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To Reclaim the Public Ground
The site
Amid the impressive city planning, Vienna has its share of derelict areas. At the intersection of the western belt (Westgürtel) and the Vienna River Valley (Wiental), two major city thorough-fares, two metro lines and the channelled Vienna River enclose a large, neglected area, divorced from the hustle and bustle of city life. An impressive steel trussed metro bridge by Otto Wagner towers above this waste land and mesh of urban infrastructure.
In most cities you would find a bustling business centre on a site so close to the downtown area, sitting right on top of two metro lines and served by two main traffic arteries. So why then is this prime site so evidently underused?
Right at the heart of the competition site, the four districts of Vienna intersect. Concentrated more densely at the centre of each district, business, social and administrative activities are rather scarce at the distric’s periphery. Small wonder, that at the intersection of four districts this scarcity of activities seems to have negative effect on residential areas around it. They show distinct signs which in the future may lead to more social strain and even more neglect:
- Above average unemployment
- Below average education and income levels
- Low density of services (health care, law office, libraries, restaurants etc) and shops
- Declining overall population
- Rising percentage of residents with immigrant background
City of Vienna: Socio-economic structure (education & living standard): green = low range / red = high range
The Goal
With imaginative repositioning, and some adjustments to the traffic infrastructure, the existing potential of the site can be brought to life. Improvements can be achieved that will allow to change this neglected site into an attractive place of public activity and will give a positive impulse to the revival of the adjoining residential and business areas. Three objectives stand at the focus of this competition:
- Quality of life
- Sustainability
- Economic viability / Environmental Economics
The Task
To achieve these goals, the following four elements form the project task:
- A public common will both be a charming connection for slow traffic in all directions and an outdoor living room for the densely built up neighbourhood. The common should offer facilities for the very young to play and adventure, to older generations the chance to relax, to experience nature and to meet friends.
- The residential building(s) offer attractive low cost housing for low income families. Families with both parents working or single parent families will find an infrastructure with day care, small shops and a safe outdoor which meets their needs.
- A community centre with a multi purpose hall (dance, meetings, sport), educational facilities (handicraft, arts, language skills etc), club rooms and café.
- A riverside park gives access to the Vienna River to the neighbourhood and offers outdoor sport facilities for the youth to let of steam and to retreat.
All four elements of task are to be in represented in a master plan at large scale while the project of the community centre and the riverside park are to be designed at a more detailed scale.
Report
Report
In order to focus the development and the design on the two main topics Access for All and Inclusive Urbanism, special weight is given to a report on your analysis and on the ensuing project.
Three members of the jury designated as reference persons for your report are introduced with their curriculum, age and profession, as well as with their handicap (reduced mobility, reduced vision, family conditions etc).
The presentation of both the analysis and the ensuing project must be aimed at each of the three reference persons separately, taking into account the individual view points and needs respectively of each one.
Each reference person will judge your project on the basis of the report focused on her / him and will present her / his findings to the jury.
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