Described as "one of the most spectacular projects in the history of the company", the museum's design was put out to tender some time ago. 170 European architecture firms made a bid, from which Porsche chose ten. The winner was Delugan Meissl of Vienna.
"This design is innovative, modern and challenging," says Porsche's President and CEO Dr Wendelin Wiedeking. "It is sure to be provocative too, but that was also one of the aims. With this new development we will create an architectural highlight at our parent plant in Zuffenhausen, which will shine out well beyond the borders of Stuttgart."
The existing Porsche museum attracts around 80,000 visitors each year, but Wiedeking estimates that the number will rise to over 200,000 once the new building opens. The simple reason for this is that there will be more space for exhibits; for example, Porsche can currently display 20 historic vehicles from its collection, but from 2007 it will be able to display four times as many.
Other features of the new museum, which will cost around
