Second Place for Our Proposal "New Dorf" at the Baufeld Süd on the Dragoner Areal

The Dragoner Areal is one of the major inner-city development areas for residential construction. WBM, as the owner of the Baufeld Süd, invited us to design the residential environment as part of a competitive VgV procurement process.

NEW DORF is not an image, but a decision. The design interprets the rural not as a quotation, but as a spatial attitude of city landscapes. It relies on simplicity, self-evidence, and appropriation – and in doing so deliberately contradicts an over-designed, functionally over-coded urban landscape. In the programmed city, we placed our bet on a counterpoint: open space that needs no explanation – it simply works. Design emerges from scale and use: paths become places to linger, meadows become places to meet, edges become seating. Play is not programmed but happens intuitively and through appropriation – particularly since the neighbouring playground takes on the classic play functions from swings to slides, thereby covering the formal play provision within the neighbourhood.

Unfortunately we were not quite able to convince the jury, but at the very least we hope to have sparked a discussion about what a residential environment should look like today.