The Technical University of Munich’s upgrade of a weather tower has became an iconic symbol for the campus. Deubzer Konig + Rimmel Architekten’s sixty-two meter translucent tower supports a series of weather sensors at five heights collecting data for the collage’s research programs. The stepped concrete core of the facility is wrapped in a rounded Plexiglas shell which provides a semi translucent skin. The skin is attached to a series of metal rings which float off the concrete walls by horizontal rods and vertical guy wires. Piontwise bearings allow for a smooth transition for each level of the skin without supporting channels.
LEDs at the top of the tower spell the Universities acronym TUM. A lower level has 3570 embedded LEDs behind the Plexiglas skin which announces current weather conditions as well as campus news or images. The skin is 88% translucent which during daytime allows the towers concrete core to be revealed. At night the tower is internally illuminated to project the entire mass of the structure through the shell. A series of accessible internal platforms provides a protected gathering space.
The tower is named after Oskar Von Miller, a well respected German Electrical Engineer.