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Situated between industrial area and motorway, the 'Pfaffenwiese' district today constitutes a green space in the outskirts of Frankfurt and is at the same time a 'controversial place'. How can the marginal waste become an urban district? Fragments of unfinished housing projects face commercial waste areas, the extensive 'Jahrhunderthalle' event centre meets with haphazard urban structure. Yet a marginal location also affords view, a free view of the Taunus mountain range which gives this location a specific character. In view of this background, the basic topic of the concept is to gain local identity from the position between outskirts and Taunus mountains. The new urban district derives its character from an intensive dialogue with the landscape which surrounds it. The basic space structure is simple: Between the 'Jahrhunderthalle' and the open-air baths, an urban promenade forms the backbone from which 'Bellevues', wedge-shaped spaces, open toward the Taunus range structuring the urban space in terms of eight clearly defined building areas. |
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Suburb Pfaffenwiese |
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Site Frankfurt/Main |
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The Building Area Structure
constitutes a robust basic framework which offers utmost flexibility in developing and implementing building typologies. The profile of different housing qualities offers diversified addresses within the urban space: living at the urban park and the 'Bellevue' is directly connected to the landscape at the edges of the building areas, whereas in the inner section small-sized neighbourhood units develop around pocket parks. The realisation of the entire area can be subdivided into clearly structured phases in which one complete quarter unit including its open space is built at a time.
The Bellevues
The Bellevues
direct the view to the north towards the Taunus range and visually link the residential quarter with its environment. As the six Bellevues are spread over the entire building area, they offer a large number of housing units direct access to the public open space. Small-size gardens with playgounds, water expanses, flowers and perennial plants rhythmically structure the Bellevues without obstructing the view of the Taunus range. Crossing paths link the residential quarters with each other across the Bellevues. Each Bellevue is associated with its own kind of tree. People live in Cherrytree Bellevue, in Chestnut Bellevue or in Birch Bellevue.
The Urban Park
The Urban Park
The urban park stretches through the new quarter from east to west like a wide landscape ribbon. A wide curved foot and cycle path connects the open fields and the Lachgrabenaue (Lachgraben Meadow) in the west via the 'Meadow Bridge' with the residential quarters in the east and the Unterliederbach Station. The path passes through a sequence of the different open spaces of the urban park. Tennis and game courts, playgrounds and bowls space, wooded groves, planted areas and water expanses, which also serve for rain retention, confront the quiet Bellevues next to the residential quarters with the lively character of the urban park.
To the west, the urban park ends in a long slope rising to 4.50 ms above the level of the cut-in west-ring-motorway. The wide 'Meadow Bridge' extends the lawn space across the road and links the the park with the open fields and the Lachgrabenaue by means of a flyway.
South of the 'Meadow Bridge', the elementary school and a kindergarten are inserted into the slope as autonomous forms. A self-contained landscape for learning and playing is created which is linked to the urban park. The topography of the slope is adapted to the location of the principal west trunk motorway which tolerates only minor covering up with soil. A transparent noise-protection wall, a window towards the open fields, replaces a bank at this location. Another noise-protection wall north of exit 3 borders the open space of the kindergarten towards the motorway. It offers space for design and forms the northern edge of the entrance space at the main access to the new Pfaffenwiese quarter. In front of it, a long water basin marks the entrance situation.
The Promenade
The Promenade
constitutes the link between the new residential quarters and the adjacent office and commercial structures towards the south and offers an urban quality address: 'Stadt-Rand-Boulevard'. The central public area of the urban quarter develops as a floating space between the hotel building next to the 'Jahrhunderthalle' event center and the open-air baths with a new forecourt. The paved section of the promenade takes up the central buildings of the quarter including a building for meetings and citizens' activities, shops and cafés, whereas the green section bordering the residential areas takes care of the rain retention.
Stadt_Ein_Fahrt (City Entrance)
Free shapes along the swift ride - the 'Jahrhunderthalle' is not integrated into a retrospective urban imagery but introduced by dynamic 'companions'. An ensemble of solitaires takes up the idea of volume in the landscape. Together, they define a new entrance for the towns of Höchst and Unterliederbach. Three-dimensional town emblems below the protected border of the quarter are placed along the motorway.
The Typologies –
Urban Structure Elements
The Typologies -
Urban Structure Elements
Within the range of possible sizes of building sites, various choreographies of different types of houses are imaginable. Simple basic elements such as terraced, angular, singular houses are completed by patio forms for individualized living as well as houses offering flexible partition alternatives between individual houses, terraced houses and flats. On the plot, extensible and studio houses for diverse forms of living and working including multigeneration accomodation are possible.
