Coop Himmelb(l)au's new BMW building in Munich

BMW's new
cathedral-like building in Munich evokes perfect German families with
toothpaste smiles singing company songs, says Jonathan Glancey.

"This unique building", says BMW, "is one of the first examples of a
new generation of communications buildings for the 21st century." And,
I suppose it is. A great metal cloud of a building, BMW Welt rises
alongside the 3-series car factory, together with the Bavarian
car-maker's distinctive 1970s headquarters, its company museum - and,
across the road, the wave-like roof of the 1972 Olympic Stadium.

Today,
the first of what are expected to be 45,000 new BMW buyers a year will
venture into this epic building to collect their gleaming new cars and
to while away their special day in the steely arms of the mighty
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG. Here, the faithful will be immersed in a
baptism of corporate beneficence and culture. Blessed by Munich's Roman
Catholic clergy last week, BMW Welt is a cathedral to public relations,
a shrine blazing with the company's slogan: Freude am Fahren (joy in
driving).