Modern Attitude - The Revitalization of Dessau's Urban Cores in the

THE REVITALISATION OF DESSAU’S URBAN CORES IN THE BAUHAUS TRADITION

MODERN ATTITUDE MODERN ATTITUDE MODERN ATTITUDE MODERN ATTITUDE MODERN ATTITUDE MODERN ATTITUDE MODERN ATTITUDE MODERN ATTITUDE

THESIS SUMMARY REPORT LEON WITTMAACK

MODERN ATTITUDE The Revitalisation of Dessau’s Urban Cores in the Bauhaus Tradition

Master’s Thesis | Studio 1A Urban Design Aarhus School of Architecture

During the process of this thesis project, the biggest challenge has been to work both theoretically and in a design-orientated way. Throughout my education, I saw theory as a design tool which would help me to reflect on the fundamental elements of my design.

As theory played an important role in this project, this thesis summary report will focus on my analysis and theoretical understanding of both the historical and current urban structure of Dessau. Beyond that, the report will point out the theoretical foundation to the project consisting of two main elements: the modern attitude defined by the Bauhaus and the theory of the green archipelago by Oswald Mathias Ungers and Rem Koolhaas, which had an important impact on my design process.

MASTER’S THESIS Spring 2019 Leon Wittmaack | 2016032 Studio 1A: Urban Design & Landscape Architecture Supervisor: Jens Christian Pasgaard

(0) CONTEXT FOR THE HISTORICAL CITY

TABLE OF CONTENTS No. I - INTRODUCTION Motivation Ambition

p. 02 p. 04

No. II - ANALYSIS Context Historical Context The Urban Core (Site)

p. 08 p. 24 p. 36

No. III - THEORY Modern Attitude Green Archipelago

p. 50 p. 56

No. IV - STRATEGY From River to River 4 Guidelines

p. 62 p. 64

No. V - MASTERPLAN Masterplan 3 Elements Green Corridor Urban Cores

p. 72 p. 78 p. 80 p. 92

No. VI - CONCLUSION Modern Attitude

p. 102

No. VII - INDEX Bibliography Illustration

p. 108 p. 109

No. I

Introduction

MOTIVATION

p. 02

AMBITION

p. 04

No. I / Introduction

MOTIVATION Dessau, a city in the central eastern part of Germany, is a place marked by a rapidly changing past. Its history consists of booming growth and almost total destruction. As a result, the urban structure of Dessau today, is a fragmented urban structure consisting of different programmatic cores, a wide collection of typologies and changing densities.

These fragments of different historical layers are symbolic of a city, which never looks nostalgically to the past, rather willingly adapts to current social and economic problems and rethinks how the city should be in the future. In the past, Dessau had faced the challenges to accommodate a rapidly growing number of inhabitants after the first world war, to rebuild the city after an almost total deconstruction during the second world war and adapt to a different political system after the German reunification. Today Dessau is once again facing a huge challenge as the city shrinks due to demographical change in the region, a problem which is calling for a new, modern way of dealing with this problem.

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Under the title: “Modern Attitude - The Revitalisation of Dessau’s Urban Cores in the Bauhaus Tradition� the project wants to rediscover the spirit of modernity and discuss how the problem of shrinking can be seen as an opportunity to once again tackle the current problems facing Dessau.

With a modern attitude, the project wants to enhance different cores in the city of Dessau and showcase how a robust core in the city centre can reintroduce public life into the urban fabric by connecting programmes of living, work and leisure. This approach will help to clearly define the city centre within the existing fragmented urban structure of Dessau.

The project wants to revitalise the city centre by turning the problem of shrinking into a potential to discuss density without architecture by putting emphasis on the reprogramming of public space. Thereby the centre core is understood as an archipelago of different programmatic identities linked by a chain of redefined public spaces and parks, which not only co-exist with the surrounding landscape but bring it into the city.

No. I / Introduction

“If you launch an idea, it can not be utopian enough. If I think of the beginning of my life, there had been utopian ideas and nobody thought they might become reality, but they are reality today.�

(Walter Gropius)

(1) THE HISTORICAL CITY

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No. I / Introduction

AMBITION Dessau is Bauhaus. In other words, Dessau is the ‘Bauhaus city’ of Germany, a city in which the myths of the Bauhaus still shape the identity of the town (Butter. 2013 p. 5 f). However, as mentioned in the previous chapter, Dessau is also a city which has gone through drastic changes in its early history. The result of these changes is a city that can be read as a mosaic of different layers of time, layers which do not always relate to each other.

This year Bauhaus is having it’s 100 year anniversary, which opens up a discussion about which historical testimonies remain and are present in the Bauhaus today and also, how architects and designers can use these testimonies for challenging the modern way of living once again. The attempted development of a new everyday culture led the Bauhaus Dessau to become a laboratory of modernism. The modern attitude at Bauhaus was shaped by a combination of the demands of design with the demands of society. In Gropius words “Architecture should be a mirror of life and time.”

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My ambition relies on the use of Bauhaus ideas without limiting Dessau to being only the ‘Bauhaus City’. By understanding modernity to be an attitude, which has challenged the way we live in the past and can challenge it once again today, the projects wants tackle the problem of shrinking.

In this way the project seeks to avoid a nostalgic use of Bauhaus and gain from the ‘indestructable idea’ (Mies van der Rohe) of a modern and innovative way of living.

Ambition for the projects is, to develop a strategy, which reacts to the problem of shrinking without being afraid to do something radical. The modern attitude present in Dessau is the biggest potential for this project. This modern attitude is confined not only to the history of Bauhaus in Dessau, rather it is central to the city’s identity throughout its historical development.

My ambition is to use this modern attitude to reimagine Dessau as a city consisting of strong urban cores and a diverse public life.

No. I / Introduction

(2) THE GREEN CITY

5

No. II

Analysis Analysis

CONTEXT

p. 08

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

p. 24

URBAN CORE

p. 36

No. II / Context

CONTEXT Dessau is located in the region of Sachsen-Anhalt in the in the central eastern part of Germany. Both the regional capital of Sachsen-Anhalt, Magdeburg, and the regional capital of Sachsen, Leipzig, are only one hour away from Dessau. Its close connection to Berlin, an hour and a half away, makes Dessau a really well connected city in the German context. Dessau’s location in the centre of Germany has been an important influence in its historical development, in which its location has had both a positive and negative influence on the development of the city.

One of the biggest and more recent influences on the city was the creation of an inner German border (1949-1989). As Dessau is located in the central eastern part of Germany, the social and economic development of the town was shaped the political system of the Soviet Union after the Second World War. One of the biggest and more recent influences on the city was the creation of an inner German border (19491989). As Dessau is located in the central eastern part of Germany, the social and economic development of the town was shaped the political system of the Soviet Union after the Second World War.

8

Hamburg Berlin Magdeburg Dessau Leipzig Köln

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München (3) LOCATION IN GERMANY

Dessau Bundes Republik Deutschland

Deutsche Demokratische Republik

(4) INNER GERMAN BORDER

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No. II / Context

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Flight connections to BERLIN 45 Min. travel time 14,- RM. to LEIPZIG 25 Min. travel time 8,50 RM.

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58 road km to LEIPZIG 57 road km to HALLE 62 road km to MAGDEBURG 129 road km to BERLIN

(5) DESSAU’S FAVOURABLE LOCATION IN CENTRAL GERMANY

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No. II / Context

Former Inner German Border

Sachsen-Anhalt

Dessau

more than -20 -20 to -10 -10 to -3 -3 to +3 more than +10 Development of population in % (6) DEMOGRAPHICAL CHANGE IN GERMANY

10

No. II / Context

Dessau

more than -35 -25 to -35 0 to -25 0 to 2 Development of population in % (7) DEMOGRAPHICAL CHANGE IN SACHSEN-ANHALT

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No. II / Context

The negative socio-economic impact of the inner German border and reunification on these regions is especially visible when looking at overall demographical development in Germany. Like many other European countries, the disparity between growing metropolitan areas, like Berlin, Hamburg and Munich and the shrinking countryside is getting bigger and bigger.

When looking at the map of the demographical development of Germany this disparity is highly visible, as the metropolitan areas of Berlin, Hamburg and Munich are the main areas having a growth of over 10% in population (see figure 6 page. 10).

