From ideas to process-projects
Europan 12 - Mannheim (DE)
« Mannheim's Connection »
Project strategy family:
- Ecological connections
- Inclusive morphologies
- Inventive typologies
- Reinterpreted heritage
- Urban articulations
Process category:
- Direct order processes
- Competitive processes
- Co-creative processes
- Collaborative processes
- Participative processes
- Participation of the Living processes
- Adaptative legal framework processes
Authors: KH STUDIO – architecture urbanisme paysage (Ilaria Novielli, IT, Alessandro delli Ponti, IT/FR)
Client(s): Stadt Mannheim - Stadtplanung Städtebau, MWSP, Private investors, Franklin factory initiative, MVV Energie AG
Dates: 2013-...
Driving forces: Team
Site
Mannheim (DE)
SCALES XL/L SIZE 180ha / 35ha
US Military site were closed in stages by 2015. It opened up the opportunity to reconfigure the North East side of the city and the areas along the B 38 highway with the development of an “Engineering Mile”, a corridor between the city centre and autobahn access.
Awarded Idea
Project - Ideas
Mannheim's Connection
AN URBAN GREEN CORRIDOR
Mannheim’s Connection creates new relations between previously disconnected urban areas alternating newly built areas with structuring green voids, giving a new image of of B38’s entrance to Mannheim around a new intermodal public transport network. It’s an open evolving story, with structuring episodes and a series of urban protagonists gradually emerging from a process that recombines inherited urban forms, innovative mobility and enhanced landscapes.
Project Strategy
Family: Ecological connections
REDESIGNING THE CITY ENTRANCE AS A PRODUCTIVE, URBAN AND LANDSCAPED SPACE
Mannheim Connexion reimagines the B38 as the active stage for a systemic strategy capable of connecting previously disconnected urban areas. A new sector is emerging, characterized by an innovative and intense mix of urban functions; it is linked to the redeveloped areas in a landscape palimpsest combined with a network of soft mobility options.
The open-space palimpsest proposed by KH studio in Europan is essentially kept in the structure of the Columbus Quartier. The project showed the capacity to adapt and negotiate with private investors. The palimpsest is conceived in order to prepare and support the post-commercial phase of the urban sector. Time scales radically changed during the process for geopolitical reasons (USA military presence; international migrants’ crisis; city/region negotiations; coronavirus). The team had to deal with the process impact of unexpected historic events, the military site being very sensitive to certain issues. Nevertheless, the mobility and landscape palimpsest proved its virtues by providing a long-lasting support for the future evolution of land value associated to urban transformations.
The transformation of the B38 road into an urban boulevard has been financed, giving a strong future to the “Mannheim’s Connection vision. The system of transversal parks along B38 will see birth in the next years and in the medium term they will strongly contribute making the former heavy infrastructure B38 an original kind of space, bridging quartiers and communities.
The open-spaces design mission for the two parks "Columbus Park" and "Friendship Park" as well as for the Ecological connector - "Columbus Path", a bike-and pedestrian connective corridor, a multifunctional pavilion for eco-mobility and training, and a playgrounds area has been completed. The pavilion both serves as a multimodal hub to recharge electric vehicles and as a place where to study, work and meet people. A serving hub within the Friendship Park.
Process
Category(ies): Competitive processes, Collaborative processes
Competitive processes
Following the competition, the site was subject of a metropolitan-scale transformation process that lead to a restricted international competition involving 15 agencies for the urban and landscape development of part of the site (The Columbus Quarter). The Europan winning team was awarded the contract to draw up the urban development plan and a book of guidelines, as well as a comprehensive assignment for the design and implementation of a 10-ha landscaped area.
Collaborative processes
For this urban project, the team worked and negotiated with several local stakeholders at city and regional level, as well as private stakeholders.
