We met Gero Heck from Relais Landschaftsarchitekten at one of his projects: Berta Kröger Platz in Hamburg. There we talked about the project and what a city square has to achieve today.
With their concept for Berta-Kröger-Platz, Relais Landschaftsarchitekten have helped Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg to create a new center. We spoke to square designer Gero Heck about his idea and the question: What should a good square actually say?
Garten + Landschaft: We are standing here on Berta Kröger Platz. How do you feel when you see a project again?
Gero Heck: When I return to the site after several years, I feel a sense of respect and responsibility. I am often amazed at how much influence planning interventions have on urban life. At the same time, I always feel the central necessity that public spaces need to be well looked after and maintained due to their heavy use. My team and I have been in the business for over 15 years and now have built projects that are already ten years old. The ravages of time leave their mark and you have to learn to deal with that.
How do you rate the new center of Wilhelmsburg? Are you satisfied with
the result?
GH: I am pleased that Berta-Kröger-Platz obviously works. Residents are naturally adopting it and using the facilities we have created. The pathways, the seating elements and the lawn ideas are being used and the market is the focal point of the whole thing. That makes me very happy.
What feeling do you want the square to convey?
GH : It’s nice when people associate something with this place. It was a declared goal to create an identity-forming district center with a quality of stay, because the existing edges of the space leave a lot to be desired. The architecture lacks character and the urban fabric of Wilhelmsburg is fragmented. We wanted to create a space that has recognition value and holds everything together. However, identity is a big word and very individual. Every viewer has a different background and associates something different with the respective location. I would like our design to evoke strong images, emotions and atmospheres.
What story does the urban space we are in tell?
GH : We are here in Wilhelmsburg, a southern district of Hamburg that has an exciting history. 400 years ago, this was all an archipelago of sandbanks and it was only through land reclamation, the filling in of the port facilities and the dykes that Wilhelmsburg could be settled. This is how it got its present form. The S-Bahn station forecourt, the arcade and the market square form the center, but there is actually no trace of the fascinating past. We wanted to change that. This gave rise to the idea of bringing history back to life. The original design for the square envisaged a tidal play, a shallow water feature that would change according to the tides. The tide rises twice a day in Hamburg, so the surface of the square would have had a constantly changing appearance.
And why was the original idea not realized?
GH : The design was very well received, but it was rejected for reasons of maintenance and common sense. What remained were our elements such as the seating tide, the lawn tide and the overall flowing design, which was derived from the original idea. We wanted to reflect the tense interaction of the people who settled here with the landscape and interweave it with the urban fabric.
You can read about the role the square plays in the city today in Garten + Landschaft 05/2016 – The square, the feeling and us.
