ul class="overview_list " id="projectList">

  • Orange Headquarters Mali

    Bamako is in a phase of rapid urban development, with the population growing expansively; telecommunications are an integral part of this growth and are a marker for upward social mobility. The height, visibility, and clean volume of the new Orange Mali Headquarters express this situation, thus creating a landmark for the new, mobile urban class.

    At the same time, the building sets the bar for offices and urban planning in Bamako, by creating a zero-energy building that incorporates greenery and improves the working environment of the Orange employees. The new Orange HQ is surrounded by a public garden, a layout that makes the office building more accessible and simultaneously creates a social space for gatherings and events. The green spaces continue into the interior of the new office building as a sequence of open terraces. By using 'stacked' office floors, and by interspacing these with high-quality open spaces, employees feel more connected and floorplans can be optimized.

    The iconic, geometrical 'zig-zag' exterior is the result of a smart and site-specific design, avoiding direct sunlight on the facade.

    in progress
    2019
    Bamako
    Mali

  • Unveiling the Rivera

    Tourism, which is important for many countries and regions, harbours the great danger of destroying nature and culture that is worth protecting. At Unveiling The Riviera, we have therefore paid particular attention to using the great potential of the region to create a strong economic base for the population and, on the other hand, to respect, protect and preserve the rich heritage of the Riviera. Our proposal aims to unveil the hidden potentials with three different goals: Restoring, connecting and activating the area, starting from the existing.

    Restoring aims for a rehabilitated and revitalized landscape next to touristic and environmentally sensitive areas. Connecting beaches, hills and mountains with each other and the hinterland is achieved by connections on different scales. We increase the accessibility of the various landscapes of the southern Riviera through hiking trails, a cycle connection following the EuroVelo network as well as a network of new thematic trails along the coast. These connections will increase tourism, targeting different groups in extensive areas that activate the whole Riviera.

    Using the good local climate conditions and local attractions will help tourism extend all season. Our proposal uses the existing panoramic road as a backbone for a new system that can expand the recreation potential of the area. The strategy aims to reconnect the local population with their land, make it tangible in a sustainable way, and give the region the place in the international attention it deserves.

    under construction
    2017
    Sarandë, Albania
    Albania

  • Lively skyscraper ensemble

    The city of Berlin is characterized by solitary peaks that build up little connection to each other. The skyscraper confetti thus forms the opposite position to the clearly defined perimeter block development. The design area, as a gateway to the densely populated area of the City West, brings the great potential of four related properties and their simultaneous development.

    A cluster of 2-3 high points will be formed on each plot, inspired by the diverse buildings in the surrounding area. The distribution of the building mass on different high points makes the buildings resilient and efficient since they can be divided and used differently. The concept is based on the continuation of the diverse and sophisticated urban structure while at the same time ensuring high land utilization. By emphasizing the intersection as an urban, high-density hotspot, a new location with special centrality and distinct urban conciseness is created.

    Idea
    2018
    Berlin
    Deutschland

  • King-Bansah-School

    Cityförster designed a school for the charity project of the King Bansah Ghana development association. Below an approx. 75m long roof several volumes will be constructed in a simple way representing a unique identity. The roof itself is split in two vertical shifted parts to provide natural ventilation for the air and light-permeable volumes. The air cools down beneath the canopies and circulates through the pattern openings of the concrete building blocks into the workshops. Once heated up the hot air exhaust through the rooftop vents.

    The roof is also used to mount numerous photovoltaic modules that provide the necessary self-sufficient power supply. The construction process will be split into three stages. After each stage, the completed buildings can be used immediately. In the first stage, the artisan workshops will be built. As a second stage, the workshops for wood and metalworking and the staff room will be constructed. Finally, the car repair shop and the covered forecourt will be added to the entire construction. The illumination and air ventilation are provided through customized brickwork. The openings in the concrete moulded bricks refer to patterns of traditional fabrics in Ghana. The lower wall segments are closed for dirt protection and they offer the opportunity for the sign paint shop to use their skills and write all donators names on the facade of the building.

