Creating a framework - A spatial analysis and twelve design recommendations for Krems-East

FUNCTIONS BLEEDING OVER The imprecise zoning mechanism has led to a wide variety of functions in Krems-East. In itself this diversity is not a bad thing. It leads to new spatial forms and aesthetic experiences. However, without proper implementation the variety of functions leads to problematic spatial development and friction between different uses. Especially the area where housing and industrial functions meet have a lot of these frictions (see map).

It is hard to precisely summarize the friction between industry and housing, as these frictions take different forms depending on place and type of industry. In general they could be summarized as ‘bleeding over’. The sound of construction can be heard on neighborhood streets. Inhabitants share roads with reckless truckdrivers that often disregard speed limits (I’ll get back to this later on). Gardens are bordered by swathes of land used for storage of construction material, often unmaintained and messy.

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Creating a framework - A spatial analysis and twelve design recommendations for Krems-East

Published on Dec 1, 2020

Corne Strootman

I was invited to Krems as an artist in residence by ORTE - Architekturnetzwerk Niederösterreich. During the residence I explored the relationship between two distinct parts of Krems. One part is historic and picturesque. It is the beginning of the of Wachau valley, UNESCO world heritage. The other part is a mixture of modern industry, commerce and housing, described as Krems-East. The exploration resulted in the short film “Painting a picture: on the fringe of world heritage”. The making of the film required a GIS-analysis, expert interviews, research into the history of the region and literature reviews. This booklet repurposes the research done for the film to make a case for a number of design proposals that would improve Krems-East. The booklet makes explicit the processes and spatial forms of the region, and as such it stimulates a discourse of planological and architectural development.