About 20 years ago a drastic change in the social conditions appeared in East Germany: the cities are not growing anymore - they are shrinking. The demographical change, migration cursed by deindustrialization and suburbanisation processes, are the result of multiple transformation processes over the last decade. As a result of this development, the population in many cities in eastern Germany fell by 20 per cent, sometimes even 30 per cent, within just one decade. The process of shrinking is an irreversible process. There is too much city for too little inhabitants (Akbar. p. 18).

Therefore Dessau and the whole region of Sachsen-Anhalt (see figure 6 page. 11) is confronted with a situation, in which they can not any more base their urban development on conventional planning principals, which are made for cities with constant growth. As a reaction, the region of Sachsen-Anhalt established the IBA Stadtumbau in 2002 (International Build-

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ing Exhibition) to tackle the problem of the demographical change in an unconventional way, to develop new planning principles, that are made for shrinking cities rather than growing cities.

Among other concepts, the main strategy of the IBA was to make participating cities aware of their unique identity and base future development on this identity to re-generate a positive image for the region. The IBA showed that shrinkage can be counteracted by qualitative growth and, above all, by enhancing and using existing potentials (Akbar. p. 20). This approach requires a wide understanding of the given site through extensive analysis of the existing conditions.

In order to generate sustainable development, Dessau and the cities in the region of Sachsen-Anhalt, need to base their future development on those hidden traces and unique identities to turn the problem of shrinking into a potential to show new ways of urban and regional planning for shrinking cities. Of course, the conventional factors like education, infrastructure and industry cannot be ignored, they are naturally the base for a sustainable region and city. However, to really rethink how the shrinking city of Dessau can become attractive and sustainable in the future, I believe it is necessary to find these unique potentials, which could lie in the traces of history, and grow the amount of nature and leisure space in and around the shrinking city.

No. II / Context

(8) Illustration Left: Dessau in its regional context of Sachsen-Anhalt. The hatched area around Dessau, indicates an area of economic and social cooperation among cities.

Magdeburg Lutherstadt Wittenberg

(9) Illustration Right:

Dessau

Dessau

Halle Bitterfeld

On a regional scale, Dessau is well connected to the sorrounding cities. A close connection to a highway in the south-east of Dessau is also connects the city with Berlin and Leipzig.

(10) Illustration Left: In 2008 Sachsen-Anhalt had approx. 53,000 students. The School for Applied Science is the only higher education located in Dessau. The bigger universities in the region are located in Halle and Magdenburg.

(11) Illustration Right: Dessau

The illustration shows the industrial areas in the region (one block = 10 hectare).

Since 1990 the amount of industrial areas is quite steady, However, many areas only have a low occupancy rate.

(12) Illustration Left: A rising amount of protected landscape surrounds Dessau.

The UNESCO heritage site of the Dessau-Wรถrlitz Gartenreich is one of the first examples of an English garden ever built in Germany around 1800.

(13) Illustration Right: Bauhaus Dessau

The Region of Sachen-Anhalt is considered to be the centre of modernism in Germany. The largest amount of original Bauhaus buildings are located in and around Dessau.

Weimar

13

No. II / Context

As a reaction to the problem of the shrinking city of Dessau and based on current planning discussion, the project will focus on the revitalisation of Dessau’s city centre (see figure 14 page. 15). Thereby the project is building upon a concept developed by the IBA in 2010. The main concern of that concept is to stabilise the urban cores of Dessau and introduce a landscae edge into the urban fabric. The concept tries to enhance existing qualities and adapt to the historical development of Dessau.

The focus area for this project is defined by the city centre of Dessau. Although the city experienced bipolar development this centre is the defining historical core of Dessau. The city centre provides me with the opportunity to react to different historical traces and use the modern attitude to create a strong foundation for sustainable future development.

The two chapters that follow pay particular attention to illustrating the historical development of the urban core and its situation today. The focus will be on development within the urban core and the influence of the surrounding nature and urban areas.

Through the introduction of a robust centre, the project wants to strengthen the identity of Dessau and tile together the fragmented image the city is has today.

14

No. II / Context

(14) ORTHOPHOTO OF DESSAU (indicating the urban core)

15

No. II / Context

(15) Image Top: The ’Meisterhäuser’ in a pine forest. A well functioning intersection between a strong urban and landscape identity.

(16) Image Bottom: Typical situation on the edge of the centre core, undefined and unprogrammed spaces.

16

No. II / Context

(17) Image Top: Clashing typologies in the city centre of Dessau, with the historical town hall in the background and a modern housing slab.

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No. II / Context

(18) Image Top: Contrast between Bauhaus architecture (Amt fĂźr Arbeit - Employment office) by Walter Gropius and post war architecture.

(19) Image Bottom: Abandoned brewery in the city centre with the tower of the town hall in the background.

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No. II / Context

(20) Image Top: Transformed housing slab meets the original “Plattenbau� typology.

(21) Image Bottom: The settlement of Dessau-Toerten, built between 1926 and 1928 by Walter Gropius, has been transformed by its inhabitants over the years.

Almost none of the buildings are in their original state today.

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No. II / Context

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No. II / Context

(22) Image Top Left: In the urban silhouette of Dessau the contrast between different landmarks of time are highly visible.

(23) Image Top Right: Post-war housing slab meets pre-war streetscape.

(24) Image Bottom Left: The deconstruction of a post-was housing slab in the city centre has left behind undefined public spaces.

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No. II / Context

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No. II / Context

(25) Image Left: Entrance to the Bauhaus building.

(26) Image Top: Konsumhaus in the settlement of Dessau-Tรถrten.

(27) Image Bottom: Industrial ruin framed by a post-war housing slab.

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No. II / Historical Context

HISTORICAL CONTEXT The identity of Dessau and it’s urban structure can be seen as a patchwork of time and archipelagos of different programmatic cores which resulted in a mosaic of typologies. Those typologies are clashing at multiple spots in the urban fabric and create a divers structure of the city. The above mentioned patchworks of different layers of history might variate in typologies and structure, however they have one thing in commune, they where always adapting to social and economic condition in unconventional ways. From the first time Dessau was documented as a city in 1213 over the period of Bauhaus to the re-building after the second world war until today, Dessau’s identity was never about looking back with a nostalgic view but to question the tomorrow.

The following text will give an overview over the historical development of the city and outline how this development influence my design approach for revitalising the city centre of Dessau.

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No. II / Historical Context

Market Town The settlement at the junction on the high banks of the river Mulde was first documented in the end of the twelve century.

The urban core was based around two market squares and a water mill which where of vital essence for daily working life both in economical and social matter. Until the late 16 century the town had developed to a point where the urban core consist a market square, a church and a town hall which are still at there same spot in the urban fabric today (Pfeifer 2016 p. 13-19).

(28) DESSAU’S URBAN CORE - 1711

(29) DESSAU’S URBAN CORE - 1918

Industry During the industrialisation Dessau grow from an agriculture town to a vibrant city, which in the end could be compared with the silicon valley in the US today. A divers network of industries developed all over Sachsen-Anhalt and created a vibrant region which was calling for new ways of regional planning to fulfil the infrastructural needs of the region in therms of traffic and urban development.

In addition to production facilities for sugar and chemistry a new innovative industry was introduce to Dessau in 1889, when Hugo Junkes founded his company to produce gas machinery. With his spirit for modernity and his drive for innovation, his company shorty after develop to became a pioneer in the European industry for aircraft production. The city expanded along the train track in the western part and started to create a urban structure which is based around bipolar settlements, which are not growing out of one centre core. Even though the different settlements

25

No. II / Historical Context

grow together over time, this structure is still visible today (Ministerium für Stadtentwicklung 2010 p. 144-164).

City of Modernity The innovative spirit present in Dessau influenced the decision of relocation, Walter Gropius had to take in 1925 when the Bauhaus got shot down by the National Socialist in Weimar. An alliance between politics, culture and industry provided the perfect framework for the Bauhaus school to move to the city. In connection with the innovative industry present in the city and the newly opened Bauhaus School, Dessau became a city of modernity and a testing ground for new ways of living and producing. A new spirit was brought to Dessau, a spirit which was questining current social and political condition and beyond that, radically changed daily life through education, architecture and design (Bauhaus Stiftung Dessau 2015). From Dessau this spirit expanded out into the world.