    Idea
    Tema - Jasikan Road
    12345 Hohoe
    Ghana

  • Holtenau-Ost

    New urban coastal landscapes

    With Holtenau-East, a new urban coastal landscape is being created on a former military site on the banks of the Kiel Fjord, which interweaves previously separate settlement structures and natural habitats. Holtenau East is defined by two impressive local scenes. On the one hand the Kiel Fjord with its maritime waterfront, on the other hand, the Endmoränen forest with its distinctive topography. They not only create the stage for the new development but are protagonists by representing the climatic, ecological and cultural context. The design further develops these two elements in terms of landscape and urban development and combines their spatial and atmospheric qualities to create a new urban coastal landscape. The result is three urban landscapes with a strong character.

    Together they form a closely networked and circular district landscape developed from the site. The three quarters provide strong, site-specific answers to future living, work and leisure needs. They differ in their use of water through adapted and integrated flood and sponge city concepts that strengthen the local ecosystems. Diverse structural and open space uses close to the water ensure a high quality of living. At the same time, they improve the range of jobs, supply, cultural and leisure offers for Holtenau and the surrounding communities.

    The rainwater is collected decentrally on green roofs and retention areas and feeds a central wetland, which reduces the rainwater load on the drainage system during peaks of precipitation. The wetland saves supply costs and complements the public space with atmospheric elements. It also offers a habitat for birds and butterflies, offers potential for nature-educational offers and protects the area from flooding.

    Idea
    2021
    Kiel-Holtenau
    Germany

  • Kurt-Schumacher-Quarter "Open Wild Tegel"

    The impressive wide heath landscape of Tegel forms the identity-creating heart of the new district. It is "wide, open, wild and free". This landscape is shaped by a vivid seam, that maximizes the contact surface to the landscape. Schools, kindergardens and public squares activate this space. Here one can play, learn, rest and socialize. A variety of building typologies characterizes the district and offers a great diversity of programs. Residential buildings increase towards the seam, while offices and retail are more likely to be found at the well accessible edges. In Tegel one can find bigger and smaller buildings with panoramic views or gardens, intimacy or openness.

    Idea
    2016
    Kurt-Schumacher-Damm 38
    13405 Berlin
    Deutschland

  • District Landscape Dietenbach

    How does a newly developed city district become a vibrant place to live?

    The characterful landscape of Freiburg with the surrounding Schwarzwald serves as the decisive basis for the newly designed district Dietenbach. The four emerging quarters will be connected by a ring boulevard. In contrast to the generous open spaces, which serve as decelerated exercise and relaxation areas and make a significant contribution to nature and species protection, pulsating life takes place here. The new city centre serves as a bracing supply center and community reference point with symbolic centrality. In addition to the 5,500 residential units, new jobs and schools will be created in the 108-hectare area, which will complete the new living environment.

    Integration into the urban, functional, and landscape context
    The new district Dietenbach is structured by the iconic landscape, especially the eponymous Dietenbach.

    The resulting open spaces ensure the supply of fresh air and a stable microclimate. The former course of the Käserbach river has been reactivated and serves as partially communal garden land. In the region of ​​the school and sports campus, this zone also includes play, sports, and recreation areas that can be used by the public.

    In contrast to this, the new centre of the district as a communal supply center offers space for weekly markets, city festivals, outdoor areas for restaurants, and water features. There are also retail stores, gastronomic offers, and services. The building plots of the compact quarters address different market segments. A large number of construction site sizes, building heights, building types, and locations provides a large typology mix and thus offers a lot for different target groups.

    Mobility concept
    The mobility concept pursues the goal of reducing motor vehicle traffic, car ownership, and the number of parking spaces. This makes an important contribution to an attractive living environment, affordable living space, and environmentally friendly transport. It is achieved by creating attractive offers for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, public transport with light rail, as well as offers for car sharing and e-mobility, and also by parking in district garages in less sensitive locations that are up to 200m away from the apartments.

