27.12.2024

December issue: City visions 2030

Building design

Cologne and New York City.

They are a trend in German planning offices: urban concepts. The magic number seems to be 2030. Whether it’s Munich or Cologne, many cities are currently grappling with the question of what challenges urban open spaces will face by 2030 and beyond and how to respond to them. In December, […]

They are a trend in German planning offices: urban concepts. The magic number seems to be 2030. Whether it’s Munich or Cologne, many cities are currently grappling with the question of what challenges urban open spaces will face by 2030 and beyond and how to respond to them. In December, we will be shedding light on urban visions, their cities and makers in the new Garten + Landschaft.

Liberation from the gray
Open space structures are booming. One large city after another is commissioning, creating and debating programs, mission statements and master plans for its green image. In his introductory text, Sören Schöbel discusses the tradition behind today’s urban concepts and how they are anchored in the current debate on cityscapes.

Why cities need green concepts
In his commentary, Reiner Nagel, architect, urban planner and, since May 2013, Chairman of the Board of the Federal Foundation of Baukultur, takes a stand and explains why the development of urban open spaces is also of indispensable value for the inner development and densification of our cities.

Letting the city breathe
Munich is making space: the city has commissioned a concept report to investigate how to meet people’s growing demand for open space. Gesa Loschwitz-Himmel on the “Freiraum München 2030” concept by bgmr in cooperation with Friedrich von Borries from Berlin and Freiraumstudio from Munich.

“You can’t get green for free”
They go together like shirts and collars: urban concepts and the landscape architecture firm bgmr. Our editor Sophie Charlotte Hoffmann spoke to Managing Director Carlo W. Becker about “urban mapping”, multi-coding and the importance of time horizons.

Development aid on the Rhine
Cologne has had a master plan for the city center for several years. The special thing about it: It was commissioned and financed by the “Companies for the Region” association. The business community has thus taken on one of the municipality’s very own tasks. It now needs a lot of patience to implement the ideas. Anette Kolkau reports.

Class instead of mass
Urban Catalyst studio doesn’t take itself too seriously. The Berliners see themselves as just one team of experts among many. Nevertheless, they clearly stand out from the mainstream. Susanne-Isabel Yacoub on the Berlin-based landscape architecture firm, which has long since ceased to operate in the traditional field.

Staying agile
Sustainable open space development is an integral part of New York’s urban planning. The extreme density of the city of 8.5 million people and the high price of land are the core challenges facing the metropolis now and in the future. Wolfram Höfer on flexibility, the quality that is now being particularly emphasized on the Hudson River.

Question: Do we need a mediator?

Practice: Playground for adults – on the growing importance of outdoor exercise parks

Solutions: Street furniture + Editor’s Pick

Reference: Cult hall with a new look, Koblenz

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22.10.2024

Project

Riding the Hills – “Into the Wild” design studio

Building design

Mountain bikers already ride through the hills of Berlin’s Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg. With her design, Sabine Seemann wants to further strengthen this use of the park. Not only the riders themselves, but also other park visitors should be able to immerse themselves in the sport. Sabine Seemann describes how these two groups come into contact with each other in her project presentation below. The work was created as part of the “Into the Wild” design studio at the TU Berlin.

It’s not just in our September 2023 issue that we make space for student projects. Students also present their own work on our website – for example in this article. You can find all the projects on our “Studies” topic page and the September issue is available in our store.

Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg is becoming the new mountain bike hotspot in Berlin. The Volkspark, which was filled with rubble from the Second World War, is characterized in particular by its topography. This special topography is already used and appreciated by mountain bikers.

The design aims to promote the existing use of mountain biking and bring it into harmony with park visitors. Elements will be developed to make mountain biking visible, tangible and safe for walkers. This will create interesting intersections where the different flows of mountain bikers and visitors can meet at different height levels.

In addition to the crossing points, so-called contact points are also created between the two user groups. At these contact points, there is always the opportunity to meet at eye level within the park. For example, the wall rides at different heights provide dynamic moments between the two user groups.

Individual mountain bike elements such as doubles, step ups and step downs are also designed to provide riders with a challenge and enjoy the sport on the trails. These are based on the usual elements found on established mountain bike trails. Individual mountain bike elements will also be implemented on the trails for park visitors.