(30) DESSAU’S URBAN CORE - 1932

National Socialist & War When the National Socialist won the election in 1932, the era of Bauhaus and it’s modern spirit came to an abrupt end. The well functioning industry in the region made Dessau a strategically very attractive and important city in the war machinery of the National Socialist. Against the intention of Hugo Junkers the factories where occupied by the government and became the most important production facility for the air force. In a short amount of time the facilities expanded in the western part of the city and enhance the growth of the town. The high importance of Dessau as a (31) DESSAU’S URBAN CORE - 1945

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No. II / Historical Context

city for the armaments industry, ended in an almost total destruction of the city in 1945 when 80% of the city structure got destroyed (Oswalt 2014).

(32) DESSAU’S URBAN CORE - 1989

Rebuilding the City The end of the war leaved behind a destroyed city, a city which in the eyes of the soviet union, offered opportunities to rebuild the city in a new way. Dessau was rebuild, following socialist concept of a city containing greenery and tower for living. The immense amount of housing, which had to be build in a short amount of time, caused a completely new urban structure in the city centre of Dessau. Prefabricated housing units where build without referring to any historical layers. As a result, the urban structure of Dessau is highly fragmented and many of its historical traces got lost (Ministerium für Stadtentwicklung 2010).

?

(33) DESSAU’S URBAN CORE - 2019?

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No. II / Historical Context

Traces of History As the city went through drastic changes in its historical development, future strategies for its urban development should contain and refer to Dessau’s historical traces.

In other words, the future development of Dessau can be bold and radical, as this is the most concise trace left in the urban structure today. All the different fragment of time are clashing at multiple spots in the city centre of Dessau, creating a city full of contrast. Those contrasts are an indication of Dessau’s attitude towards its history - an attitude which always had been about questioning the now and enhancing the tomorrow. This attitude left behind a city full of landmarks of time which are symbols of their specific time, as they are not referring to what came before. If all the historical layers of Dessau are seen as independent fragments, the main question is: what is their context? What is binding them together?

The current problem of the shrinking city can be used to give back an urban context to the fragments of history, without re-building its pre-war urban structure and looking back to the past with a nostalgic view, because that would not be true to Dessau’s history. The shrinking city offers the opportunity to create a new landmark in the centre core of Dessau which referces to the previous history by continuing the modern attitude in the city and being a landmark by turning the problem of shrinkage into a potential and by that re-introducing the lost context in the city centre.

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No. II / Historical Context

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(34) LANDMARKS OVER TIME The historical development has left behind a city full of fragments of time. Those fragments are represented by landmark buildinsg, which lie today in a city without context.

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No. II / Historical Context

14

Elbe

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(35) THE CITY OF MODERNITY 1930 The city of Dessau 1930, was a city full of industry. New settlements were build, industry expanded and through the Bauhaus Dessau became a role model for urban and architectural development. Dessau was a rising metropolis of modernity.

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No. II / Historical Context

Elbe 13 Kornhaus

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(36) THE SHRINKING CITY 2019 Today Dessau faces multiple problem due to demographical change. The city is constantly decreasing and the former industries continue to move away. The spirit of the city of modernity seems to be long gone.

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No. II / Historical Context

1800

1900

1910 0 ha

1920

2000 ha 0 ha

2000 ha

50000

100000 4000 ha

6000 ha

INHABITANT 83000 CITY AREA

7600 ha

1930

8000 ha

GREEN AREAS

WATER AREAS

(37) THE CITY OF MODERNITY 1930 - INHABITANTS

Undefinded Public Spaces The different changes in Dessau’s historical development influenced the population and the area of the city. Today the number of inhabitants is lower than the inhabitants in 1930, but the total area of the city has more than doubled. This development and the trend of the shrinking city rises the questions, on how the urban core of Dessau looks like today?

If the conclusion comes just from the numbers of the inhabitants in relation to the

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total city area, the conclusion probably is, the city centre has a lack of density.

But it also indicates an increasing number of public and semi-public space. The increasing number of public space could be turned into a potential, to enhance the missing context for the fragmented city centre of Dessau.

No. II / Historical Context

1940

CITY FOR THE AMORED INDUSTRY

II World War

1945

80% DESTROYED

1970

1980

REBUILDING THE CITY FOLLOWING SOCIALIST IDEAS

1989 1990

GERMAN REUNIFICATION

2000

10.000 Units

IBA STADTUMBAU

2002 2005

45.000 HOUSING UNITS

16.000 VACANT (14,3%)

0 ha

2010 40.000 ha

80.000 ha

50000

100000

150000 120.000 ha

160.000 ha

INHABITANT 82.500 CITY AREA

18200 ha

2019

PROTECTED LANDSCAPE

(38) THE SHRINKING CITY 2019 - INHABITANTS

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No. II / Historical Context

(39) Image Top: The dense urban structure of Dessau before the second world war.

(40) Image Bottom: The Bauhaus School with a Junkers airplane in the front .

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No. II / Historical Context

(41) Image Top: The destroyed city centre.

Image taken after the almost complete destruction of the city.

(42) Image Bottom: The rebuilt city. Shcreibe Nord and Y-Towers standing in the historical Stadtpark.

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No. II / Urban Core

URBAN CORE (SITE) The following is an introduction on the site, highlighting the biggest historical influence and illustrating the current state and potentials. As mentioned earlier, the site is defined by the boundary of the city centre. As the city centre is the most fragmented area in the urban structure of Dessau. Besides that, the impact of the shrinkage is highly visible in the city centre resulting in an undefined centre in the urban structure.

Urban Cores As the city of Dessau did not develop out of one central core, the urban structure today appears as a network of different programmatic cores. The different cores are defined by a quite specific program and through that defined by a strong typological appearance. For example the housing settlements in the north and the south, the industrial areas along the train track and the campus around the Bauhaus building.

All those cores are serving specific uses.

As the city did not develop out of one core, the definition of the main core; the centre is not given. This is the projects point of departure. To revitalise the city centre of Dessau and strengthen its identity, with-

36

out limiting the city to one urban core.

Thereby the city centre is seen as the most important element to tackle the problem of the demographical change and start a development against the shrinkage.

Landscape Edges The different urban cores are surrounded by diverse nature. As the city is decreasing the nature is growing. The existing landscape thereby already offers multiple potentials and unique qualities. The different urban cores are combined by a mixture of different natural elements, from agriculture fields, forests, river valleys, protected nature and UNESCO world heritage sites, the landscape is serving both leisure and productive functions.

Today the landscape is seen as an edge to the urban cores of Dessau. The boundary between urban cores and landscape elements increasingly start to disappear.

Which I see as a potential to revitalise the city centre of Dessau by enhancing existing qualities and strengthen both the urban core and the landscape edges.

No. II / Urban Core

(43) DESSAU’S URBAN CORES The different colours are indicating different programmatic identities.

Gray - Living; Yellow - Industry; Red - Bauhaus - Blue historical core and campus

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No. II / Urban Core

(44) URBAN STRUCTURE OF DESSAU As a result of its historical development, Dessau’s urban structure is defined by different urban cores and by multiple typologies and programmes.

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No. II / Urban Core

(45) DESSAU’S GREATER LANDSCAPE The richness in the surrounding landscape should be used to tackle the problem of the shrinking city and rethink the relationship between nature and city.

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No. II / Urban Core

(46) THE DESTROYED CITY Map of the urban core after the second world war, showing the almost total destruction of the urban structure (the dark hatched buildings are the remaining ones).

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No. II / Urban Core

A Destroyed City Centre In many ways, the city centre is reflecting the identity of Dessau: A city constantly reinventing itself with a modern attitude.

The most drastic influence on the city centre was the destruction during the second world war, which still today influences the present situation.

(47) REBUILDiNG STRATEGY - PARK

(48) REBUILDiNG STRATEGY - PARK CORRIDOR

As illustrated in the historical map on page 40 the city centre was almost totally destroyed during the second world war. In which more than 80% of the urban structure got destroyed. After the war, the city centre had to be rebuilt in a short amount of time. Different masterplans where developed to show how the city should be rebuilt. The majority of the masterplans were building upon the old urban structure, enhancing public connections and referring to the historical urban structure.

However today the city centre is highly fragmented, containing different layers of history and a wide variety of typologies.

The process of rebuilding the city has influenced the city centre in two ways: loss of historical traces and context and an increasing number of undefined public spaces. As the city was not re-built following the historical lines, but with a modernist planning scheme, many of Dessaus historical traces got lost. The city centre today is highly fragmented without a clear definition of an overall context. Adjacent to that, the different ways of re-building the city has influenced the appearance of public space in the city centre. Which today causes the problem of undefined and un-programmed public space. This prob-

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No. II / Urban Core

lem is enhanced through the process of shrinkage; confronting the city centre with a growing number of unbuilt and un-programmed spaces.