     

    completed
    2018
    79114 Freiburg im Breisgau
    Germany

  • Bergviertel Krampnitz, green I enlived I in motion

    Based on a strong landscape and valuable historical structures, Bergviertel Krampnitz is a forward-looking quarter, creating its own identity as a place to live and work in harmony with the environment. Against the background of a climate crisis and scarcity of resources, it will be sustainably developed and will serve as a centre of life for a broad cross-section of the population. A small-scale and diverse density creates a lively place, is gentle on resources, uses infrastructures efficiently and relies entirely on the mobility of the future - the environmental network.

    Small and large apartments in the same building ensure social diversity, intergenerational living connects young and old and assemblies along with community-oriented housing projects enable self-determined living. The combination of living and working responds to the trend to more strongly combine leisure and work as well as career and family. Strong and diverse open spaces, differently addressing the building plots, bind everything together and enable uses from communal gardening to sports and leisure activities up to generous landscape experiences.

    completed
    2021
    14476 Potsdam
    Deutschland

  • Green Zipper Heidelberg

    The concept for the Patrick Henry Village in Heidelberg transforms the former mono-functional military barracks into a multifunctional and identity-creating living environment. The city is being created by the landscape and uses it as a „green zipper", creating a generous connecting space for the inhabitants.

    The design offers the potential to rearrange existing deficits in the monofunctional and structural building and open space structures of the current rows of existing houses from the 1950s, to differentiate them in their design and to program them in many ways. The result is a lively quarter for people and nature with open spaces and buildings made of wood that can be used in a variety of ways. Achieving these goals requires:

    • A differentiation of the open space framework into rooms with their own characters, functions and possible uses for different age and interest groups.

    • the creation of a diverse landscape to promote biodiversity, improve the microclimate and strengthen local material and water cycles. The two green fingers are designed extensively close to nature, have a large number of biodiversity areas, integrate the tree population and take up the existing topography. The areas are not only becoming creatively powerful elements but also serve to balance residents and residents and as a living space for animals.

    • A sensitive transformation of the building stock and urban development accentuation of the community fingers through a variety of structural additions in timber construction.

    • the establishment of open ground floors with a high degree of mixed-use along with the community fingers as well as the creation of a wide range of living space. From a daycare centre to a laundromat and neighbourhood shops for residents, there is also space for commercial use of the Fab-Lab and Maker Space, through to factories, exhibitions and events. The available living space is enriched by other, diverse forms of living (small apartments, cluster apartments, shared apartments, family apartments, old people's living, etc.). At the same time, the character of a quiet residential area at the transitions to the Green Fingers is retained.

    • the further development of the existing stock in favour of the grey energy that has already been used.

    • the focus on future-oriented mobility, ie "mobility as a service" and active locomotion. Well integrated into an environmental network of trams, shuttle buses and district garages along the parkway, low-car mobility is planned within the district, which is geared towards cyclists and those walking.

    in progress
    2021
    Heidelberg
    Germany

  • Grand Standing. Urban Centre Berlin

    The building's structure is based on the static elements pillar, plate and gate as well as the every few minutes incoming trains. A natural passage from Luckernwalder street to the signal box and the park connection south is build up by the viaduct facades of lines U2 and S21. They could easily be activated by contemporary commercial usage for the traffic centre "Heart of Stations".

