Works and Thoughts of Powell + Wilson - (Includes all image materials from the book in the attached CD-ROM)

Author: None
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: Münster Government Office Building
Do the political buildings in your mind—such as administrative buildings—always carry a touch of bureaucracy? If so, you should check out the Münster Government Office Building. Seeing it will definitely change your impression of such structures.
The architect's imaginative design has made the Münster Government Office Building a striking focal point of the city, full of creativity and variation, inspiring and uplifting.
This newly constructed government office building is the result of the architectural firm Poles + Wilson's participation in the project competition in 1991. Like the Münster Public Library, also designed by the same firm in the same city, this office building shows meticulous and well-executed consideration and treatment of its surroundings. It does not appear high and mighty due to its "headquarters" status, nor does it deliberately try to blend in—there's a boldness, but it's moderate. Comparing the external environments of the administrative building and the library, the former is relatively simpler and more rustic because it is not located in the city center, which determines the different ways they handle their surroundings.
The office building is located on the eastern main traffic artery outside the medieval old town, far from the city's coastal green pedestrian zone and railway line (which connects Southern and Northern Europe). To the east of it stands a row of interesting 19th-century buildings—most of the ground floors are used as shops, while the upper floors are mostly used for offices and apartments. On the other side of the traffic artery, there are also many modern-looking buildings similar to the government office building.