Make some space!
"Neighborhood is not a place; it is an attitude" (David Sim, Soft City, 2019). There could not be a better description of the conceptual guideline for the joint design project of the Chair and Institute of Urban Design of the RWTH Aachen University and the Academy of Craft Design Gut Rosenberg of the Aachen Chamber of Crafts.
The reality often looks like this: Our cities are becoming denser and the public space has been neglected in many ways. This has an impact - especially on the quality of life in places. The design of public spaces is "aging" and in need of care.
Since March, a total of 30 students at the two institutions under the direction of Dipl.- Ing university professor Christa Reicher and designer Patricia Yasmine Graf (Chair and Institute of Urban Design) and lecturer Lies-Marie Hoffmann M.A. (Academy of Craft Design) have been working on conceptual and design proposals for the redesign of these places with the aim of improving the quality of life in the city center of Aachen, using the example of Augustinerplatz in Aachen and the Talbot parking lot between the seminar building of the RWTH, the Institute of Electrical Machines (IEM) and the Aerodynamic Institute.
The design work provides answers to the question of how to promote communal activities on the sites and which design supports communication and encounters between people.
The results are designs and models for seating, a boules sand court, an event stage/area, concepts that take up the square's subsoil, play with the theme of water or use covered areas as a "marketplace of exchange" and a "play with Augustine" that can be seen as a basis for discussion on the redesign of public space.
Christa Reicher, Patricia Yasmine Graf and Lies-Marie Hoffmann are convinced: The joint project "Mach mal Platz!" has not only helped their respective students in their development. It will also promote discussion among decision-makers in the city about the quality of places to stay.
On Friday, September 4, 2020, the designs and models were presented to the public in the underpass at the Audimax in Aachen. All interested residents and citizens were able to view the designs on this day and to talk to the students.