Francis Kéré Opens Colorful Daycare Center at TU Munich

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Francis Kéré has completed his first permanent building in Europe: a five-story daycare center for the Technical University of Munich (TUM). The 'Kinderoase' (Children's Oasis) offers 700 square meters of space, featuring a folded Corten steel lamella facade and a rooftop 'Himmelswiese' (sky meadow) play area. Designed from a child's perspective, the building includes vertical play zones where kids can climb, slide, and explore across floors. Constructed primarily from spruce and ash wood, with over 2,000 Corten steel slats and 100 tons of steel, the daycare accommodates up to 60 children of TUM staff. Funded and donated by entrepreneur and TUM honorary senator Ingeborg Pohl, who commissioned Kéré, the structure fills a gap left since WWII. TUM President Thomas F. Hofmann called it 'a building of architectural uniqueness in the middle of Munich's museum district.' Kéré, a TUM professor since 2017, noted his early projects were for schoolchildren and this continues that focus on the very young.