Author: Heinrich Lessing Architekt BDA
| Project title |
Mauritiusplatz (square) |
| Place, country |
Wiesbaden, Germany |
| Project type |
Urban Square design |
| Client |
City of Wiesbaden |
| Planners |
Heinrich Lessing Architekt BDA, Mainz/ Germany |
| Construction period or completion |
2005 |
| Area |
not specified |
| Costs (million Euros) |
not specified |
Mauritiusplatz is situated in Wiesbaden’s historic centre. It marks an interruption of the pedestrian
zone and links the town centre to the Westend district. It is a place to take a rest and also hosts fairs
and markets.
The polygonal square was shaped over hundreds of years. Its paving is composed of ochre coloured
strips of granite. Their directions adapt the shift in alignment of the northern and southern edges
of the square. The square is framed by „Das Gewand“ („the robe“), as is titled the design concept of
the pedestrian zone. The old plane trees on the square are surrounded by large platforms inviting to
sit and relax. A flight of stairs negotiates the difference in level between the square and Schulgasse
(school lane). Three steel plates embedded into the ground mark the position of the altar of former
Mauritius Church, which burnt down in 1857.
The illumination concept supports the basic idea of the „frame“. The square’s edges are brightly
illuminated, while in the centre illumination is limited to the tree canopies, the platforms and the water
feature. The illumination concept adapts the idea of the sunlight’s change through the seasons by
varying colours.
For the foundation and growth of the city of Wiesbaden, the existence of hot mineral spas was as
important as the strategical location. The water surfaces from 2000 metres depth in several spots, seven
of which are located in the city centre. The spas are virtually connected by a straight line, running
very close to Mauritiusplatz. A water feature on the square adapts the spa line in a 1:100 scale. A granite
block symbolises the line, glass cleavages stand for the spots where the spas emerge. Fountains
and spray symbolise the hot water.
Author: faktorgruen
| Project title |
Maria-von-Rudolff-Platz |
| Place, country |
Freiburg i.Br., Germany |
| Project type |
Urban Square design |
| Client |
Municipality of Freiburg, Oecumenical church parish Maria-
Magdalena |
| Planners |
faktorgrün, Denzlingen/ Germany |
| Construction period or completion |
2004 |
| Area (square feet) |
8,900 |
| Costs (million Euros) |
not specified |
Maria von Rudloff Platz (square) will compose the centre of the new, 80 hectare residential development
of Rieselfeld, with housing for 10 to 12,000 inhabitants. Both the municipality of Freiburg, running
the neighbourhood club on the square, and the local parish, which erected a parish centre, act
as clients. They make the main claims on the square, but many other functions will be integrated in
the design. A uniform appearance is therefore the basis of the design concept. The square will eventually
define itself and become an attractive centre for the district.
The square is outlined by a robust frame accomodating functional appliances such as parking lots,
bicycle stands, shelters for maintenance equipment et cetera. The square itself is divided into three
different units, by two buildings and a cluster of trees. The units are also recognisable by different
paving. The space around the trees offers shaded spots to dwell and also accommodates the weekly
market. Art tableaus are embedded in the paving. The precinct of the neighbourhood club is paved in
natural stone with an integrated water feature. The space for festivities is carried out in waterbound
surface and can be used for larger events. All pavings harmonise in colour, which strengthens the
uniformity of the square.
Author: Klaus Stattmann
| Project title |
Fluc_2 Praterstern |
| Place, country |
Vienna, Austria |
| Project type |
Transforamtion of a pedestrian underpass |
| Client |
Bock & Wagner OEG & fluc_community |
| Planners |
Klaus Stattmann, Büro für Architektur und Forschung,
Vienna/ Austria |
| Construction period or completion |
2003-2006 |
| Area |
not specified |
| Costs (million Euros) |
not specified |
Fluc_1, a legendary, autonomous arts and music venue in Vienna, had to abandon its original location
when a new station was built in Wien Nord (North district). Supported by the city council, the
project moved to a pedestrian underpass due to be dismantled.
An L-shaped set of freight containers was installed above ground, connected by the underpass,
which also served as a temporary workshop and became a source of building materials for the overground
structure. Eventually, the underpass was converted into a concert venue with special acoustics,
known as Flucwanne.
