Urban Framework Meets Landscape Narrative

With the development of the LabCampus, an innovation hub is emerging directly adjacent to Munich Airport, spanning a total of 500,000 m². It is conceived as a site for cross-sector and interdisciplinary commercial uses, marked by both spatial ambition and design clarity. Set within a landscape dominated by airport infrastructure, highways, and railway lines, the site has a particular need to establish a strong and distinctive identity.

The landscape of the Munich gravel plain and the Isar River – one of the main Alpine rivers – forms the conceptual and spatial foundation of this new identity. In contrast to the often anonymous aesthetics of
infrastructural elements, a powerful, site-specific image is introduced – one that shapes user experience and anchors the LabCampus as a brand through the strength of its open space design.

At the heart of this narrative lies the Isar Boulevard, the new address and central axis of the LabCampus. Echoing the sinuous course of the Isar, it winds through four commercial clusters, tracing pedestrian flows and serving simultaneously as a district promenade, everyday path, and symbolic catwalk. Varying formats and shades of paving express this dynamic on the ground level and render it legible in daily use.

The boulevard is flanked by densely planted islands, whose vegetation recalls the riparian landscapes of the Isar. These planted volumes disrupt the scale of the urban space, transforming the functional corridor into a linear park strip with atmospheric spaces for pause and recreation. Small and large trees, in combination with custom-designed site furniture, create shaded, tranquil areas for rest and encounter.

By preserving certain identity-forming elements and introducing deliberate “foreign bodies” along the way, a series of spatial and thematic disruptions emerge throughout the boulevard. These moments articulate the distinct character of each commercial cluster and contribute to the experiential diversity of the Isar Boulevard – an open space that not only connects, but also narrates, contrasts, and defines.

6016 Airport Air Site Munich

Urban Framework Meets Landscape Narrative