    In sum, a unique specimen is generated, creating a special atmosphere and spatial quality between the tracks and towards the park. In the north-south direction, the slender, 17-storey superstructure is extended over the property. It is adapted as a rostrum and stage to the park and fits into the heterogeneous property structure between ICE lines and stations. In the base area, four gates allow the train transits and significant visual references in north-south as well as in east-west direction. On the various levels, " heavenly" spaces for non-commercial transit and temporary users are integrated into the structure of established users and anchor tenants.

    completed
    Berlin
    Deutschland

  • Klimaquartier Schweinfurt - sufficient, diverse, circular, climate-positive

    What is a Klimaquartier (Climate Quarter) and how do you meet its requirements? With the Klimaquartier in Schweinfurt, we have created a possible answer that is not only about the CO2-neutral operation of the buildings, but also about the energy that has to be used to construct them and the recyclability of the materials. In addition, the focus is on minimizing as well as shifting the mobility of residents away from the car and towards environmental networks. To achieve these goals, the design for the Klimaquartier Schweinfurt follows these development principles:

    - Compact urban planning protects the valuable resource soil and offers plenty of space for self-sufficiency, rainwater management and recreational uses.

    - The large unsealed areas enable lush vegetation, which promotes biodiversity, creates a balanced microclimate and creates atmospherically strong places. This guarantees a diverse, healthy and livable habitat for humans and animals.

    - To promote the local rainwater balance, all of the rainwater on site is seeped away, evaporated or stored in cisterns for watering plants.

    - A diverse mix of uses consisting of living, working, supply and leisure activities creates a lively, "complete" quarter and reduces the need for mobility.

    - The approach of a sufficiency quarter reduces individual possessions (living space, means of transport, consumer goods, etc.) in favour of communal prosperity, and thus conserves the resources of our planet.

    - Sustainable building materials such as wood, clay, straw etc. are used and are installed in a way that they can be broken down according to type.

    - Flexible wood system construction and compact building volumes enable cost-effective construction.

    - In addition to the existing district heating, only renewable energy sources (Photovoltaics on roofs and partially on facades) are used.

    - Made possible by a multimodal mobility offer consisting of cargo bikes, e-bikes, e-cars, bicycle trailers, etc. cars play the least possible importance in the climate quarter.

    Idea
    2021
    Schweinfurt
    Germany

  • WHO comes together

    How can you upgrade an existing district, create new living space and create a meeting place at the same time?

    The Tübingen district of Waldhäuser-Ost (WHO) emerged as a satellite town in the 1970s and never really became part of the city. Rather, references to urban development projects from the same period in other cities can be seen: a separation of functions or even a slight reference to the local context characterize urban planning at that time. Similar problems can still be seen today: Inadequate orientation options, unclear and poorly usable footpaths and cycle paths, few or no lively places, little usable open spaces, or even a general island character - isolated from the rest of the city. To counteract this, we have developed three key strategies that create a sustainable WHO.

    1. The barrier-free access belt
    A new hierarchical system of paths works as a connecting band with instead of against the topography. This creates a consistently barrier-free and programmatic network. Additional shortcuts ensure quick routes through the area. The band connects to central locations and stops of the local public transport and thus supports the car-free mobility offers.

    2. Three identity-forming landscapes
    Three landscapes surrounding the WHO hold special qualities. Until now, however, these have not been reflected in the structural and open space structure. Individual features from the landscapes are identified and strategically reflected in the WHO. In addition to vegetation structures and tree species, this also includes materiality and the use of open spaces that create unique places in the WHO and ensure orientation in the area. Enrich productive open spaces, offer room for communal gardening and meeting.

    3. Urban confetti creates density and liveliness
    New sources of inspiration are being strategically placed: a striking building for student accommodation defines the new entrance to the district and enlivens the new district square with a new supply center, school, swimming pool, and public transport stop. The Social-HUB in the geographical center of the district forms an anchor of the social community and spatial orientation. Like urban confetti, different open spaces and building uses are scattered over the area.

    Integrated planning
    The interaction of the three strategies creates a WHO worth living in - designed for people. The access belt leads through three landscapes, through places with different atmospheres and identities, and to different uses. No place in the WHO is like the other. A dense network of meeting places also promotes the community. The synthesis of the three strategies results in new centralities at key locations.

    completed
    Tübingen
    Germany

  • Pavillion Days Korça

    Upside Down, Downside Up!

    For the 8th sculpture Symposium (2017), Korça Municipality invited a selected group of architects, together with sculptors, to create temporary pavilions triggering the revitalisation of public spaces.