Bauhaus

Station BREAK

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Theatre

Landmarks

Bauhaus Museum

?

Shopping

Townhall (49) LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS The boundary between city and landscape is blurry but existing.

42

URBAN CORE

In order to achieve that goal, the centre core needs to use its surrounding influences coming from: the English landscape garden in the north, the Bauhaus campus in the west and a leisure edge following the river Mulde in the east (see figure 52 page. 45). These influences are the biggest potential for reprogramming and rethinking the public space in the city centre of Dessau and by that turning the problem of shrinking into a potential to revitalise the city centre. The revitalisation strategy needs to overcome the existing blurry boundaries between city and landscape and let the landscape run into the urban fabric. By that, the revitalisation can strengthen the definition of public spaces and give a new context to the fragmented urban structure.

UNESCO Gartenreich

LANDSCAPE EDGE

Potential In the biggest problem of the city centre, its undefined public spaces, simultaneously realise its biggest potential. As I have described in the second chapter the context, Dessau needs to focus its urban development on existing qualities to enhance its unique identity. As the density is continuing to decrease the urban core needs a different approach to be revitalised, in which the process of revitalisation is not primarily focusing on densifying but on reprogramming the public space.

?

No. II / Urban Core

TYPOLOGIES OF THE URBAN BLOCK

Size Intimate

Historical Setting

DESSAU - URBAN CORE Build Structure

Outdoor Spaces

The Historical Block

The Re-Build Block

The Informal Block

The Hybrid Block

The Modernist Block

Open

(50) DEVELOPMENT OF THE COURTYARD BLOCK

43

No. II / Urban Core

City Entrance

Gartenreich BREAK

Station

Bauhaus

Bauhaus Museum

Centre

City Entrance

City Entrance

(51) MAIN AXES IN THE CENTRE CORE The city centre contains multiple axes linking its main elements. A main problem today is the break through the train tracks, which breaks the connection between the city centre and Bauhaus campus. Since the war the city has also struggled to define a connection between the train station and the city centre.

44

No. II / Urban Core

Gartenreich

Bauhaus

Urban Core

Industry

Leisure Edge

(52) INFLUENCES FROM THE SURROUNDING CORES The main influences on the city centre are coming from the surrounding urban cores and landscape edges.

45

No. II / Urban Core

(53) Illustration: The urban core of Dessau today appears as a fragmented urban structure of different typologies.

(54) Illustration: The centre core contains not only the main public function of the city, a rather close connection between living and working is also visible.

(55) Illustration: The main public function is located in the city centre, which enhances public life and gives the city centre an important status in the overall urban setting.

46

No. II / Urban Core

(56) Illustration: The growing amount of unprogrammed spaces influences the public life present in the centre core.

47

No. III

Theory Theory Theory

MODERN ATTITUDE

p. 50

GREEN ARCHIPELAGO

p. 56

No. III / Modern Attitude

MODERN ATTITUDE Dessau truly is a city with a modern attitude, an attitude which stands for the will to question the current situation and enhance the future. Following Hannes Meyers (second Bauhaus Director) idea, modernity, is not understood in a formal or stylistic sense but rather as a process of urban development to optimise social, technical, and economic relations.

Throughout its history, Dessau was using this spirit of modernity to challenge the multiple social and economic problems the city was facing in the past.

ary ideas and provide them with a social praxis in which they can test their visions (Butter. 2013 p. 5). The Bauhaus which was founded in Weimar had, because of political pressure by the National Socialist, relocated the school in 1925. In the Weimar time of the Bauhaus, the school could not yet achieve the visions they developed.

Especially the interaction with praxis as a testing ground was not present in Weimar.

The surroundings the Bauhaus encountered in Dessau were completely different to those in Weimar.

This year the Bauhaus School is having its 100 year anniversary. Therefore the anniversary offers the opportunity to re-discuss the big impact the Bauhaus had on the city of Dessau and how the city could use its historical testimonials in an active way and build their future development on their unique identity as a city which is constantly able to re-invent itself.

Dessau was literately fighting for the Bauhaus to move to the city. Behind the idea to get Bauhaus moving to Dessau, was standing an alliance between politics, culture and industry, providing the perfect framework for the Bauhaus school moving to the city. The city was aiming to start a progressive modernisation through the Bauhaus. The politicians had the initial idea to pass the role of Urban Planning away from their own hands to the Bauhaus, to make sure the Bauhaus would not only be a school in Dessau but to use the expertise of the teachers to modernise the whole city. For the Bauhaus itself, Dessau was the perfect city to reach the goal to test their

The aim of the Bauhaus was to redesign the modern living environment, develop new ways of producing, and find new ways of building. In order to achieve these goals the Bauhaus had to educate the future designers, let them develop vision-

50

No. III / Modern Attitude

THE MODERN CITY

MODERN ATTITUDE

MODERN ATTITUDE

Weimar 1919

BAUHAUS MEISTER Walter Gropius Walter Gropius Walter Gropius Walter Gropius

Working

Learning

Public

Dessau

“ARCHITECTURE SHOULD BE A MIRROR OF LIFE AND TIME.”

Living

The Modern Way of Living Living Living Living

Carl Fieger

1925 Berlin

Hannes Meyer Hannes Meyer Hannes Meyer Hannes Meyer Hannes Meyer

Living

Living

Leisure

“THE IDEA OF A COLLECTIVE DESIGN.”

1932

INDUSTRY & DESIGN

Marcel Breuer

?

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

2019

Modern Attitude Modern Attitude Modern Attitude Modern Attitude

BREUER & JUNKERS Urban Planning

Modern Attitude Modern Attitude

Urban Planning

The White City / Tel Aviv INDESTRUCTIBLE IDEA Learning INDESTRUCTIBLE IDEA Max Bill / Otl Aicher Max Bill / Otl Aicher

INDESTRUCTIBLE IDEA INDESTRUCTIBLE IDEA INDESTRUCTIBLE IDEA

(57) POSTER MODERN ATTITUDE - FROM DESSAU INTO THE WORLD

51

No. III / Modern Attitude

vision in praxis. The close relationship to local industries with a friendly and openminded political framework made experimentation in praxis possible, the unity between art and technology was able to be tested and later practiced in Dessau. You can say in Dessau the Bauhaus became a school which worked in all scales and had the chance to test visions in daily life.

Visions which change modern living from the scale of a teaspoon to the scale of a whole city (Butter. 2013 p. 5 f).

The Bauhaus became the most important actor of urban development in Dessau, the majority of the around 300 original build “Bauhaus Buildings” are located in Dessau (Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau 2016 p.

11 f). Once those buildings where built, Dessau became a city, which stood for a new time, the time of modernism. Since then Dessau is inseparable with the classic modernism and can be considered one of the most important “testing grounds” for modernism in Germany (Butter. 2013 p. 5 f). With all realised projects the members of Bauhaus tackled specific social problems which were present in Dessau at that time and gave answers on how affordable housing could be realised, a more social life could be enhanced and how architecture can help to ensure social support.

Modernity should therefore not stand for a time in architectural history, it should stand for a specific mindset, a mindset which is challenging the existing conditions to enhance the future. Modernity needs to be understood as a spirit in order to use the historical traces of Bauhaus in

52

Dessau in an active way. For me it is not the single building or the single object we should learn from, it is the freedom to act unconventionally in order to achieve something radically new, something modern, that should influence the design decisions taken for Dessau.

Today Dessau once again needs this modern attitude, an unconventional idea, to tackle the problem of the shrinking city, without using the Bauhaus in a nostalgic way. I believe it would not be true to the history of Dessau, to imitate the Bauhaus but to develop something new, something modern and by that referring to the Bauhaus narrative present in the city. The modern attitude is the chance to bring back the Bauhaus spirit, which spread from Dessau into the world. All in all, the modern attitude, is the desire to rethink our daily life and use architecture and design as a toolbox to tackle existing problems to enhance our everyday life.

No. III / Modern Attitude

(58) VIEW FROM THE BALCONY - LUDWIG HILBERSEIMER

(59) CITY OF TOMORROW - LE CORBUSIER

(60) LAFAYETTE PARK DETROIT - VAN DER ROHE; HILBERSEIMER

(61) WHITE CITY TEL AVIV

53

No. III / Modern Attitude

POSTER 1929

junge menschen kommt ans bauhaus! ans ans ans ans ans ans ans ans ans ans ans ans ans ans ans ans ans ans

bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus bauhaus

komm ans bauhaus dessau hochschule fĂźr gestaltung dessau (anhalt)

(62) POSTER 1929 Advertising poster for the Bauhaus from 1929.

