” Skyscrapers “offer effective residential and workplace in cities– and affect the look of a city like hardly any other building, both in the immediate surroundings and from afar. “In planning, this impact must be thought about with specific care, for example near historic churches or in interaction with other crucial city components. At the very same time, high‑rise structures can create a connection to the larger urban context, for instance by framing a square or marking a spatial border in between areas. To do justice to their special role, an overarching concept is needed,” discusses adj. Prof. Michael Schwarz, describing the choice of this year’s subject, which he and adj. Prof. Olaf Schmidt coordinated with the City of Dortmund.
The 2 architects jointly launched the International Spring Academy in 2013. In a ten‑day workshop, students develop new ideas genuine preparation areas in cross‑university teams, accompanied by teaching staff from the taking part European universities. This process creates global networks and relationships that accompany students into their professional lives: for example, Italian alumni of the program have joined German architecture companies after completing their research studies.
Analysis of Central Districts
This time, the aspiring architects evaluated the Wallring and the B1 area in between the Schnettker Bridge and the B236 in depth and developed high‑rise principles based on the issues they determined. “The teams discovered that the Wallring, which mainly follows the historic city walls, has over time been transformed into a pure traffic path and now acts practically like a barrier between the town hall and the surrounding property districts– both spatially and financially,” discusses Michael Schwarz. “To strengthen the inner city, some trainee groups therefore designed a framing of the significant traffic gain access to points with high‑rise structures, recalling the old city gates.”
The B1 likewise carries many individuals through Dortmund every day, but can only be crossed at a couple of points, implying it separates city areas instead of welcoming individuals into them. The trainees therefore developed a large range of proposals that share a common objective, says Michael Schwarz: “Due to the fact that the federal highway likewise forms a crucial east‑west axis at the local level and connects high‑traffic destinations such as the Westfalenhallen or the arena, the groups incorporated the city boundaries architecturally to give visitors a strong first impression and a remarkable final image of Dortmund through new visual accents. In addition, they integrate the B1 into the metropolitan context by utilizing specific high‑rise structures to create targeted relationships with adjacent areas, for instance at the Westfalenpark.”
Exchange With the City
As part of the last review on 11 March, the trainees openly provided their designs at the Baukunstarchiv NRW. This year, the teams dealt with true‑to‑scale 3D computer models due to the big dimensions included; these had been prepared by TU students in a joint semester workshop. The final paperwork is also provided to the city each year. Olaf Schmidt states: “The extensive exchange produces various benefits for both sides. The trainees take advantage of practice‑oriented work on existing urban‑development topics. Through the general public presentation of the outcomes, specific projects or pertinent parts of them may stream into more factors to consider of the planning administration or a minimum of offer motivation.” Another International Spring Academy is planned for 2027.