We are very happy that we are again involved in the conversion of the Patrick-Henry-Village in Heidelberg after the planning areas B3+B4 and the Parkway! Following an on-site workshop last year, we were commissioned to work with Agence Ter to drive forward and concretise the urban development planning for lot A5. The site is part of utilisation band A: "Living and Learning" on the west side of the PHV. Innovative forms of housing, educational programmes and social and commercial uses are to be accommodated in these building plots, mainly in new buildings. The planning of construction site A5 is intended to develop principles that can also be applied to the other residential neighbourhoods. We are excited to see how this truly innovative and pioneering project develops and look forward to working with the city of Heidelberg and GGH!
More information will follow here soon! Stay tuned
If you want to know more about our other PHV projects, click here for the Parkway and for the lots B3-B4
What potential does Frankfurt's city centre hold for conversion and sustainable inner-city development? The Gutleut district in the heart of Frankfurt was previously characterised as a transit area, largely isolated from the nearby banks of the Main.
Our Hannover office was invited to work alongside two other studios in a multi-phase and cooperative workshop developing a vision for the area. Our team focused on the accommodation of living space and the resulting open space and infrastructure requirements. The resulting concept pursues a vision of transformation, making the area productive again while combining urgently-needed affordable housing with urban fabric and new neighbourhood infrastructure.
Together with the City of Frankfurt, Yalla Yalla will now develop a vision for the future based on the three design concepts. Taking part in this innovative and collaborative process was a really positive experience for our urban planning specialists, and we are very excited to see the final result.
Further information on the project can be found here
Investment activities for New Istropolis have gotten the green light from the Magistrate of Bratislava. This binding approval is an important milestone in the process of receiving all the necessary permits. The technical infrastructure and transport solutions, as well as the actual buildings for housing, work and a cultural and social hall of the project's first phase are approved.
Together with KCAP, we transform the Trnavské mýto area of Bratislava by combining culture, sustainability, and technology to create a vibrant and inspiring urban space. NewIstropolis is conceived as a seamless extension, a showcase for a future-oriented city. The plan fosters the concept of a mixed-use, car-free, green creative quarter with particular attention to pedestrians and cyclists. Zooming in on the buildings of the New Istropolis, we focus on delivering energy-efficient solutions and high-quality, generous space for work and living.
We appreciate the official support in preserving the area's cultural and social function which is an integral part of the project. Developer Immocap plans to start construction in the second half of 2024.Investment activities for New Istropolis have gotten the green light from the Magistrate of Bratislava. This binding approval is an important milestone in the process of receiving all the necessary permits. The technical infrastructure and transport solutions, as well as the actual buildings for housing, work and a cultural and social hall of the project's first phase are approved.
This week, we have received a recognition for our construction design for the „Klimaquartier Schweinfurt – Einfach Bauen".
The building project was planned in consideration of climate change adaption and resilience. We have created a building which is not only sustainable in its phase of development but also when in use. Always in consideration of the construction, technology, fire protection, floor plan and open space. Therefore „einfach bauen - building simple" meant to focus on the needs of the people by creating a sustainable and social community for everyone. The measures for climate adaptation take place at the level of building construction, building technology and landscaping and are an integral part of the overarching concept "building simple".
Together with "Studiomauer" and "Planergruppe Oberhausen" we have entered the competition and got honoured for our progressive idea.
Further support we received from "Transsolar KlimaEngineering", "Drewes+Speth" and "3b Bauconsult".
The procedure for the urban planning competition for the former Max Becker site in Cologne-Ehrenfeld, which is divided into two planning phases, started at the end of March 2022.This week we completed the second phase of the competition and, together with urbanegestalt, we were presenting our design to the public!
The 13.6-hectare site is currently isolated from the urban space and polluted with emissions. The environment is characterized by deficits in the open space and local supply with green spaces and represents a structural and programmatic caesura in the otherwise small-scale district structure of Ehrenfeld.