Junge Menschen kommt ans Bauhaus (Young people come to the Bauhaus)

54

Graphic: Hannses Meier

komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm

No. III / Modern Attitude

POSTER 2019

junge menschen kommt nach dessau! komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm komm

nach nach nach nach nach nach nach nach nach nach nach nach nach nach nach nach nach nach

dessau dessau dessau dessau dessau dessau dessau dessau dessau dessau dessau dessau dessau dessau dessau dessau dessau dessau

komm nach dessau erholen, arbeiten, wohnen dessau (anhalt)

(63) POSTER 2019 Advertising poster for Dessau 2019.

Junge Menschen kommt nach Dessau (Young people come to Dessau)

55

No. III / Green Archipelago

GREEN ARCHIPELAGO The concept “Die Stadt in der Stadt - Berlin das grüne Stadtarchipel” (The city in the city - Berlin a green archipelago) developed in 1977 for the shrinking city of West Berlin was a idea by Oswald Mathias Ungers and his students, to react upon the problem of a shrinking city in a radical way.

The unpredictability in his concept was the unconventional questioning of the ideas behind the concept of the compact city and it based on homogeneity orientated planning idealism (Bodammer et. al. 2010. p.

508).

Since the total surface of the city is finite and given, and can, for political reasons, not be reduced, the concept follows that the city of Berlin has to develop strategies for the controlled decrease of its density in order not to lose its overall urbanity. The concept classified the urban structure of Berlin, based on its typological-morphological characters. The shrinking city offers a clear and unique opportunity to identify and weed out those parts of the city that are, due to architectural or other reasons, seen as irrelevant and to intensify and complete the fragments that would be preserved. As a result, the compact urban structure would be transformed into a structure of individ-

56

ual urban islands defined by strong and concise structural identities. The preserved islands would lie on the otherwise liberated plain of the city, and form an archipelago of architectures in a green lagoon of natures (Hertweck et. al.).

Referring to Oswald Mathias Ungers in the case of the shrinking city of Dessau is not primarily relying upon the substance of using a strategy which is able to curate a selection of strong urban design principals for a controlled decrease of an urban density. Rather, it is the reading of the city as a dialectical principle, which is making the concept relevant for the approach for Dessau. The focus on the relationship between historical city fragments, and the free space as a base layer for those islands make up the importance of this concept (Züger. 2006. p. 2-3). It is the opposition between the clearly defined urban islands and the undefined almost chaotic placement of those islands in the undefined free space, which made this concept highly relevant for the design approach for Dessau.

Unger’s approach was mainly focusing on the definition of the urban island. On the other hand the definition of the free space, in terms of its programmatic appearance is

No. III / Green Archipelago

(64) THE GREEN ARCHIPELAGO - BERLIN Map of Berlin as a Green Archipelago. The focus of the concept was clearly on the morphological qualities of the urban islands, rather than the free space.

57

No. III / Green Archipelago

rather weak. For Ungers the natural grid is primarily incorporating all the necessary infrastructural typologies which are needed in the modern city (Hertweck p. 106).

That’s where the biggest potential and my interpretation for the concept come from.

Other than focusing the attention toward the urban island, my approach for the green archipelago is based on the re-programming of public space. The shrinking city offers the potential to integrate qualities from the surrounding landscape, redefine different layers of public space and thus start the revitalisation process of the city centre of Dessau.

In the concept for Dessau, future development is based on the introduction of a strong landscape carpet, enhancing existing qualities and reprogram undefined public spaces in the city centre. By that, the landscape carpet functions as the base layer, which gives the fragmented urban structure its context back, which got lost during the destruction of the second world war and is continuing to disappear through the process of shrinking.

Thereby the following strategies for the revitalisation of Dessau’s centre core are based on the goal, to create a city centre rich of diverse public life through re-programming of public space. In this sense, the ambition is not coming from the goal to repair what got destroyed in the second world war, but to turn the problem of shrinking into a potential through the use of the concept of the green archipelago.

58

No. III / Green Archipelago

Elbe

A V

D C

B J

E

I

G

F

K

V

H

L M N

P

O Q

R S

U

Mulde Q T Urban Core

V

U V

(65) THE GREEN ARCHIPELAGO - DESSAU A. Recreation B. Settlement C. Dessau-Wörlitz Gartenreich (UNESCO Heritage Site) D. Industry E. Meisterhäuser (UNESCO Heritage Site) F. Settlement G. Campus H. Train Station I. German Environment Agency J. Park K. Settlement L. Theatre M. Settlement N. Stadtpark O. Settlement P. Settlement Q. Shopping R. Historical Centre S. Lustgarten T. Arbeitsamt (Bauhaus) U. Industry V. Leisure

59

No. IV

Strategy Strategy Strategy Strategy

FROM RIVER TO RIVER

p. 62

4 GUIDELINES

p. 64

No. IV / From River to River

FROM RIVER TO RIVER Based on the extensive reading of the current condition and enhanced by the theoretical backbone, the main goal for this project is, to turn the problem of shrinkage into a potential to integrate biodiversity into the urban fabric. By relating to existing qualities, the project strengthens a landscape carpet, running from the river Elbe in the north to the river Mulde in the south. By connecting the already existing qualities in the surrounding landscape, the project starts a revitalisation process and purposes a new way of programming public space in the city centre of Dessau.

The project is not anymore seeing the elements of urban cores and landscape edges as contrasting but rather as related to each other. By that, the project strengthens the public life in Dessau and contextualises the fragmented urban structure.

Focusing on the intersection between the already existing landscape element, of the Dessau Wรถrlitz Gartenreich in the north, and the central urban core, the project introduces a chain of reprogrammed public spaces and strengthened urban islands.

62

Thereby the centre core is understood as an archipelago of different programmatic identities linked by a chain of redefined public spaces and parks, which are not only co-existing with the surrounding landscape but bringing nature into the urban fabric.

No. IV / From River to River

From River

ed arp

eC ap

sc nd La Leisure Edge Landscape Axis

Landscape Element

New Context for the shrinking city New Urban Landscape Break

To River

Urban Core

Landscape Element

(66) CONCEPT DIAGRAM Main Strategy - A continuing landscape carpet from river to river

63

No. IV / 4 Guidelines

4 GUIDELINES Following the main strategy, four guidelines are structuring the revitalisation process and the introduction of the landscape carpet. Those four principals are understood as the most important and bold moves to achieve the strategic goal of this project.

The Landscape Carpet Following the main strategy, the opening move is defined, by the introduction of the landscape carpet into the city centre.

By that, the landscape carpet strengthens the story of the surrounding landscape and makes space to re-program the undefined public spaces in the city centre (see figure 68 page. 66). The landscape carpet is the main element in the overall strategy, both introducing new landscape elements and enhancing already existing places like the Stadtpark and the historical Lustgarten.

The Landscape Axes In relation to the landscape carpet, an existing landscape axis will be enhanced and continued into the city centre. The landscape axis will counteract the strong break coursed by the train tracks and indicated the main flow inside the landscape carpet.

64

Cleaning the Carpet In order to make the landscape carpet a strong element, it is necessary to clear a corridor running through the city. Being the most radical move of this project, the approach is based on the historical understanding of Dessau’s identity in combination with the approach towards the topic of shrinkage. The shrinking city offers the opportunity to clear this corridor and through that rethink the appearance of public space. The cleared corridor is not only letting the surrounding landscape run into the urban fabric, it will also strengthen the connection between the central station and the city centre.

Enhancing the Edge The square meters removed to complete the landscape carped will be used to strengthen the appearance of strategically important islands. Beyond that, the landscape carpet will enhance future development alongside its edge. Through the introduction of the landscape carpet, the city centre will be revitalised and future densification processes enhanced.

No. IV / 4 Guidelines

(67) CONCEPT DIAGRAM - THE ENHANCED CONTEXT The landscape carpet functions as a base layer, contextualises the fragmented urban structure and enhances existing landscape qualities.

