Paths to the outdoors – The STEIN in May 2023

Building design
Cover photo: © Jochen Braband Photography

Cover photo: © Jochen Braband Photography

In our garden issue, we show unusual terraces, paths and fountains. For example, the Garden of the Year 2023, in which lots of graywacke was used on paths and for walls. The Petersberghang panoramic path has also won an award and impresses with its skillful use of the historical building fabric, combined with granodiorite from Portugal.

In our garden issue, we showcase unusual terraces, paths and fountains. For example, the Garden of the Year 2023, in which lots of graywacke was used on paths and for walls. The Petersberghang panoramic path has also won an award and impresses with its skillful use of the historical building fabric, combined with granodiorite from Portugal.

“Our aim is to create new living spaces that blend into the existing environment in terms of form and expression, create spaces for the senses and combine functionality and aesthetics in a natural way,” explains master landscape architect Christoph Feldmann on his homepage. With this in mind, he and his team set about converting a hillside plot in Bensheim an der Bergstrasse two years ago. The finished garden impressed the jury of the “Gardens of the Year” competition so much that they awarded it first prize. From page 6 onwards, read how Feldmann approached the task, what role graywacke plays in the design and why the garden designer almost exclusively uses natural stone in his open space designs.

The following theme also made it into the impressions: The “Panoramaweg Petersberghang Erfurt” was nominated for the “German Landscape Architecture Award 2023” together with 33 other projects. A total of 126 entries were admitted to the competition. The Berlin landscape architecture firm Franz Reschke is not only known for winning the odd award – such as the current Höxter State Garden Show. Natural stone also appears in the designs time and again. As far as the panoramic path is concerned, the planners opted for granodiorite from Portugal. This blends in very well with the historic buildings on the Petersberg. Read more about the new panoramic path in Erfurt from page 12.

Our author Inge Bett focuses on urban living spaces in terms of water management and climate resilience. The Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin is a good example of the climate-adapted redevelopment of a square. From page 18 onwards, you can read about how urban spaces need to be planned in the future so that people can still find an environment worth living in for years to come. Because one thing is clear: heatwaves, periods of drought and heavy rainfall are on the increase.

From page 46 onwards, Annette Mühlberger gives tips on how stonemasons can win orders even in a downturn.

The new issue is available in the store.

In the last issue, STEIN focused on the cover topic of “Facades”: We presented the Bernhard-Lichtenberghaus in Berlin with its imposing natural stone façade and a villa by Augsburg architect Titus Bernhard with Dietfurt limestone and Wachenzell dolomite. Click here for the magazine preview.

You can also find out more about the Garden of the Year from our colleagues at G+L: Gardens of the Year 2023.

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Bethlehem, Walled Off Hotel

Building design

The artist's famous works are immortalized in the rooms (photo via dezeen)

How do you make a political statement about the Middle East conflict in Palestine? Street icon Banksy has opened a hotel in the West Bank that can do more than just accommodate its guests.

In Bethlehem, right on the border with Israel, street artist Banksy opens the “Walled Off” hotel with the “ugliest view in the world”. This is the result of the rooms facing the border wall between the Palestinian territory and Israel, which is only five meters away. Beautiful landscapes or even sunlight are in short supply in the immediate vicinity of the building. With his hotel, art icon Banksy wants to make a statement against isolationism and fanaticism.

Banksy, who prefers to immortalize his works on bleak walls, has worked in Bethlehem before. The town is characterized by its border location and is criss-crossed by some not exactly attractive border walls. The graffiti, like the hotel that has now opened, is a political statement and is directed against the borders and the general situation between Palestinians and Israelis. At the opening, the artist ironically pointed out that he liked walls even before Donald Trump. The “Walled Off” opens its doors exactly 100 years after the Balfour Declaration, in which the British declared their support for the establishment of a state of Israel. In addition to the political exclamation mark, the hotel is also intended to revive tourism in the city and create jobs.

Detailed furnishings

In contrast to the surroundings and the exterior of the building, the interior was furnished with great care. In addition to Banksy’s world-famous paintings, the hotel also houses a gallery with largely unknown works by Palestinian artists. There is also a museum in the “Walled Off”, which provides information about the history of the region. The ten rooms are furnished differently, with categories ranging from multi-bed rooms to presidential suites.

New web platform of the Swiss Heritage Society on building culture 1975-2000

Building design
Aurelio Galfetti, Restoration of the Castelgrande, Bellinzona 1981-2000 Photo: Janin Scheidgegger / Swiss Heritage Society

Aurelio Galfetti, Restoration of the Castelgrande, Bellinzona 1981-2000 Photo: Janin Scheidgegger / Swiss Heritage Society

A new web platform from the Swiss Heritage Society brings together around 100 buildings from Switzerland. Discover the building culture of the last quarter of the last century!

A new web platform from the Swiss Heritage Society brings together around 100 buildings from Switzerland. Discover the building culture of the last quarter of the last century!

The Swiss building culture that emerged between the end of the boom years and the turn of the millennium has hardly been scientifically recorded. As these buildings are currently at risk of disappearing due to demolition, the Swiss Heritage Society wants to draw attention to the qualities of this period with the “Baukultur 1975-2000” initiative.

Following the Instagram channel @archimillennials last fall, the web platform www.heimatschutz.ch/1975-2000 has now been launched. It brings together around 100 buildings from Switzerland. The selection is representative of the architectural diversity of this period. The objects from the fields of architecture, landscape architecture and engineering are accompanied by up-to-date photographs and short texts. The platform will also be expanded in future to include a number of digital tours in various Swiss cities and a publication.

Find out more here: www.heimatschutz.ch/1975-2000

Contact: Regula Steinmann, Project Manager Building Culture, Email: regula.steinmann@heimatschutz.ch