The container structure will never reach a final state, but is explicitly intended to change according to
its users needs and desires. Its aesthetic appearance is itself an expression of this intention: „Its disorderly
quality gives the arrangement of the pieces a temporary feeling and is conveyed as a momentary
record of a storage process, as a loose coupling that permanently points out the fact that it could
also be different.“
The Fluc community stands out in its aspiration of comprehensive recycling. Everyday objects get
employed for the alteration of the Fluc., commonly fixed with large amounts of fabric tape. Supplies
are kept coming thanks to the project’s wide network of supporters. Thirty percent of construction
works were effected by internal labour of the community, whose ongoing attractiveness is secured by
the permanent potential of conversion. The structure thus mirrors each individual’s ideas and desires.
Author: Gustafson Porter Ltd
| Project title |
Swiss Cottage Park |
| Place, country |
London, Great Britain |
| Project type |
Park design |
| Client |
London Borough of Camden |
| Planners |
Gustafson Porter Ltd., London/ Great Britain |
| Construction period |
2006 |
| Area (square feet) |
107,640 |
| Costs (million Euros) |
not specified |
Swiss Cottage Park in the London Borough of Camden links the surrounding key buildings: a public
library, Hampstead Theatre, a leisure centre, offices, a home for the elderly and luxury housing. The
park weaves together the needs of these various users. The design aspires to create an open space
that is functional, progressive and poetic. Two cross-axial paths link the main features. In the centre of
the park is a large water basin, embedded into softly stepped grass banks to relax on.
The shallow water basin is made from granite, its floor covered with a thin sheet of water. On the
south end a number of jets emit 15 metre long arcs of water and invite to play. The water feature is
fed by groundwater collected in a subterranean holding tank. The water can also be used for irrigation.
The water basin can be cleared by activating drainage valves and then be used for theatre
events. Moulded grass banks make a natural amphitheatre.
A sunken sports pitch and a playground are located at the southern edge of the park. The sports pitch
is clad in reclaimed Portland Stone salvaged from the old sports centre façade.
The shade garden along 100 Avenue Road is planted with many evergreen species with highlights in
colour and frangrance from ornamental cherry trees and roses.
Author: Gustafson Porter Ltd
| Project title |
Culturpark Westergasfabriek |
| Place, country |
Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
| Project type |
Conversion of an industrial site |
| Client |
Westerpark District Council |
| Planners |
Gustafson Porter Ltd, London/ Great Britain |
| Construction period or completion |
2005 |
| Area (square feet) |
1,237,860 |
| Costs (million Euros) |
not specified |
Westergasfabriek Park is a dismantled industrial site west of existing Westerpark, which links to
Amsterdam’s city centre. A main axis links both parks. Westergasfabriek Park is also accessible in
the south via a bridge across the canal.
Many extant buildings have been salvaged as monuments to the origin of the site and were integrated
in the morphology of the new park.
The park is intended for 24-hour use and offers restaurants, clubs, theatre and cinema in the old buildings.
A large site for open-air events is located in the northeast of the park, mainly used for concerts.
An earth wall forms a noise protection barrier shielding off the park from the railway tracks on the
north edge. It doubles as a promenade, and was built from contaminated on-site soil. This recycling
made unnecessary costly disposal. The wall’s construction is safe for humans, fauna and flora.
The earth wall slopes into a long-stretched swimming lake which is purified by reed beds.
Other relics from the past are the extant gas tanks: dismantled to ground level, they were flooded and
will turn into unique biotopes that can be experienced from wooden boardwalks.
Author: OMA
| Project title |
Chassé Campus Breda |
| Place, country |
Breda, The Netherlands |
| Project type |
Masterplan |
| Client |
Municipality of Almere |
| Planners |
OMA-Office for Metropolitan Architecture |
| Construction period or completion |
2000 |
| Area |
not specified |
| Costs (million Euros) |
not specified |
In 1996, a competition was held to develop a masterplan for a former army barracks vacant since the
1990’s. Instead of conventional perimeter block development and rows of housing, it proposes high,
solitaire buildings in a park-like landscape. Playing on heights and densities, an interesting arrangement
of residential blocks is created. Some extant buildings were incorporated in the design and
dedicated to new uses.
OMA realised the “Het Carre” building, three residential blocks linked by a courtyard, with commercial
uses on the ground floor.
The buildings on the campus show variety of housing types, from standard flats to a villa or gallery
houses.
Chassé Campus provides good infrastructure facilities for pedestrians and cyclists, while car traffic
has been reduced to the minimum. From Claudius Prinsenlaan, the main underground car park is
reached. Its roof emerges as a multiple folded surface, an abstract walk-in landscape. Main qaccess
for pedestrians is via Akkerstraat, setting up a visual connection to the city centre, shops and service
facilities.
