses. In 2003 KPO closed and was followed by Kultfabrik. The successor of KPO offered the same opportunities for leisure activities, with the slight difference that activities with social or art related focus were given more importance. In 2016  Kultfabrik was closed to make room for the new urban development project (Wüst, 2016).

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5 Brief history of Pfanni and its Munich production sites

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5 Brief history of Pfanni and its Munich production sites

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In 1949 the entrepreneurial family Eckart founded the company Pfanni which was specialized in the production of ready made products made from potatoes (mainly potato powder for mashed potatoes and dumplings). Pfanni acquired an area east of Munich’s large east railway station. This was the location where the company built its industrial production facilities which consisted of several factories, warehouses, office buildings and a silo. The site was accessible to both trucks and also to trains, as there were rails throughout the area (Böck, 2019). At the peak of the company’s production, 1.000 people were working there. Due to increasing waste water charges in the city of Munich, rising energy and labor costs and because of the pressure of international competition, Pfanni had to relocate its production. In 1993 the Brand and the company were sold. As a consequence the factory in Munich was shut down in stages and production came to an end in 1996 (Knoll, 2015).

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4 Territory of the former industrial sites

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4 Territory of the former industrial sites

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A specific urban situation in Munich which is an example for the regeneration of a former industrial area, is Pfanni’s former production site which can be found in the eastern part of the city.
The territory which is currently developed into the so called “Werksviertel Mitte”, has an area of approximately 10 hectars. Its property rights still exclusively belong to the family Eckart, the founders of Pfanni (ready made potato products) (Bayerischer Rundfunk, 2016).
It is located in the centre of a bigger scale former industrial environment in Munich’s East which is going to be transformed into the “Werksviertel”. This area was used by different companies for their production for example Zündapp (motorcycles), Konen (textile) and Optimol (oil). Including the Eckart family’s sites the area 39,5 hectars. Today 35 hectars belong to eight private owner parties and 4,5 are property of the city of Munich (City of Munich 2).

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In the last decades there has been a fundamental shift of population living on the countryside towards life in cities. Experts predict that in 2050 around 70% of the world’s population will live in an urban environment (UN ORG, 2018).
One of the main reasons for this so called urbanization, is the industrialization. In the course of this transfer from the primary to the secondary sector, production facilities were constructed in urban settings which shaped the appearance of cities. Due to globalization and outsourcing, crisis and the process of tertiarization, the look of the urban environment changed once more. Starting around the 1980s a drastic decline in manufacturing took place and the result were industrial sites which became obsolete and turned into abandoned vacant spaces (Power et al., 2008).
These former production areas are a challenge and an opportunity. Various authors agree on the potential that the infrastructure and the space that used to host industrial sites in cities, has to offer for the improvement of liveability in cities. The regeneration and redevelopment of these sites and the industrial heritage is a big chance to create something that has a positive impact on its surrounding, in an area of a city where space usually is a scarce resource (Power et al., 2008; Boresema et al., 2014). Shannon and Smets (2010) state: “The abandonment of infrastructure, too, offers opportunities for reprogramming”, and: “planned infrastructure may indeed be one of the most effective means (...) realizing strategic urban improvements” (Shannon, Smets, 2010).
The initial concepts for the transformation of vacant spaces were developed in the USA, more precisely in Detroit. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that the most prominent examples for urban regeneration are coming from the USA and often new special ways of reuse were also implemented there first (Fernández Águeda, 2009). One example for an innovative redevelopment of vacant spaces was developed in New York City. In 1973 a group of people started “guerilla gardening” using vacant spaces and turning them into community gardens. This was one of the first steps towards urban gardening and - farming as a way to regenerate vacant spaces (Otto, 2012). A good example for how to transform former industrial infrastructure is “The High Line”, which provides a sustainable urban environment (thehighline.org, 2020).

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In the past few decades there has been a shift in the population living in rural areas towards people living in urban environments. This change in the proportion of people living on the countryside, compared to those living in cities, is known as urbanization.
Today already half of the world’s population lives in an urban setting. Forecasts predict that by 2050 this share will increase and almost 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas.
As a consequence of this development, most cities continue to grow (however, in some cities there has been a decline in population, so called shrinkage, a development which is one of the reasons for the existence of vacant spaces).
Another aspect of contemporary life in cities which is closely linked to (and even is one of the main reasons for) the growth of cities, was the industrialization and tertiarization of work.
In particular the change, from a producing industry to a service oriented working environment, had an enormous impact on the look of cities. Nowadays in cities there exist a lot of former industrial sites which are either underused or abandoned.
These vacant spaces represent a challenge as well as an opportunity for urban planning.
Successful examples of requalification and regeneration of former industrial sites and production buildings can be found in urban areas all around the globe.
What makes these sites especially interesting for urban planning is, that these often abandoned and underused areas offer a lot of potential, since space in cities is limited and urban sprawl and further sealing of the surface has to be avoided. Former industrial buildings usually also offer high volume facilities and therefore have the possibility to create density which is hard to find in any other existing urban fabric.
Furthermore these vacant spaces are a good opportunity for improvements in the urban environment. Especially, if in the context of this transformation, attention is paid to the creation of public green open spaces or urban gardening/farming and landscaping. But also with regard to the fact that they have the possibility to create places for social inclusion and the development of a strong urban community.
Lastly, abandoned facilities offer great potential for temporary uses that otherwise would not be possible elsewhere.
In a world that continuously urbanizes, smart and sustainable growth of cities is one of the main task of urban planners, and by a good use of former industrial areas and the opportunities these sites offer, this challenge can be mastered.
This essay presents and examines, as an example for an urban situation, the transformation and regeneration of the former production site of Pfanni in the city of Munich, Germany. The area is located in a larger scale former industrial district in the eastern part of the city. Pfanni’s part of the territory which is located in the centre, is developed into the “Werksviertel Mitte”. This neighbourhood is the forerunner for the future quarter “Werksviertel and is set to provide impulses for the new urban lifestyle in Munich’s East.