TUM gets building by star architect Prof. Francis Kéré in tandem with Prof. Hermann Kaufmann

4/18/2024
Reading time 3 min.

Munich is getting a new architectural jewel. The architect Francis Kéré, who has been awarded the Pritzker Prize, the "Nobel Prize for Architecture", in 2022, will realize his first project in the Bavarian capital. According to the plans of the TUM professor, a new children's daycare center is being built on Gabelsbergerstraße as a structural timber construction with an iconic folded slatted façade made of Corten steel, which unfolds a characteristic patina in earthy tones. For the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the new daycare center marks another milestone on its path to optimally combining studying and working at a top university with family and children.

Groundbreaking ceremony for an architectural jewel, the "Ingeborg Pohl Children's Oasis at TUM", from left: architect and TUM Professor Hermann Kaufmann, Pritzker Prize winner and TUM Professor Francis Kéré, TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann, donor Ingeborg Pohl, TUM Chancellor Albert Berger

The daycare center will be called "Ingeborg Pohl Kinderoase an der TUM", named after the generous building owner. From the end of 2025, up to 60 children will be looked after there. They will then have around 700 square meters at their disposal. On the roof of the five-story building, there will be an outdoor play area called "Himmelswiese". The ground-breaking ceremony took place on Thursday on a vacant site at Gabelsbergerstr. 41, directly between the TUM main campus and the canteen.

Patron Ingeborg Pohl said: "This building will serve several great purposes: First and foremost, it will help the mothers working at TUM by ensuring that the children are well looked after there during the day. In the company of their peers, they will be encouraged in their development, play, romping, and discovery. The unique building by Prof. Francis Kéré with its extraordinary façade will also complement the museum quarter as a new architectural highlight."

Architect Francis Kéré emphasized: "I work as an architect all over the world, but I feel a special connection to my university, TUM. I am, therefore, delighted to be able to realize this project here, on the main campus in Munich. This house will, of course, be a house for children, but it is also a gift to the entire urban society, a signal for sustainability and the belief in a good future."

TUM President Prof. Thomas F. Hofmann said: "Something really great is being built here. And three extraordinary people are primarily responsible for it. I want to thank the Honorary Senator of TUM, Ingeborg Pohl, for her generosity, financial drive, and her open ear for the concerns of our university, its employees, and students. And I am proud that Prof. Francis Kéré, one of the world's best architects of our time, and Prof. Herrmann Kaufmann have agreed to realize this incomparable building."

The architect and TUM professor Herrmann Kaufmann, former holder of the Chair of Design and Timber Construction and winner of the 2017 German Architecture Prize, is significantly involved in the project. He is responsible for the implementation planning of the children's oasis, a purely timber construction. The Munich Student Union will take over the operation of the daycare center after completion.

Further information and links

Francis Kéré has been Professor of Architectural Design and Participation at TUM since 2017. The master builder from Burkina Faso in West Africa is considered one of the most important representatives of contemporary socially engaged architecture. He considers Germany his intellectual home and has repeatedly testified to his deep attachment to TUM.

In 2022, he was the first architect from an African country to receive the most important architectural award: the Pritzker Prize, endowed with 100,000 US dollars.
In 2021, he was honored with the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture.
In 2023, he received the Praemium Imperiale art prize for his life's work.

Ingeborg Pohl has been an Honorary Senator of TUM since 2016. The entrepreneur and benefactor loves designing, building, initiating, and implementing projects. She has been committed to TUM for many years; some examples:

She is the founding benefactor of the TUM University Foundation.
She is the benefactor of the Raitenhaslach Study Fund, supporting seminars and symposia with students and researchers.
In 2015, it provided a considerable sum for the TUM's emergency program for the admission of refugees who are willing and able to study.
She is also supporting the expansion of a daycare center at the TUM Klinikum rechts der Isar.

Project participants:

Design: Kéré Architecture, Berlin, in cooperation with Hermann Kaufmann + Partner ZT GmbH, Schwarzach
Structural engineering, fire protection, and building physics: TUM Prof. Stefan Winter bauart Konstruktions GmbH & Co. KG, Munich
Energy efficiency: TUM Prof. Thomas Auer, Munich
Technical building services: ITG-Ingenieurgesellschaft für TGA mbH, Munich
Landscape planning: JÜHLING & KÖPPEL Landschaftsarchitekten GmbH, Munich
Project control and construction management: GAPP GmbH, Munich

Technical University of Munich

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