TERRITORIAL SCALE: CONURBATION
Kapfenberg is one of the most important industrial towns of Upper Styria, profiting from achievements such as the passing by railway line (Vienna/Trieste) and its extraordinary steel production Until today housing and infrastructure of exceptional quality characterize the image of the city. With the steel crisis (1980s) Kapfenberg had to face the decrease of inhabitants. But its strong investments in education, sports and the service sector which helped Kapfenberg to diminish the loss of its inhabitants as opposed to comparable towns of the steel region.

URBAN SCALE: STUDY SITE
The fortress mountain provides excellent leisure facilities and separates Diemlach from the town centre: topographically it seems to be part of the neighbouring town Bruck/Mur. Along the road, different housing programs mark the border to the cornfields (site), including an asylum-home, the “Hungarian-houses”, single family homes. Adjacent to a school (architect F. Schuster) a recent row-housing project will be extended in 2007. With the development of the cornfields to an attractive housing area Diemlach should become an exemplary place for the city’s sustainable housing policy.

Programmatic intentions :
Various types of housing shall structure the extension of the existing settlements. Especially the topographic situation and the bordering nature shall inspire to specific treatment of the outdoor spaces, not forgetting the noise source of the train.

PROXIMITY SCALE: SITE OF PROJECT
In a first phase 60 housing units shall be developed, framed by steep terrain (north and east), by school and housing (west), and by a “corn labyrinth” (south) which will operate the next 5-10 years. The topographical situation demands an intelligent landscape design with a concept that manages high –water issues as well as conflicts between housing and different noise-sources (train, playing grounds). Archaeological records have detected underground-remnants of the Bronze age in parts of the area.

Programmatic intentions :
In continuation of the recent and actual housing development, different types of housing of moderate density should address an attractive living program, including educational facilities and a public green area.