Wallwalks, sticks and stones as well as ups and downs bring the most common challenges to visitors without a bike. For example, there are always individual stations on the walking paths that can be negotiated on foot without cutting through the barrier-free access. In the southern section of the park around the Hohe Plateau, mountain biking is set to become a highlight.

Riders can start their training with the so-called Towerride and the Northshore route (elevated mountain bike route) on the existing open land biotope. The tower ride on the high plateau is a circular tower that initially leads up a 20 percent incline to an intermediate level, the viewing platform. Here, mountain bikers can ride upwards on a one-meter-wide path.

In addition, a one-metre-wide asphalt path also leads up to the platform, which can be used by park visitors. Here, pedestrians can experience how challenging mountain biking can be on the steep ramp. From the viewing platform, visitors to the park get a great view of the continuing mountain bike route across the open land biotope.

The design was created as part of the “Into the Wild” design studio at the TU Berlin. You can read more about the background to the studio and Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg here, and discover more designs by students here.

01.01.2025

Rotterdam catches up

Building design

View of the Wilhelminapier (Render: MVRDV)

Europe’s culture vultures know Rotterdam as the architectural capital of the Netherlands. Among the Dutch themselves, however, the city tends to be frowned upon as an “ugly working-class city”. Amsterdam, on the other hand, is considered chic and its beautiful old town attracts masses of tourists from all over the world. Our Baumeister Academy winner tells us why Rotterdam is more charming than you might think. I have three […]

Europe’s culture vultures know Rotterdam as the architectural capital of the Netherlands. Among the Dutch themselves, however, the city tends to be frowned upon as an “ugly working-class city”. Amsterdam, on the other hand, is considered chic and its beautiful old town attracts masses of tourists from all over the world. Our Baumeister Academy winner tells us why Rotterdam is more charming than you might think.

I lived in Amsterdam myself for three months and really enjoyed the scenery and the “Dutch lifestyle”. However, tourists overcrowd the city center so much that even cycling becomes a pain in the neck. Rotterdam, whose old town was heavily bombed during the Second World War, is much more relaxed with its wide streets. Rotterdam is almost a relief after all the cute typical Dutch brick houses and canals. It is the only city in the Netherlands that is really different. The city is authentic, with all the nooks and crannies that make it special. There is constant change, with lots of potential for development, especially around the old port areas and in the city center. At least since the construction of the iconic Erasmus Bridge, which connects the southern part of the city with the city center proper. In the meantime, Rotterdam’s prestigious “mini-Manhattan” has emerged with the Wilhelminapier, where well-known architects such as Rem Koolhaas, Norman Foster, Alvaro Siza and Renzo Piano are represented. The last vacant building plot will soon be completed by MVRDV’s “The Sax”, a multifunctional residential building.

Amsterdam also has modern architecture to offer, albeit somewhat outside the old town. For example, the “Zuidas” office district in the south of the city or the areas around the central station north of the old town, on both sides of the large river “Ijs”. The demand for high-quality living space close to the city center is high, which is why it is currently expensive to build in Amsterdam. This can also be seen in MVRDV projects such as “The Valley”, a residential and office building planned in the Zuidas with elaborate glass and natural stone façades. The building stretches upwards like a mountain landscape.

Up-and-coming Rotterdam

In Rotterdam, on the other hand, things had to be cheap until a few years ago. Perhaps it is precisely this pressure that has led to ingenuity. MVRDV’s impressive market hall, for example, is only profitable thanks to the combination of two typologies, as they support each other. The residential complex forms the roof of the hall. But things are slowly getting more expensive in Rotterdam: since 2014 – partly due to the opening of the market hall, which has contributed to continuous visitor records – the housing market has been changing rapidly. A lot of new housing for middle and high income groups is being built around the Wilhelminapier, which is also having a positive impact on areas further south, such as the former red light district of Katendrecht. For example, the hip and expensive “Fenix Food Factory”, a local food market, was built in an old warehouse. Overall, the range of cultural and leisure activities on offer in Rotterdam has increased.
The port and working-class city is changing for the better, and at a rapid pace. Young architects, designers and artists have already conquered it.

Although I really enjoyed Amsterdam’s nightlife and the many museums, I now feel much more at home in Rotterdam – this is where I belong, among the international creatives, in a city where not everything has to be perfect.