    By inverting an abstract tree, Shu-Wei Chang, the sculptor, worked with the concept of 'roots-seeking'. The branches now grow towards the underground, recollecting the past, possibly finding some sort of lost identity. The proposition of this pavilion plays with this concept. A mirror that "returns" the sculpture to the "natural position" resulting in the viewer being inverted in relation to the surroundings. The structure, a form of a house, is stripped to its fundamentals. The materials choice (lumber and scrap wood) was intended to create a sustainable low-cost proposition while withstanding the time and made use of the limited availability of materials locally. Exploring further the 'back to the roots' concept, a traditional hanged Albanian carpet became the "soil" in which the tree seeks aliment. The pans (used to cook Korça typical meatballs) were positioned like flowers on a prairie. In conclusion, we aim to provoke a reflection of traditions as our identity ground in contemporary life.

    completed
    2017
    Korça
    Albania

  • Mühlenleine

    A river in the middle of Hannover's city center holds the potential to be an inviting, green place where city dwellers enjoy spending time. Currently, valuable areas along the Leine's shores between the river and the Cityring are neglected and underused.

    In pre-industrial times, the Leine and its tributaries were among the river systems in northern Germany which had the highest quantity of salmon. During industrialization and the resulting pollution of the water bodies many fish species have disappeared. The reduction of the fish stock is linked for example due to the construction of hydroelectric power plants and dams, and the large-scale river development carried out in the 20th century.

    Numerous projects since the 1970s have restored and improved the water quality and the ecological connectivity. The renaturation of rivers is an important contribution to a resource-efficient and ecological city.

    In the confined spaces of a city, a particularly large number of different demands are placed on water bodies. However, numerous potentials along the Leine remain unused in the inner city. Further, the canalization and urbanization of the stream only allows to a limited extend the return of flora and fauna to the city. Renaturalised rivers in the city can help to cushion the effects of climatic changes. For example, riparian areas can be integrated into flood protection by retaining the water during periods of extreme rainfall. In addition, the design addresses urban planning goals, such as making the river shores more attractive and easily accessible for the citizens.

    Since the Leine is an urban river, it ought to be addressed both in ecological as well as in social terms. Various interventions along the riverbank serve to revitalize and enhance the quality of life. The key part of the project are the renaturation of shore opposite to the "Hohes Ufer", the reduction of the cityring and the fish ladder. In these areas, new habitats for flora and fauna are created along with new places and functions for recreation. The fish ladder close to the Friederiken Bridge, will enable the connectivity and improvement of existing habitats and it will increase the visibility of the Leine in the city as a unique selling point.

    The concept for the renaturation of the Leine was presented on the 29the of September 2022 with the Leinewelle e.V. and Angler Association and published in the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (HAZ), among others.

    Idea
    2022
    Hanover
    Germany

  • Facade renewal high-rise building of the Leibniz University Hanover

    The Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) is planning to renovate the facade of the high-rise building at Appelstraße 9A. With a height of almost 70m, the high-rise is a landmark in Hanover's urban space. Comparable to the main building Welfenschloss and the Conti high-rise, it is one of the main addresses of the LUH. Both buildings are characterised by a high degree of plasticity and a warm, sandy-golden colour. The facade design for the Appelstraße high-rise building takes up these characteristics and formulates an independent, future-oriented design on this basis. By layering the building components, the new façade of the high-rise building experiences a high degree of plasticity and depth. All components receive a warm, sandy-golden materiality - from the aluminium pilaster strips and cornices to the matt glass of the balustrades to the pixelated PV modules and the sun protection. A surrounding wooden bench in the interior and exterior space offers an area for informal learning, dialogue, waiting, resting and enlivens the entire ground floor zone. The "media storey", which extends beyond the attic, radiates messages such as the typical binary code of Leibniz, visible from afar as a light installation.

    Idea
    2019
    Appelstraße 9A
    30159 Hanover
    Germany