Europan 12 Wittenberge
Europan 12, 1 st prize | Wittenberge, 2013
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RE-HUB Health-wellness and food
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The city‘s development is oriented toward the needs of all ages, with particular enphasis on familys , young people and people living in the city. Variety of cultural and educational activities, lively retail, catering and service sectors, and well –manteined public spaces will make the city more actractive to both residents and visitors.
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Private investments has resulted in numerous other facilities in the buildings, including a riverside cafè, a restaurant . A hotel with 58 beds, conference rooms and a climbing and diving tower. Starting from the functions in the area and thinking about the vocation of tourism and culture, it was thought that this would become an area dedicated to health, wellness and food, sports, housing forn new way of living in the park.
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Starting from the functions in the area and thinking about the vocation of tourism and culture, it was thought that this would become an area dedicated to health, wellness and food, sports, residence and also inserting new ways of living in the park.
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Outdoors to and contact with nature, experiencing different landscapes and practicing wellness activities, in the renovating and new buildings is a way to live well and in relation to the city where you live.
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THE RIVEPROMENADE AND THE PARK
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The open space, the protagonist of the project, is constructed through the combination of three different landscapes that offer different ways to live in contact with nature and at the same time be in direct relationship with the city: an alternation between built-up areas, green glades and a part like an urban forest. This suggestion comes from the character of the surrounding landscape that alternates between patches of dense vegetation to extensive lawns.
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1 • The first "metaphorical" level consists of the landscape that can be seen from the river: it is attended by adding a few new buildings that are going to strengthen the system of cross-river views and attracting the type of existing ones.
2 • The second level is the riverside promenade which becomes a pedestrian and bicycle path that runs along the entire riverfront site, alternating enlargements setbacks or relaxing areas that are home to small docks and relaxation. The riverside promenade is related in a direct manner to the existing store house buildings to be restored and the designed new ones.
3 • The third level is made up of a broad green glade, which because of its nature offers the ability to host different temporary activities or remain free. This is crossed by paths that connect the urban forest to the entrances of the storehouses and the riverside. At the east end of the Park towards the city center there is a pavilion bar that marks an entrance to the Park. 3 other little buildings used for storage, mark the longitudinal path that runs through the area.
4 • The fourth level is characterized by the features of a dense forest of trees on a plot of clay, which acts as a filter and permeable boundary between Bad-Wilsnacker-Strasse, the city and the park. Within the forest there are small pavilions that can accommodate different functions (bar, newsagent, bike storage), playground for children, chairs, bowls, wifi. The forest is interrupted by the square of access to the park, at the intersection of Bad-Wilsnacker Strabe and Packhofstrabe. Here is also a small info- point to inform people about the activities taking place in the buildings of the park.
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By making the riverbank more accessible and increasing its function as a gateway to the transnational Biosphere Reserve, by the project of the different open spaces and the buildings inside the area, the project helps the city to further develop its identity on the continuum between cityscape and rural nature.
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THE STOREHOUSES COMPLEX AND NEW BUILDING
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The derelict grain silos are standing directly on the river banks.
These are Landmarks characterizing the long river, together with other buildings and infrastructure along the Elba. The project was inspired by the theme of the existing landmarks, recovering the storehouses and adding 4 new buildings along the river which are used to define the masterplan, together with the adjacent historic buildings.
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The storehouses’ reutilization project fits in with the planned development context of culture, leisure time, tourism, residential units and appropriate commercial undertakings. This is processed in compliance with the architectural language of the existing buildings and only adding the volumes that serve as vertical distribution.
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The aspects that characterize the three buildings of the warehouses are concrete silos within them and form a pitched typical types of industrial estates along the river Elba. Once they have been structurally secured, inside the buildings some volumetric subtraction will operated on the silos to create suggestive space in each floor. The idea is to intervene on buildings in order to make possible their use in a flexible way and not bound to a specific function.
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The project does not change the shape of the building, but it is reinforced by the construction of small elevator shafts required for the vertical distribution. The project also adds a new glass building that houses the greenhouse that has the same shape of the warehouses so strengthen the landscape image.
Inside the store there are the concrete silos taller than 15 meters. The silos have 2 dimensions: 6 meters in diameter in the largest building and three meters in those of smaller size.
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The project aims to re-use the buildings without changing radically the presence of the silos. For this reason some horizontal floors that cut in horizontal the silos’ vertical are fit inside. The horizontal passage occurs through a subtraction of the volume with a new cylindrical shape. In this way, it builds a new architectural form generated from the intersection between the vertical geometry of the cylinder (silos) and the new horizontal cylindrical subtraction. The result is a succession of arched bays included in the vertical cylinder which have the advantage of drawing the oldest form adapted to new uses.
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The bays are two: an arch with a size of 6 meters in which we put the function requiring big space (first and second storage); a smaller arch for the more private area of the third building that is connected to the glass greenhouse.
In particular, we are trying to give some suggestions for specific functions around wellness and health.
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The first existing building, the oil mill, has the function of a gym with the particular activity of climbing inside a silos; the one in the middle, the custom house, will be a wellness spa with solarium on the roof. The third will be a Food Bio Market with a restaurant on the top floor. In connection with these, it is designed a glass new building, a green house to see the local vegetation in every season.
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Besides these there are other 3 new buildings.
The first houses the rowing club and is the beginning of the riverside, at the entrance of the park to the city.
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The second, close to this, it is a residential building overlooking the river and park with large balconies in connection with the open space.
The third is a building that houses a pool at the end of the park, near the hotel already existing.
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All buildings are designed with a simple design inspired from the local language, easy to build, well-consciuous cost of design, and be oriented to the economic sustainability of investment and utilization.
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team project :
OPERASTUDIO | Camillo Magni, Lucia Paci
ZENO | Andrea Zecchetti, Francesco Nobili
type : International Competition
result : First Prize
year : 2013
location : Wittenberge (DE)
client : City of Wittenberge