Author: Albert van Eer
| Project title |
Rietveldpark |
| Place, country |
Rotterdam, The Netherlands |
| Project type |
Residential development |
| Client |
dS+V / Municipality of Rotterdam |
| Planners |
Albert van Eer, landscape-architect (head project, Team
Nesselande) |
| Construction period or completion |
75 % completed |
| Area (square feet) |
3.200.000 |
| Costs (million Euros) |
not specified |
The park acts as the vertebra of the new residential development of Nesselande, situated in
Rotterdam’s east on marshland territory. „A new residential area and a new waterpark for Rotterdam“:
Water forms the park’s main constituent. It plays an important role both for the ecological function and
the ambience of the park.
All rainwater runoff from the site gets collected at Rietveldpark via holding tanks and pipes. The slop
water first gets cleaned in extensive constructed wetlands. Recreation facilities are located on a
number of islands, which form a contrast to the urban backdrop and are arranged in the water like
steppingstones. The islands are accessed by bridges. These are also part of links between the surrounding
residential areas.
The park makes distances short between many public facilities such as schools and day-care centres
located on the edges of the park. On the western edge, the park is characterised by long and narrow
banks lined with trees. On the eastern edge, the landform is more open, with terraced slopes incorporating
play and sports areas.
There were constrictions in the park design due to urban utilities, a gas pipe running in the subsoil
and a power line overground. The park also had to include a metro route that had been built in 2005.
One of the islands in the middle of the park houses the metro station, which connects Nesselande to
central Rotterdam and the adjacent districts. This island has a more urban character, comprising an
important public space and nodal point for metro, bus, car, cyclists, and pedestrians.
Author: Arriola Fiol arquitectes
| Project title |
Gran Via de Llevant |
| Place, country |
Barcelona, Spain |
| Project type |
Road design |
| Client |
Generalitat de Catalunya (Public Authority) Direcció General de
Transports, Institut Municipal d’Urbanisme and BIMSA |
| Planners |
Arriola & Fiol Architects, Barcelona/ Spain |
| Construction period or completion |
2004-2006 |
| Area (sqm) |
250,000 |
| Costs (million Euros) |
16,500,000 |
Gran Via runs from East to West and is one of Barcelona’s main traffic arteries. It was planned at the
end of the 1960’s as a multi-lane expressway with adjacent strips of greenery and crossings at regular
intervals. In the 1990’s, plans were discussed to overbuild the expressway because of intolerable
traffic noise and exhaust fumes. But in acknowledgement of its function as an entrance gate to the
city, it was decided to keep the visual connection between the road and the city. At the beginning of
the decade, it underwent comprehensive redesign.
The design aimed at transforming the expressway into an urban system, which would make an
amendment to public space and adapt as a design theme its function as a gateway into the city. This
was achieved by separating through traffic from local traffic. The road level for the through connection
was lowered and noise barriers were installed. Access roads connect the main road to „service roads“
on a higher level. The „service roads“ in turn connect to the streets of the adjacent urban districts.
New pedestrian bridges connect the two sides of the road.
The green strip along the road was transformed into a linear park that negotiates the difference in
level between the urban fabric and the „service roads“. The park is structured by sequences of tilted
beds and level squares. Clusters of trees establish visual connections between the two sides of the
road. Two water tables were integrated in the park, connected by an aqueduct including waterfall
features. Public furniture was custom-made.
Author: Lohrer Hochrein
| Project title |
Stadtgarten |
| Place, country |
Weingarten, Germany |
| Project type |
urban park design |
| Client |
City of Weingarten |
| Planners |
Lohrer.Hochrein Landschaftsarchitekten, Munich/
Magdeburg/ Germany with R. Bürhaus Architekt |
| Construction period or completion |
2002-2004 |
| Area |
not specified |
| Costs (million Euros) |
not specified |
The site was partly used as a parking lot before redesign and therefore was little attractive for the
inhabitants. To recover a space of quality, an underground parking lot and a noise protection shielding
off the main road to the west were installed.
The civic garden belongs to a network of green spaces reaching from the basilica via the town centre
to the Cultural Centre. The site extends between East and West from the city centre and pedestrian
zone to the main road, while North and South it borders on residential areas. It offers space for recreation,
play, and cultural events.
The central lawn stretches across the roof of the underground parking lot. The roof rises up towards
the main road, forming the noise protection for the park. At the same time, the underground car park
is thus naturally lit and vented.
A built structure with café, „meeting room“ and a bus stop arranged on a large patio functions as a
joint between the park and the town centre. To the North, the lawn is lined by a boulevard with old
trees and play areas for kids from nearby schools. In the South, a promenade frames the park and
connects the underground parking lot with the town centre.
Large old trees and large-scale sculptures mix on the central lawn.