PATCHWORK CITY | Mannheim is a patchwork city, where areas of very different character and typologies are located next to each other. The problem of the competition site in our opinion is not the different characters of the areas north and south of the B38. Rather we think these different patches to be characteristic for Mannheim – that demonstrably work very well – and therefore do not intend to assimilate them in order to connect them.
Aerial view of the new city entrance, the engineers‘ mile promoting Mannheim‘s reputation
© KAWAHARA KRAUSE ARCHITECTS . Published on February 13, 2014.
The problem of the site is the extreme separation by the Autobahn-like street B38, that separates the patches like a ripped cloth. Instead of separating the patches, the street should be a connecting element that stitches the patches together.
Aerial view of the inverse boulevard connecting the patches north and south of the B38, creating a new entrance to the city that as an engineers‘ mile promotes the city reputation
© KAWAHARA KRAUSE ARCHITECTS . Published on February 13, 2014.
SLOWING DOWN TRAFFIC SPEED– A NEW CITY ENTRANCE | The high speed of cars on the B38 is a strong factor of separating the areas north and south of the street. The high speed does not allow any crossing of the street, neither for pedestrians, bikes or even cars on street level. Also, the high speed prevents drivers from realizing the entrance to the city. The area seems to be a nameless industrial area that one drives through and forgets about as soon as having passed by. Our aim is to move the city entrance further outside while giving it a strong identity that reflects Mannheim’s power in engineering as well as its quality of life and living. The city entrance should become a new landmark that promotes the reputation of the city. Slowing down traffic speed makes the new city entrance more perceivable, reduces noise to the areas around and allows a crossing of the street on the same level.
Site plan
© KAWAHARA KRAUSE ARCHITECTS . Published on February 13, 2014.
REDUCTION OF OVER-DIMENSIONED STREETS– SEPARATING DIRECTIOS IN FAVOR OF A REDUCED BORDER | Another reason for the separating effect is the extreme width of the street. Built for the convenience of car drivers, the huge number of lanes strengthens the border effect of the street. Reducing the number of lanes to the necessary, while at the same time separating the directions, we hope to facilitate the crossing of the street and the connection of the areas north and south of the street.
Zoom-in of the site plan
© KAWAHARA KRAUSE ARCHITECTS . Published on February 13, 2014.
ADJUSTMENT OF BUILDING STRUCTURES FOR A NEW CITY ENTRANCE– INVERSE BOULEVARD | To change the B38 from a transit route into an urban boulevard that as an “Engineers’ mile” would become a new representative city entrance, a new building structure is necessary. Normally a boulevard is a wide street within a dense, urban area, where buildings of several storeys’ height define a clear edge along both sides of the street. Trees along the street and a green area between the lanes (often with trees as well) give it a generous and representative character. Along the B38 we do not find any building typology that would promote the image of a classic boulevard. The areas on both sides of the B38 are characterized by a spread out and open building structure with a high percentage of green enhancing life quality. In order to keep the characteristics of areas around while at the same time creating a new representative entrance to Mannheim, we propose an inverse boulevard. Instead of creating a clear edge on the sides of the street, a dense and urban building structure is placed as an inlay between the lanes. On both sides, the open structures and green areas keep their character and are bound to each other by the inverse boulevard.
Various patches of the city with different characteristics
© KAWAHARA KRAUSE ARCHITECTS . Published on February 13, 2014.
PUBLIC AREAS BETWEEN HYBRID BUILDINGS AND NEW PUBLIC BUILDINGS AS ATTRACTORS | The inverse boulevard features hybrid buildings. Usages with a focus on businesses that represent the “Engineers’ mile” are completed with a huge variety of public and commercial use especially on the ground floor levels as to stimulate urban life in the public areas between the buildings. A series of new public buildings on both sides of the street attract people from the areas in the north and south, stimulating the traversing of the street and therefore connecting the areas.
Typical open building structures on both side of the B38
© KAWAHARA KRAUSE ARCHITECTS . Published on February 13, 2014.
PERMEABILITY– FULL LENGTH STREET CROSSING | The new building structure of the inverse boulevard is characterized by a permeable layout between north and south, that stimulates the crossing of the street and therefore connects both sides of the street. The crossing of the B38 on street level is facilitated by the separated direction lanes. With a new traffic system replacing ordinary traffic lights, pedestrians and bikes are allowed to cross on the full length of the “islands” that are created as a middle of the inverse boulevard.
Left: Speed of cars currently | Right: Slowed-down speed of cars, shifting of city entrance
© KAWAHARA KRAUSE ARCHITECTS . Published on February 13, 2014.
Left: Multiple lanes do not allow crossing | Right: Reducing of lanes with islands inbetween facilitate crossing
© KAWAHARA KRAUSE ARCHITECTS . Published on February 13, 2014.
Left: Classic boulevard | Right: Inverse boulevard
© KAWAHARA KRAUSE ARCHITECTS . Published on February 13, 2014.
Left: New public buildings attract people from both sides of B38 | Right: Permeable structures connecting north and south of B38
© KAWAHARA KRAUSE ARCHITECTS . Published on February 13, 2014.
Inverse boulevard connecting north and south
© KAWAHARA KRAUSE ARCHITECTS . Published on February 13, 2014.
Engineers‘ mile offers respresentative office spaces for the engineering businesses combined with other functions in hybrid buildings, new public buildings work as attractors
© KAWAHARA KRAUSE ARCHITECTS . Published on February 13, 2014.
Hybrid buildings as a new connector of the areas north and south of B38
© KAWAHARA KRAUSE ARCHITECTS . Published on February 13, 2014.