65

No. IV / 4 Guidelines

Gartenreich

Urban Core

New Public Carpet

Enhancing Existing Green

Gartenreich

Green Edge

(68) GUIDELINE 1 - INTRODUCING THE GREEN CARPET

66

No. IV / 4 Guidelines

Existing Landscape Axis

Existing Landscape Axis

Strengthen the Axis

(69) GUIDELINE 2 - STRENGTHEN THE AXIS

67

No. IV / 4 Guidelines

ROADS

Clearing the Public Carpet

Strengthen Connection

Enhancing Public Programs

(70) GUIDELINE 3 - CLEANING THE CARPET

68

No. IV / 4 Guidelines

Potential

Parking

Potential Urban Core

Transformed Housing Core

Potential

(71) GUIDELINE 4 - DENSIFYING URBAN CORES AND EDGES

69

No. V

Masterplan Masterplan Masterplan Masterplan Masterplan

THE MASTERPLAN

p. 72

THREE ELEMENTS

p. 78

GREEN CORRIDOR

p. 80

URBAN CORES

p. 92

No. V / Masterplan

MASTERPLAN The starting point of this masterplan is the landscape carpet. As explained earlier the landscape carpet is based on the idea to enhance existing qualities and give a context to the fragmented urban structure. Being the main element of the plan, the landscape carpet connects the different components throughout the city centre. Furthermore, it is the link between the central core and the greater influences from the surrounding urban and landscape elements. As the landscape carpet builds upon existing qualities like the Stadtpark and the station area; it enhances, transforms and adds a chain of public and nature spaces to the city centre.

The most radical element of the masterplan is the previously described cleared corridor allowing the landscape carpet to run into the central core. In the masterplan this corridor is used to add a new park, containing a variety of different programmed spaces, landscape features and gathering spaces.

By reprogramming, the public space in the city centre the landscape carpet is introducing a diverse network of public spaces boosting public life in the city centre of Dessau. Anchor points within the landscape carpet enhance pedestrian flows

72

through the city centre and strengthen its connection to the surrounding cores. These anchor points are placed at spots where the landscape carpet is interrupted. For example an active parking house next to the train tracks as a condenser of public flows linked to the train station.

The masterplan improves public life and pedestrian flows through the city. Thereby the park not only strengthens the connection between train station and city centre but also links the Bauhaus campus to its new museum in the centre. To enhance those pedestrian flows the road in the western edge is closed and only used for bikes and public transport.

Alongside the newly introduced park, different examples of densification strategies are reacting in an unconventional way onto the urban structure. In combination with the patchwork of public spaces, they are adding new living, working and leisure places to the city centre. The densification gives a robustness to the masterplan and could kickstart future densification strategies.

No. V / Masterplan

B A

C

D

E

G F

H

J I K

L

M N

O T

P Q R

U

S

V

W

(72) MASTERPLAN - original scale 1:2.000 (downscaled) A. Gartenreich Dessau Wรถrlitz B. Landscape Axis C. Potential Development Area D. New Pedestrian Bridge E. New Active Parking House F. Bauhaus Campus G. Reorganised Traffic Square H. Enhanced Station Plaza I. Programmed Strip J. Continued Landscape Axis K. Grand Hall L. Theatre M. Small Community Hall N. Sport Strip O. Kindergarten P. Double Block Q. Stadtpark R. Museum S. Shopping Centre T. Super Block U. Market Square V. Potential Development Area W. Lustgarten

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No. V / Masterplan

Landscape Axes

City Entrance New Parking House

Bus Station Existing Parking House

Train Station Lightrail

City Entrance Pedestrian Flow

Lightrail Stop

Closed Street Pedestrian Flow

New Parking

Lightrail Stop

Existing Parking House

Lightrail Stop City Entrance

(73) MOVEMENT By closing down one street and enhancing pedestrian flows through the city, the landscape corridor strengthens the connectivity between station and city centre.

74

No. V / Masterplan

(74) PATCHWORK OF SPACES AND ANCHOR POINTS Anchor points function both as attractions and landmarks within the network of spaces.

75

No. V / Masterplan

Kornhaus

Knarrberg Siedlung

Meisterhäuser

Possibility for Bauhaus Follies Bauhaus

Bauhaus Museum

Arbeitsamt

(75) BAUHAUS AXES The landscape carpet not only links the station to the centre, it also strengthens the connection between the old Bauhaus building and the new museum. Within the green corridor multiple pavilions could enhance the notion of Bauhaus and inform visitors.

76

No. V / Masterplan

(75) INFLUENCES The landscape carpet reacts to influences from the surrounding urban cores and landscape elements. In doing so, the landscape carpet gives a new context to the fragmented urban structure.

77

No. V / 3 Elements

3 ELEMENTS A

B C

D

E

I G F

H

(76) LANDSCAPE CARPET AND URBAN CORES A. Landscape Axis B. Station Plaza C. Station Park D. Element 1 - Green Corridor E. Element 2 - Double Block F. Stadtpark G. Bauhaus Museum H. Green Shopping Centre I. Element 3 - Super Block

78

No. V / 3 Elements

The Masterplan consists of three main elements, which together start the revitalisation process of the city centre. It is both the re-programming of the public space and the densification of strategic important places that enhances the city centre. The three elements highlighted here, are the elements I’m adding to the urban fabric.

It is important to mention, that those elements are not seen as independent units, they are highly connected to the surrounding urban structure; simultaneously adding something new and enhancing existing qualities.

The three main elements: the newly introduced Park, the Double Block and the Super Block, in the following, will be described more specifically focusing on how they boost public life through a close connection between different programmatic identities.

(77) ELEMENTS 1 - GREEN CORRIDOR

(78) ELEMENTS 2 - THE DOUBLE BLOCK

(79) ELEMENTS 3 - THE SUPER BLOCK

79

No. V / Green Corridor

GREEN CORRIDOR The green corridor is the binding element of the masterplan. Continuing the story of the greater landscape, the corridor introduces a diverse patchwork of public spaces to the city centre. Through the placement of diverse programmed places, a sequence of attractions strengthens the main flow from station to the centre. When arriving at the train station, a reorganised traffic square will be found, facilitating different elements of public and private transport, which improves the station as the main intersection of movements.

Strip of Programmes From there, a strip of different programmes invites into the park. As the main element of the park, the strip of programmes is a bold reaction upon the current situation, as it is the opposite of unprogrammed. The strip of programmes facilitates infrastructural needs, playgrounds, sports fields, skate bowl, sculpture gardens, community gardens, fruit trees, water elements, meeting pockets and squares for experimentation. On its western edge, a closed street hosts the already existing light rail, with a stop in the centre of the park. Beside the programmed strip, an asphalt path provides the possibility of internal movement through the park.

80

Divers Green Contrasting the programmed strip, open lawns and wild green areas lets the surrounding landscape run into the city.

Divided by two internal lines, the park reacts on the urban structure and spreads out into the fabric of the city. On its eastern edge, the park is marked by the landscape axis running from river to river. The axis is shaped by a boulevard of trees, which starts in the English landscape gardens of the ‘Dessau WĂśrlitz Gartenreich’.

Anchor Points Within the three lawns, different anchor points are counteracting the programmed strip. A Grand Hall close to the train station attracts people into the park. The Grand Hall is hosting flexible spaces for public use such as a food market. In relation to the old theatre, the park is opening up into a large flexible lawn in its centre.

Framed by a group of trees, small pockets for community use encourage the local community to inhabit the green corridor.

A small hall and a kindergarten strengthen this relation. Running into the Stadtpark, the corridor enhances the existing situation by reprogramming some of the lawns into sculpture and museum gardens.

No. V / Green Corridor

A Zoom A

C

B D

E

F

F

G

H

J

I

Zoom B

K

L

M

N

P O

Q

(80) GREEN CORRIDOR - original scale 1:1.000 (downscaled) A. Landscape Axis B. Station Plaza C. Light Rail Stop D. Strip of Programmes E. Grand Hall F. Asphalt Path G. Inner Line H. Large Flexible Space I. Light Rail Stop J. Theatre K. Inner Line L. Small Hall M. Wild Green N. Light Rail Stop O. Sculpture Garden P. Museum Garden Q. Bauhaus Museum

81

No. V / Green Corridor

Station

Bauhaus

Landscape Axis

Theatre

Stadtoark

(81) RELATIONS

(82) TREE STRUCTURE

The green corridor strengthens the relationship between existing programmes and enhances movement through the city centre.

Three different strategies are established in order to enhance different functions.