With the "Best-Of Ehrenfeld" an open quarter with a strong character is created, which combines a high urban density with open, diversely networked and richly programmed open spaces. It is a Co-logne Veedel (Kölsch for "quarter") in the best sense of the word: living, working, culture and education are fused in small spaces and linked with each other over short distances. The mix of uses is derived from the urban planning concept at the construction site level. The new district is green, culturally anchored and creatively attractive. Building and open space typologies that characterize the location fit into a colorful mosaic and create offers for a wide variety of lifestyles and age groups. The urban development forms a structural and programmatic bridge between the districts of Ehrenfeld, Müngersdorf and Braunsfeld. Urban density and diversity meet a green network with a wide range of offers and possible uses.
How can the open-cast mining landscape be transformed for the future?
Getting rid of fossil fuels is more urgent than ever. With the end of lignite-based power generation in the "Rheinischen Revier", the large opencast mines in the "Rheinischen Revier" are gradually being flooded or filled with soil. Every square meter of this land is valuable because it contains a lot of grey energy. The local soils are considered to be the most yielding in the world, and many livelihoods in this area depend on the agriculture.
The energy landscape "Jüchen Süd" provides an impetus for the optimal use of the scarce, precious resource soil and outlines an approach for a landscape that not only serves agriculture and energy production, but also focuses on local recreation and networking of the surrounding places.
Together with the „Zweckverband Landfolge e.V.", we develop future scenarios to inspire local actors from politics and agriculture.
How will we work and produce in an urban context? How can we deal with ecological challenges, space- and location requirements in connection with the fundamental, limited resource of land in the inner-city context? Together with nsp landscape architects and planners, we developed concrete solutions to the discourse as part of the competition "Quartier am Humboldthain" in berlin.
The design brings together existing and new buildings to form a lively, productive district with a strong "Berlin character", connects with the surrounding area in a variety of ways and reacts flexibly to future requirements. Specific focus is set on natural ventilation and local rainwater management shows itself in the form of sponge city principles.
One step in the right direction to raise awareness of local production methods, circular processes and material life cycles, as well as value chains in major cities.
We look forward to pass on the generated project know-how in the field of work that will become increasingly important in the future and congratulate Cobe Copenhagen on first place and their innovative design.
Design of New Istropolis in Bratislava is progressing
Together with KCAP, we enter a new phase of designing the new cultural district for Bratislava, Slovakia with particular attention to a new creative identity. The quarter will be transformed into a contemporary, car-free neighbourhood featuring a state-of-the-art concert and congress venue, a series of green and public spaces alongside places for living and working. It becomes a new centrality in Bratislava's urban system.
Envisioned is a district where art, culture, and creativity will define a unique identity and form an integral part of everyday life. We conceived the 97.000 m² development as a seamless extension of the city, an open 'living room' for all citizens of Bratislava, well connected to the neighbourhood.
CITYFÖRSTER and KCAP design new cultural building and district for Bratislava, Slovakia
CITYFÖRSTER and KCAP design a new cultural district for Bratislava, Slovakia. Trnavské mýto will house a state-of-the-art concert and congress venue and the area will be transformed into a modern open neighbourhood including a series of green and public areas.
Immocap, the owner of Istropolis and the adjacent land, has today presented its vision of New Istropolis, developed in cooperation with KCAP and CITYFÖRSTER. The project aims to bring Bratislava a world-class multifunctional cultural and social centre with top-level architecture, creating a long deserved cultural landmark for the Slovakian capital.
Inspired by a momentum for timber construction, and by an announcement from the German government to set a price for CO2 emissions, we started to think and calculate what effect this could have on the construction sector. Question arose: how much CO2 does a square meter of concrete produce? How much CO2 does a square meter of timber capture? Does this mean that we'll have to pay to build in concrete, and that we could receive money for building in timber? Questions that made our clients listen attentively; however, also questions without easy answers, that needed further research – research which we're happy to pursue, with thanks to the above-mentioned Funds, but also with help from third parties from relevant fields.
