Because Leipzig has such a wealth of history, there are very high expectations about the way the its fine architectural traditions should be upheld, both now and in the future. The responsibility for this lies with contractors and architects, with the building trade, and with the City in its role as a representative of the public interest.
Together, all four entities define the process that shapes Leipzig's architecture, not just where the details of individual buildings are concerned, but for the building culture of the city as a whole.
Alongside urban planning and the careful regard that must be given to the existing historical architecture, it is especially important to ensure that high standards of quality are expected and promoted in the design of new buildings and in building within a programme of sustainable urban redevelopment.
The Leipzig Architecture Award is establishing itself as a very positive tradition and helping to generate discussion about the city's architecture.
Since the foundations were first laid in February 2000, Porsche has invested a total of around €277m in its Leipzig plant, of which €150m alone has been for new buildings and extensions for the Panamera.
The architecture of the Customer Centre resembles a diamond, its basic structure consisting of a concrete pedestal and a 32-metre tower shaped like a spinning top and covered with metal panelling.
The 3-year building phase of the BMW plant, with a total investment of €1.2bn, began in August 2001. The central building is the plant's communications centre, and is where the most important communication links are managed. The car bodies are transported over the workplaces in the offices between the production areas so that employees get a constant view of their product passing by. The central building was designed by the London architect, Zaha Hadid.
This square is full of tradition and its history is respected in its architecture, which successfully links the traditional and the modern. The façade of the old department store building, Leipzig's iconic "Tin Can", is preserved at the top end of the courtyards, as is as 15-metre section of the old sandstone façade, which dates back to the late-19th century Gründerzeit period. It is a unique experience to be able to see façades from three different trading eras all at the same time included in the final creation. The contractor is mfi management für immobilien AG from Essen.
In February 1993, the MDR took over the site of the old Leipzig slaughterhouse. The television and administrative centre incorporates the renovated former slaughterhouse buildings and a new building complex, with its distinctive multi-storey tower. The result was one of Europe's most modern television centres of the time: transmission from the new MDR centre began on 14 May 2000.
The Paulinum building, which is to form part of the new university campus, will provide 550 seats with room for another150 in the gallery. There is also going to be a 120-seat oratory which will be partitioned off by a glass wall. The epitaphs and the altar rescued from the old St. Paul's church before it was demolished are to be installed here in the oratory. The official opening of the Paulinum is set for 2014.
On 9 May 2011 the fourth phase of the expansion of the German National Library buildings in Leipzig was officially opened. The building was based on a design by the Stuttgart architect, Gabriele Glöckler. The historic old building is now connected to a modern extension in the shape of book lying flat, which cost in the region of €59m. The building houses magazines, a reading room and exhibition spaces for the German Books and Manuscripts Museum.
The very distinctive office building designed for KPMG by the Frankfurt architects Schneider + Schumacher is one of Leipzig's most significant new buildings. The architects placed a glass building into an acute-angled corner plot, where it stands in stark contrast to its late19th-century Gründerzeit neighbours. The office block is one the outstanding contributions to architecture of the 1990s, and its influence has extended well beyond the boundaries of Leipzig.
Nothing symbolises Leipzig's evolution into a leading centre for trade fairs more than the decision made in the early 90s to build a new exhibition centre in the city. Architects von Gerkan Marg + Partner were behind the design of the big glass hall. With a floorspace of 20,000 m², the scale of this building is unique in Europe for a glass and steel structure. To gain access to the present total of over 100,000 m² exhibition space in five exhibition halls, visitors make their way through glass tubes. The New Leipzig Exhibition Centre's trade mark feature is its distinctive tower.
Leipzig Halle Airport was one of Germany's biggest airports when it was opened in 1927. The master plan and architecture were the responsibility of AP Brunnert und Partner. The central terminal, which was completed in only four years, incorporates an Inter-City railway station, local public transport networks, the check-in area, a multi-storey car park and a shopping mall all under one roof, and with its intermodal transport concept it is easily accessible as well as having great potential for expansion.
The Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts was founded around 1858. The 36-metre-high cube designed by Berlin architects Hufnagel/Pütz/Rafaelian towers above the surrounding buildings and is extensively covered with 4.5-metre-tall narrow vertical cast glass panels. The principle of the interior is based on alternating open and enclosed cubes of space in various layers. The courtyards and terraces which open the museum to the city can be seen from the outside, and reflect the idea of Leipzig's passageways.
Development of this site left vacant by the Second World War took place from 1999 to 2001. The new passageway crosses the big block of buildings from Petersstraße towards Schloßgasse and through to the Burgplatz. The façade is clad in copper-green panels. The design was by Gerd Heise from the Leipzig office of HPP Hentrich, Petschnigg & Partner. Today we have a shopping passage with a total sales area of 12,000 square metres on three levels, a 2,400-seat multiplex cinema and the University Law Faculty with a library containing 150,000 volumes.
In 1994 the BAUWENS Building was the first commercial and office building to be built in the city centre after German reunification. The building recalls the architecture of the Leipzig passageways, incorporating important design features and elements of their structure and façades, such as the awnings over the ground floor and the traditional Leipzig windows. The hall picks up on the style of Leipzig's traditional interconnecting courtyards and is part passageway, part courtyard. The way the courtyard opens up on the Schulstraße side is very interesting; the glass wall extends the full height of the building, making a striking highlight.
In 1995-96 the new House of Books was built on the site of the old German Booksellers and Publishers Association building which had been destroyed during the Second World War. The building was commissioned by the Association and designed by Angela Wandelt and HPP Leipzig. The building is home to the city's Culture Department and book industry offices. The complex of red brick buildings is one of the notable new developments of recent years.
In 1893, the eminent geologist Hermann Creder, a professor at Leipzig University, commissioned the architect Bruno Eelbo to build a handsome Italian Renaissance-style villa in the Johannapark.
After his death it was taken over in 1914 by Edgar Herfurth, publisher of the newspaper Leipziger Neuester Nachrichten,and the building is still known as Herfurthsche Villa.
This is the most recent of Leipzig's passageways, built from 2002 to 2005, although its roots go back to the beginning of the 18th century. In the 1990s, the Frankfurt architect Christoph Mäckler was commissioned to design the exterior of today's Market Gallery. The inside of the passageway was designed by Norbert Hippler of RKW in Leipzig. Today, this shopping arcade has a reputation for high-quality products and services.