Strategy 1: Strictly lined trees to enhance the landscape axis (red) Strategy 2: internal rows of trees dividing the park into three parts (blue) Strategy 3: Wild trees, framing internal pockets (Yellow) referring to existing green conditions (grey)

BAUHAUS

Bike Parking Garden of Movement

Information Terrace

Urban Garden

STATION (86) STRIP OF PROGRAMMES

82

Playgrounds

Multi-Field

Gravel Plaza

Sculpture Plaza

Fruit Garden

No. V / Green Corridor

(83) PROGRAMMED STRIP

(84) OPEN GREEN

(85) MOVEMENT

The main elements of the Park that react in a radical way towards the lack of program in the public space.

To counteract the strictness of the programmed strip, the open green space generates possibilities for inhabiting the green corridor.

Internal flows through the park and link the park to the city (red). Gravel paths indicate a different speed of movement. The flows connected to public transport are located at the edges of the park (blue).

BAUHAUS MUSEUM

Pine Forest

Central Plaza

THEATRE

Makers Square

Skate Bowl

Running Track

Basketball

Multi-Field

Museum Gardens

Tennis Wall

CITY CENTRE

83

No. V / Green Corridor

A

AA

(87) ZOOM PLAN A - STATION AREA, GRAND HALL & CENTRAL LAWN - original scale 1:500 (downscaled) The first zoom within the green corridor focus on the relationship between the station and the grand hall.

The Grand Hall is a permeable structure that integrates the surrounding plaza into the building.

84

No. V / Green Corridor

(88) BIRD’S EYE VIEW - GRAND HALL Framing the Grand Hall with a grid of trees lets the landscape axes spread into the park. Being the main attraction of the park, the Grand Hall can facilitate different programs and public events such as markets, exhibitions, concerts or outdoor cinema nights.

85

No. V / Green Corridor

Inner Path

Playground

Main Path

(89) SECTION AA - THE PARK AND ITS PROGRAMMATIC ORGANISATION - original scale 1:200 (downscaled) This section shows the relationship between the Grand Hall and the programmed strip. These two elements relate to each other by facilitating different programmes and infrastructural needs.

86

Open Lawn

No. V / Green Corridor

Urban Garden

Street Food Plaza

Small Stage

Green Edge

Landscape Axis

87

No. V / Green Corridor

BB

(90) ZOOM PLAN B - LEISURE AREA OF THE PROGRAM STRIP - original scale 1:500 (downscaled) The second zoom shows the small community hall, which opens up toward the city, the kindergarten that lies in a light group of high pine trees and the leisure part of the programmed strip.

88

No. V / Green Corridor

(91) BIRD’S EYE PERSPECTIVE - LEISURE STRIP The leisure strip holds different spaces for outdoor activities such as tennis, basketball or petanque. A change in surface indicates different uses, as opposed to limiting the open space to one specific program to provide the most flexible use possible.

89

No. V / Green Corridor

Semi-Private Courtyard

New Housing

Inner Gardens

(92) SECTION BB - LAYERS OF PUBLIC SPACES - original scale 1:200 (downscaled) The introduction of a park and the densification of the neighbouring block add new layers of public space to Dessau’s city centre. These layers reprogram the public space and result in a boost in the number of public activities.

90

Front Garden

No. V / Green Corridor

Closed Street

Multi-Court

Running Track

Wild Green

91

No. IV / Urban Cores

URBAN CORES In contrast to the green corridor, the urban cores are densifying the city centre. Based on the reading of the city, those urban cores are examples of how densification of the fragmented urban structure could look like. Additionally, the edge of the green corridor offers multiple opportunities for future densification strategies. By strengthening individual areas in the city centre, a revitalisation process is started and public life intensified. The two examples are not understood as an impairment of the historical urban fabric. Moreover, they are referring to historical traces but adding something new. As a result of that, they are true to the identity of Dessau, as a city of modernity.

Double Block As an answer on the un-programmed spaces inside a large courtyard block, the double block densifies a housing block and adds new layers of public, semi-private and private spaces. By the placement of an internal row of houses, the double block strengthens the relationship between public and private and by that reference to the historical urban structure. A garden in the centre of the block alongside small squares at the corners functions as pockets for community use. The corner buildings of the inner row are articulated in a more playful

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way, to invited into the block. In between old and new, small private gardens add a new layer of green into the city centre.

Super Block Due to its location, the densification of this block is based on the goal to add a wide mix of programs. As the block contains multiple typologies and fragments of time, the added buildings pay respect to that by creating small pockets through the various articulation of their typologies. Linked to the shopping centre in the south and the market in the east the main public programs are located around an old factory building in the centre. A passage through an existing 200-meter long housing slab allows the main movement of the landscape carpet to run into the block. The passage between the shopping centre and the superblock is strengthened through a new winter garden on the roof of the shopping centre. Alongside the public programs, different types of housing and working places enhance the relation between living, working and leisure.

Through the densification of this block, the historical centre will be strengthened and the surrounding public programmes enhanced.

No. IV / Urban Cores

(93) DOUBLE BLOCK - original scale 1:1.000 A. Existing Restaurant B. Small Square C. Corner Buildings D. Private Gardens E. Community Gardens F. Inner Road G. Courtyard Garden H. Corner Building I. Small Sqaure

I

H

E D G

F C

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(93) SUPERBLOCK - original scale 1:1.000 (downscaled) A. Bauhaus Museum B. Passage C. Public Condenser D. Transformed Factory E. Playground F. Inner Park G. Bauhaus Hotel H. Existing Brewery I. Arcades J. Inner Street K. Student Housing L. Landscape Axis M. Working Streets N. Market Square O. Roof Gardens

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No. V / Urban Cores

(94) Movement

(95) Hierarchy of Spaces

A one lane road provides the internal movement through the block. Inside the double block, a private path provides access to the gardens.

A large garden in the centre of the block functions as the main public space. Private gardens between the two blocks add a new layer of green space to the city centre. The green edge around the block is a reference to the surrounding green structure.

(96) Corner Buildings

(97) Green Structure

The corner buildings are inviting into the block (red). Two small squares around them, functions as meetings places inside the block (yellow).

A line of trees continues from the green corridor into the block (red). Over time a informal structure of green will grow inside the block (yellow).

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No. V / Urban Cores

(98) Movement

(99) Public Spaces

The internal traffic is reorganised (red) by closing one street at the western side of the block. A parking structure underneath the centre provides parking spots for the block (yellow). Small inner roads create a network of interesting commercial streets.

A passage on the southern edge conects the block to the landscape carpet (blue). Green pockets throughout the block enhance the notion of the landscape corridor expanding into the block.

(100) Program

(101) Green Structure

The main public functions are located around the old factory building (red). Different types of living invite people of different ages to live inside the city centre. The programme is completed by workshops and other workplaces.

Existing green spaces will be enhanced by becoming both wild and ordered green spaces. As part of the landscape axis, a row of trees indicates the passage on the south side of the block (red).

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No. V / Urban Cores

(102) ZOOM PLAN B - RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DOUBLE BLOCK AND THE PARK - original scale 1:500 (downscaled) The densification of the housing block reorganizes the public space inside a large housing block. Different green spaces surround the housing blocks and help to shape an urban but green way of living.

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No. V / Urban Cores

(103) BIRD’S EYE VIEW - DOUBLE BLOCK In contrast to the modernist dream of towers in the park (Y-Towers in the foreground), the double block adds a new layer of green living into the city centre. As the block refers to classic modernist settlement architecture such as the white city of Tel Aviv, the block reinvents the modern spirit and brings it back to Dessau.

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No. V / Urban Cores

(104) ZOOM PLAN C - SUPER BLOCK - original scale 1:500 (downscaled) Located in the historical centre, the super block relates to the surrounding programmes by adding a wide mix of living, working and leisure spaces. The mix of programmes boosts public life in the centre and strengthens the identity of the different historical fragments both inside and outside the block.

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No. V / Urban Cores

(105) BIRD’S EYE VIEW - SUPER BLOCK Different pockets divide the block into a sequence of spaces. Framed by a public condenser, small apartments for Bauhaus researchers and a hotel transform former factory functions into becoming the public heart of the block.

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No. VI

Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion Conclusion

No. VI / Conclusion

MODERN ATTITUDE The initial motivation for this project came from the fascination for Bauhaus and the occasion of its 100 year anniversary. My theoretical reflection on the Bauhaus idea and analysis of Dessau’s identity have resulted in me understanding modernity to be an attitude rather than simply a particular architectural period. In this way, the project managed to avoid a nostalgic use of Bauhaus but gained from the indestructible idea behind it.

