
Designed by Austrian architect Karl Schwanzer, the BMW headquarters building in Munich, Germany, suggests the shape of four vertical cylinders in a car engine, while the neighboring museum structure represents a cylinder head. For almost 50 years this skeuomorphic high-rise has stood as an architectural landmark in the Bavarian capital, paying homage to the petrol-fueled engineering that drove the company’s success and made it one of the premier luxury and high-performance automakers in the world. At this legendary location, new BMW buyers receive the royal treatment, complete with airport pickup, a four-course meal prepared by celebrated chef Bobby Brauer, a tour of the BMW museum and assembly line, an interactive experience of the futuristic technology in the pipeline, and a full tank of gas when they drive away in their freshly minted BMW.