Can you help us with this research? Can you help us sharpen our hypothesis, do you want share your knowledge or know where we can find additional funding? Then please reach out to us through carbonbaseddesign#AT#cityfoerster#PUNKT#net, we're happy to hear from you!
Our proposal for the Buchholzer Green was awarded first prize in 2018. The multi-storey residential building marks the start of the new quarter and offers an exciting mix of apartments. The shell and facades have already been completed.
We are happy to have been awarded the commission for the master plan after our success in the competition Bergviertel-Krampnitz, Potsdam in summer 2019, and are currently getting down to work. The kick-off event for the project took place on 16.03.2020.
Work in progress: Chalimbana Local Government Training Institute
Our masterplan for the Chalimbana Local Government Training Institute, Zambia is making good progress, with the students' and lecturers' houses almost finished and the education buildings going the same way. More recent site pictures can be found on the project page.
Lune Delta° - sustainable industrial park for the city of Bremerhaven.
The city of Bremerhaven has selected our concept "Lune Delta° - designed as closed-loop cycles" as the winner from a cooperative workshop process!
The Lune Delta° is a sustainable industrial park developed by taking into account the Cradle to Cradle philosophy. Thus, the project is pointing the way into a future for sustainable and interconnected economic structures. Our concept is strongly influenced by the landscape and emphasizes a divers and cycle-oriented industrial park, that operates communicatively and cooperatively. Together with urbanegestalt and Transsolar we are very pleased about the great cooperation with the city of Bremerhaven and the growing interest in such novel concepts and planning approaches.
We look forward to the successful building application and the start of construction of the "Open Space" with Tim Mohr
The multifunctional event location allows a variety of different uses. It is the new center of the PlatzProjekt at Lindener Hafen, an experimental startup container village. The construction process takes place according to the DIY principle, mostly in own contribution. For the construction mainly reycled materials are used.
Together with KuiperCompagnons, KLA kipar Landschaftsarchitekten and the University of Hamburg, CITYFÖRSTER has designed a future image for the brown coal mining area of Garzweiler. "New energy" is landscape in motion and deliberately focuses on a development process that begins in the here and now. The open-cast mine is no longer intended to occupy the space monofunctionally, but rather to develop the landscape in every phase through spatial and temporal projects: Europe's largest park surrounds the Tagebaurand as a framework for a new settlements, landscapes and commercial developments in the post-mining-phase. The results will be published in February 2017. More information here.
Yueyang, China: The better the water the better the city!
As part of the interdisciplinary team "Water Hannover" Cityförster designs an integrated plan to improve water quality and, consequently, the quality of life in the city of Yueyang. The measures range from the new conception of the sewer network, multi-coded wetlands to a climate-friendly restructuring of the existing city. The plan follows the guiding principle to improve the water quality and at the same time to increase the quality of life in the city. The aim is to restrain or to store water where it is produced, to dispense water gradually to the environment through seepage and evaporation and to clarify water ecologically. Thus open spaces within the city are revalued, biodiversity is increased and the microclimate is improved. As part of this adaptation the potential of Nanhu, a freshwater lake, is being expanded and the lake becomes the center of the city.
The Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama visited the construction site of Cape Square in Durrës today. The Design Concept for the square and artificial pier are the result of a collaboration with BOOM landscape in Amsterdam.
Feasibility study "Cradle-to-Cradle Industrial Parks"
The city of Bielefeld is a partner of the INTERREG IVB project "Cradle to Cradle Business Innovation & Improvement Zones. C2C-BIZZ". The aim of the project is to promote the development of industrial parks according to the Cradle to Cradle philosophy in Europe. The concept Cradle to Cradle is based upon Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart's idea of a circular economy in which resources are not consumed but are continually used. The city of Bielefeld explores together with ten European project partners how this concept can be transferred to the development of industrial parks. In this context CITYFÖRSTER and landscape architects Urbane Gestalt are commissioned with a feasibility study, which focuses on the development of C2C principles in the areas of buildings, open space and infrastructure. Consultants are Transsolar KlimaEngineering and the material experts of imagine envelope.
