Cloud cuckoo land or necessary future option? This is what the renovated Gasteig is to look like according to plans by the architectural firm Henn. © Animation: Henn
At the moment, no one knows what will happen to the Gasteig, which is in need of renovation. Munich pumps millions a year into the (almost) disused construction. And with his eyes wide open, he slipped into a kind of second Elphi story. Everything is now looking ahead to a city council meeting in the fall.
They have a sense of humour in Haidhausen. The first theatre premiere in the old Gasteig will take place on 1 June in the Black Box "Mein Day your Tag". A doomsday comedy, multimedia, which aims to reflect on the "absurdities of different forms of society". The cultural center, condemned to a deep slumber for renovation since the summer of 2021, is opening its eyes for a moment. Something has been happening in the approximately 150 rooms for some time. The private collective "Fat Cat", with which, as is known, the city has concluded a contract, is responsible. For an interim use, as it is officially called. For a fig leaf solution, as others from city circles think. The dates for the "Long Night of Music" recently had to be cancelled – halls and areas were "not ready to start".
Only about a third of the contracts with intermediate users have been signed. Rents are between twelve and 30 euros per square metre, also staggered in a socially responsible manner. And yet: "The thing is not lived as one imagined," says someone from the front line, who does not want to be named. An average of 20 euros per square metre is "quite steep" for the independent cultural scene, six to seven euros are realistic. There is therefore apparently hardly any feedback from the independent scene. He considers the interim use, which has been agreed for the time being until the end of 2023, "dead".
More than five million per year for the old Gasteig
Since the renovation was stopped last January, the city has been affording itself an expensive shutdown. Although there will be no renovation, 5.7 million euros will have to be pumped into the Gasteig this year. For heating, electrics and all the little things that add up a lot. A similar amount is being discussed for 2024.
It is a self-inflicted standstill. With a financial cap of 450 million euros, they relied on the investor model, i.e. on the commissioning of a private entrepreneur. But there was only one unacceptable applicant. While some disgruntled or even shocked Gasteig tenants could just be saved from jumping off the windowsill and while there was a huge shake of the head in the national to international cultural scene, the city is looking forward to autumn with astonishing calmness.
Everything is to be clarified in a city council meeting. It is clear to everyone that the renovation can no longer be carried out for the planned 450 million. From the increase in the amount to a mini-solution in which virtually only the cables are replaced, everything is currently being discussed again. Even the most brutal solution: You could say goodbye to the clinker bunker altogether. After decades of debate, the city is back on track. Munich is threatened with a never-ending story on a par with the Elbphilharmonie.
More than just a central library: In the future, as in many other cities, the rooms will be designed as a "third place". © Animation: Henn
The debate is often too narrow. It's not just about the users of the concert hall – it's about the tens of thousands who made their way to Haidhausen during the day, the library users. "My message to politicians is: The Central Library is missing, but we urgently need it," says Arne Ackermann, Director of the City Library. The former Gasteig headquarters was divided between the locations in Motorama on Rosenheimer Straße and in Sendlinger HP 8. The problem is that "normal" users are not necessarily specifically looking for a medium. Rather, it is "a clientele socialized at the department store," says Ackermann. So if you're looking for a current novel, you like to take other media with you "on the side" – a clientele that is just breaking away.
"We are currently lacking around 200,000 media outlets in direct public traffic," complains Ackermann. "We cannot meet certain needs that affect our basic mission without the Central Library." And he looks enviously at other cities: the new library in smaller Helsinki attracts with 14,000 square meters of public space, the new one in Berlin is to get 25,000. By way of comparison, there were 8000,10 square metres in the old Gasteig, while the renovated one, with its completely new library structure including open rooms inviting visitors to linger, is said to have only a good 000,<> square metres.
This means that even if the city council decides to carry out a general renovation in autumn, it is far from being up to date by international standards. Against the background of the international standard, this means that the so-called "big solution" is not a wish-you-you-dream, but rather brings Munich up to a general standard – this applies to the Central Library, but also to the acoustic, digital, structural design of the concert hall.
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Something similar is happening right now at the concert hall of the Free State of Bavaria
With the self-imposed standstill, the city is in prominent company. Something similar is happening with the planned concert hall of the Free State of Bavaria in the Werksviertel. Here, too, planning and land money flows into a project that is (unsalvageable?) on hold – and which is becoming more expensive every month due to rising construction costs. Here, too, decisions are obviously to be made until autumn, until after the state elections.
When the city council discusses the Gasteig at this time, according to the assessments of many participants, all options are actually open again. The general refurbishment, which is nothing more than making people fit for the 21st century, is now expected to amount to 800 million. The minimal solution, which is only a makeshift repair, would be cheaper. And even if the city once opted for the investor model, the entire project planning could go back into the hands of Gasteig boss Max Wagner. He has long had ready-made plans. Insiders believe this is possible, although this approach would be more than embarrassing for the city – it would have lost over two years. And there is another variant: the upgrading of the Sendlinger alternative venue for a long-term solution, while only necessary repairs are carried out at the old Gasteig.
"I still hold on to the dream that there will be a completely renovated Gasteig," says library director Ackermann. It will bring so many new qualities to the audience that it will be worthwhile to continue fighting for this solution. In order for the site to be fully used again in the early thirties, it must immediately run "well and quickly", he hopes. He doesn't like to imagine the alternatives. "I also believe that Munich does not want to afford this defeat."
