WIEN
runner up: "urban streams"
team leader: Sven KLÖCKER (DE)
The project shows an interesting approach on an intermediate scale: the flows surround islands that counter fragmentation by offering specific structures for densification. The elevated plate of the ground floor gives light to the underground parking area but at the same time separates the island from its surroundings, thus bringing up a contradictory aspect of place and flows, privatization and exposure. On the other hand, the tension between autonomy and flow endows the project with qualities independently from the surrounding development: the project works well either alone or embedded in a new development. The clear hierarchy of transitional spaces acts convincingly on the 3 scales of the neighborhood, the housing cluster and the housing units. The inserted gardens could be developed further on in order to allow inner coherency within the transitional labyrinth.
At the same time compact and fragile, the project could be read as a radical comment in normal disguise when it comes to the issue of social housing. On the first glimpse the “luxurious” setting of a terraced housing type does not address the issue of social housing. The small clusters bring with them a high amount of elevators and staircases. Yet, in other regions of Europe (Mediterranean areas, southern France) this type of social housing actually works. Also, the broken fronts of the facades inject an important quality in social housing. In this sense the Mediterranean graft could introduce a potential whose efficiency should be tested in areas such as Vienna. The design itself is carefully laid out and of high quality.
(Excpert jury report)