The large scale mapping and analysis of Dessau’s historical development have resulted in a reading of Dessau as a fragmented city. These fragments appear as islands without context due to large parts of the city being destroyed during the Second World War and they have become more pronounced due to the current problem of shrinkage. Further reading underlined the importance of developing an unconventional revitalisation strategy that elevates Dessau’s identity while tying together the fragmented urban structure.

By proposing a masterplan that is both embedded in the fragmented urban structure and adding something new, the projects transforms the problem of the shrink-

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ing city into an opportunity. The ambition compose in addressing the landscape carpet - both revitalisation strategy and context for the fragments of time.

The purposed masterplan, is as such, my way of tackling the problem of shrinkage with the spirit of modernity.

The modern attitude of this project lies in: - the integration of the landscape carpet, as a bold move to tackle the problem of shrinking.

- the clearing of a green corridor running through the city.

- the articulation of a highly programmed park as a reaction upon the lack of programme in public space.

- the densification, that emphasises the connection between living, working and leisure.

The modern spirit spread from Dessau around the world and influenced the appearance of multiple cities. I wish to continue to search for the modern spirit and discover places in the world where the indestructible ideas of the Bauhaus were powerfully expressed, cities such as Tel Aviv and Chicago.

No. VI / Conclusion

CV Fall 2013 - Spring 2018 HafenCity University Hamburg Bachelor of Science in Urban Planning Fall 2016 Exchange Aarhus School of Architecture - Studio 1A 7th Semester: Rethinking tourism in the coastal city of Hvide Sande Spring 2017 SLETH A/S, Aarhus Internship Fall 2017 Fehlig Moshfeghi Architekten, Hamburg Student Worker Spring 2018 - Spring 2019 Aarhus School of Architecture - Studio 1A 8th Semester: Masterplan for Sydhavnen Aarhus 9th Semester: Rethinking the appearance of the shrinking countryside, LangĂĽ

No. VII Index Index Index Index Index Index Index

LITERATURE

p. 108

ILLUSTRATIONS

p. 109

No. VII / Index

LITERATURE Akbar, Omar; Schulz, Rüdiger in: Ministerium für Stadtentwicklung und Verkehr Sachsen-Anhalt (2010): Internationale Bauausstellung Stadtumbau Sachen-Anhalt 2010 - Weniger ist Zukunft 19 Städte 19 Themen. Jovis. Berlin Bodammer, Alexa; Züger, Roland in: Ministerium für Stadtentwicklung und Verkehr Sachsen-Anhalt (2010): Internationale Bauausstellung Stadtumbau Sachen-Anhalt 2010 - Weniger ist Zukunft 19 Städte 19 Themen. Jovis. Berlin Butter, Andreas (2013): Bauhaus Taschenbuch 16. Die unsichtbare Bauhausstadt Eine Spurensuche in Dessau. Spector Books. Leipzig Hertweck, Florian; Marot, Sebastian (2013): The city in the city - Berlin a green archipelago, A manifesto by Oswald Mathias Ungers and Rem Koolhaas. Lars Müller Publishers. Zürich Oswald Phillip (2014): Dessau 1945. Moderne zerstört: Bauhaus Edition 45.

Spector Books. Leipzig Pfeifer, Ingo et. al. (2016): Dessau/Wörlitz: Architekturführer. DOM publishers.

Berlin Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau (2019): https://www.bauhaus-dessau.de/de/ jubilaeum-2019/architektur-radikal.html Thöner, Wolfgang (2005): From an “Alien, Hostile Phenomenon” to the “Poetry of the Future”: On the Bauhaus Reception in East Germany, 1945–70.

Züger, Roland: “Oswalt Mathias Ungers”, in Bauwelt, Nr. 27, 2006, p. 2-3

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No. VII / Index

ILLUSTRATIONS (0) CONTEXT FOR THE HISTORICAL CITY - own illustration, historical image from the Stadtarchiv Dessau (1) THE HISTORICAL CITY - own illustration, historical image from Stadtarchiv Dessau (2) THE GREEN CITY - own illustration, historical image from Stadtarchiv Dessau (3) LOCATION IN GERMANY - own illustration (4) INNER GERMAN BORDER - own illustration (5) DESSAU’S FAVOURBALE LOCATION IN CENTRAL GERMANY - original drawing by Joost Schmidt (6) DEMOGRAPHICAL CHANGE IN GERMANY - own illustration (7) DEMOGRAPHICAL CHANGE IN SACHEN_ANHALT - own illustration (8) DESSAU IN SACHEN-ANHALT - own illustration (9) ROAD NETWORK - own illustration (10) EDUCATION - own illustration (11) INDUSTRY - own illustration (12) PROTECTED GREEN - own illustration (13) REGION OF MODERNITY - own illustration (14) ORTHOPHOTO OF DESSAU - Landesamt für Vermessung und Geoinformation Sachsen-Anhalt (15) - (27) IMAGES SHOWING THE CONTRASTS OF THE CITY - own images (28) - (33) HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF DESSAU - own illustration based on historical maps (34) LANDMARKS OVER TIME - own illustration (35) THE CITY OF MODERNITY 1930 - illustration based on historical map by Joost Schmidt (36) THE SHRINKING CITY 2019 - own illustration (37) THE CITY OF MODERNITY 1930 - INHABITANTS - illustration based on graphics by Joost Schmidt (38) THE SHRINKING CITY 2019 - INHABITANTS - own illustration (39) - (42) HISTORICAL IMAGES - images from the Stadtarchiv Dessau (43) DESSAU’S URBAN CORE - own illustration (44) URBAN STRUCTURE OF DESSAU - own illustration (45) DESSAU’S GREATER LANDSCAPE - own illustration (46) - (48) HISTORICAL MASTERPLANS - maps from the Stadtarchiv Dessau (49) LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS - own illustration (50) DEVELOPMENT OF THE COURTYARD BLOCK - own illustration (51) MAIN AXES IN THE CENTRE CORE - own illustration (52) INFLUENCES FROM THE SURROUNDING CORES - own illustration (53) - (56) THE URBAN CORE - own illustrations (57) POSTER MODERN ATTITUDE - FROM DESSAU INTO THE WORLD - own Illustration (58) - (61) HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS AND IMAGES - (62) POSTER 1929 - by Hannes Meyer (63) POSTER 2019 - own illustration (64) THE GREEN ARCHIPELAGO - BERLIN - illustration by Oswald Mathias Ungers (65) THE GREEN ARCHIPELAGO - DESSAU - own illustration (66) CONCEPT DIAGRAM - own illustration (67) CONCEPT DIAGRAM - THE ENHANCED CONTEX - own illustration (68) - (71) GUIDELINE1-4 - own illustration (72) MASTERPLAN - own illustration (73) - (75) ELEMENTS OF THE MASTERPLAN - own illustrations (76) LANDSCAPE CARPET AND URBAN CORE - own illustration (77) ELEMENT 1 - GREEN CORRIDOR - own illustration (78) ELEMENT 2 - THE DOUBLE BLOCK - own illustration (79) ELEMENT 3 - THE SUPERBLOCK - own illustration (80) GREEN CORRIDOR - own illustration - own illustration (81) - (85) DIAGRAMS OF THE GREEN CORRIDOR - own illustration (86) STRIP OF PROGRAMMES - own illustration (87) ZOOM PLAN A - STATION AREA, GRAND HALL & CENTRAL LAWN - own illustration (88) BIRD EYE PERSPECTIVE - GRAND HALL - own illustration (89) SECTION AA - THE PARK AND ITS PROGRAMMATIC ORGANISATION - own illustration (90) ZOOM PLAN B -LEISURE AREA OF THE PROGRAMMED STRIP - own illustration (91) BIRD EYE PERSPECTIVE - LEISURE STRIP - own illustration (92) SECTION BB - LAYERS OF PUBLIC SPACE - own illustration (93) DOUBLE BLOCK AND SUPER BLOCK - own illustrations (94) - (101) - DIAGRAMS DOUBLE BLOCK AND SUPER BLOCK - own illustrations (102) ZOOM PLAN B - RELATION BETWEEN THE DOUBLE BLOCK AND THE PARK - own illustration (103) BIRD EYE PERSPECTIVE - DOUBLE BLOCK - own illustration (104) ZOOM PLAN C - SUPER BLOCK - own illustration (105) BIRD EYE PERSPECTIVE - SUPER BLOCK - own illustration

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Special thanks to the teachers from studio 1A for their support during the thesis project.

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