In a city the street must be supreme. It is the first institution of the city.
The street is a room by agreement, a community room, the walls of which
belong to the donors […] Today, streets are disinterested movements not
at all belonging to the houses that front them.
So you have no streets.
You have roads, but you have no streets.
Louis I. Kahn (1901-1974), The Street
In a city the street must be supreme.
It is the first institution of the city.
The street is a room by agreement,
a community room, the walls of which
belong to the donors […] Today, streets
are disinterested movements not at all
belonging to the houses that front them.
So you have no streets.
You have roads, but you have no streets.
Louis I. Kahn (1901-1974), The Street
EINE MITTE FÜR ALLE
AFTER THE CITY PROJECT
PROF. TIM RIENIETS
M.SC. – LEIBNIZ UNIVERSITÄT HANNOVER
08.2021 – 4. SEMESTER
TEAMWORK WITH SARAH TISCHER
AFTER THE CITY PROJECT
PROF. TIM RIENIETS
M.SC. – LUH HANNOVER
08.2021 – 4. SEMESTER
TEAMWORK W/ SARAH TISCHER
- Parkhaus Mehlstraße, Hanover, Germany
- ~ 8 000 m2
- Housing, commercial, cultural, office, urban gardening, community spaces, mixed use
- ~ 8 000 m2
- Housing, commercial, cultural,office, urban gardening, community spaces, mixed use
- Reprogramming, renovation, participation, urban analysis, urban regeneration
The project Eine Mitte für Alle (“a centre for all”) consists of two main parts: an overall strategic plan for Hanover’s city centre in 2030 and a more in-depth, conceptually decisive urban design.
The strategy plan is based on an extensive urban analysis, which is primarily based on empirical observations — this enabled us to identify a wide range of spatial potentialities. We supplemented these observations by independent research, whereby the focus was not always on the future, but also on the past of the city.
The final strategy plan ought to be read as a plan of potentialities — of identified challenges and possible answers — and not as a concrete action proposal. We have structured our strategy into five focal points, which often overlap in content but manage to structure our ideas and communicate our vision in a comprehensible way for everyone. Our aim was to lay a general, yet strategically detailed — tangible, yet theoretically well-founded — multi-layered, almost intuitive foundation for a finely grained, inclusive and future-proof Hanover.
Finally, we propose the radical restructuring of the multi-storey car park in Mehlstraße. The dissolution of the massive typology enables a differentiated cubature that is able to accommodate all planned functions, while staying true to the original architecture. Of central importance here is the Zukunftslabor (“Future-lab”) and its implications for further urban development. Urban planning processes are to be supported and democratised, perhaps even formally reinvented, by the Zukunftslabor. The possibilities remain open. We point to them.
Historical development of Hanover around 1930 and 2018
Conceptual diagram & focus points
Urban observations
_creation of mobility-hubs on the edge of the city centre (City Ring 2.0)
_reprogramming of selected car parks
_centralised, comprehensive and barrier-free digital traffic information
_making alternatives to the car more attractive (price, experience, efficiency…)
_parked cars do not belong in public spaces
skylane
mobility hub
_confirm Hanover as a forward-thinking shopping location through open production sites and local networking
_Hanover European Capital of Culture 2025: strengthen and connect culture at institutional and community level
_more housing on the edge of the city centre for all social classes
_revitalise the city centre at all times of the day and shorten walking distances
_balanced mix of uses for a fine-grained, people-oriented urbanity
mix-it-up
more culture!
Retail 2.0
_promote horizontal meeting spaces in public and private areas to strengthen interaction and thus a community feeling
_ keep ground floors and, when reasonable, roof areas accessible to the public
_ avoid closed facades
_ reflect the city diversity in its public space
_ foster participation and make a straightforward, direct and personal exchange between citizens and the City possible
new places:
street
clouds
garden
_identify unused / underused spaces and activate them through contextual strategies
_strategic reprogamation: large conversion measures where necessary
_ possible redensification: gaps between buildings, conversion of roofs, extensions…
_ always design adaptable spaces, to ensure more future-proof public spaces + architecture
redensification
rooftop activation
car-free, green streets
tied-up courtyards
Das "Zukunftslabor"
(the Future-Lab)
Before (parking lot)
After (mixed use)
Design process and contextual urban moulding
Process plan
(in German)
Process plan (in German)
General section highlighting connection
between street and public courtyard
Fassade model