Temporary and Tactical (Re)Appropriation of the Car-Dominated Public Realm
Design Studio "The Look of Zero" Summer 2023
Symphony in Red is the name the US-American artist John Henry gave his large red sculpture which stands in the centre of Königsworther Platz along the City Ring in Hannover. The more common im-
age that comes to mind when viewing the steel structure is the game Mikado. The sticks hang in the air, frozen amidst their fall. A fitting analogy, as it seems this intersection has been frozen in the time of Hillebrecht’s vision of the Car Friendly City. Frozen too, are the biological soil processes, prevented by the significant degree of impervious surfaces covering the square - 82%. I would say, perhaps dramatically - though fittingly so - that the earth under these bricks has been killed, all in the name of the 45000 cars that speed over the tarmac every day. Cars filled with fuel a la Putin or perhaps sucked out of unceded Indigenous territories.
age that comes to mind when viewing the steel structure is the game Mikado. The sticks hang in the air, frozen amidst their fall. A fitting analogy, as it seems this intersection has been frozen in the time of Hillebrecht’s vision of the Car Friendly City. Frozen too, are the biological soil processes, prevented by the significant degree of impervious surfaces covering the square - 82%. I would say, perhaps dramatically - though fittingly so - that the earth under these bricks has been killed, all in the name of the 45000 cars that speed over the tarmac every day. Cars filled with fuel a la Putin or perhaps sucked out of unceded Indigenous territories.
MIKADO AT THE CROSSROADS is about releasing the illusion that we hold control within the chaos of a changing climate. It’s about finding comfort and building resilience by co-creating space through joyful experimentation. It’s about reparations for harms done. On a material level, the concept implements temporality as a tactic for long-term change to the urban fabric towards a future in which the soil can breathe again.
LOCALIZATION
Dominos around the Ring Road
LAYERS OF LANDSCAPE
MEETING OF THE 'HOODS
Meeting point between three neighbourhoods: Nordstadt (green), Mitte (including Altstadt, Blue), and Callenberger Neustadt (grey).
ABUNDANT SPACE
The development of the City Ring created abundant space between buildings. As private car traffic is phased out, a huge opportunity for public space appears.
TRANSIT POINT
Today, Königsworther Platz is the connector between the freeway ring and the city ring - for the car. This infrastructure can be implemented for other uses.
WATERWAYS
Connection to major waterways are within a 10 minute walk. In the name of the City Ring, an arm of the Leine was filled in. Closure to car traffic opens the potential for fluvial restoration.
ECOLOGICAL CORRIDOR
Königsworther Platz stands in stark contrast to the Herrenhäuser Alle and the old graveyard which surround it. Potential to connect these greenspaces.
ACTANTS
MEASURING SPACE
Right: Königsworther Platz, as demarcated by the shown boundary, is comprised of 82% impervious surfaces (4094/5000 squares with more than 50% impervious surface). Scale: 1:1000
AN ORDINARY DAY
The initial action to transform Königsworther Platz into a space for people has already started! It is spearheaded by the networks of people interested in shaping the city.
LEINEMASCH BLEIBT
STUDENTS FOR FUTURE
AM BREMER DAMM
KÖ20 NACHBARSCHAFTSLADEN
FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE
E-DAMM FÜR ALLE
MANY CROSSROADS LEAD TO KÖNNIGSWORTHER PLATZ...
GOALS
CHAOS + ORDER
SPIRALLING TIME + SPACE
A. EXPERIMENT + BUILD SOCIAL CAPITAL
B. COGNITIVE + BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE
C. MATERIAL CHANGE
INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES FOR COLLECTIVE ACTIVATION
LIVING LABORATORY
EVOLUTION
PHASE 1
A. GATHER: initial meeting of interested groups and individuals through an invitation for a jam session at Königsworther Platz. Oversized Mikado pieces are used as building blocks to demarcate space. Music, dance, public art - these are the mediums of our convergence.
B. MEASURE: create a human chain to understand the magnitude of space between facades and test out new meanings for public space. Create a connection to place through the activation of the five senses.
C. MOBILIZE: the first section of the intersection is closed to private car traffic and significant chunks of impervious surface are removed.
PHASE 2
A. EXPAND: actively invite residents from the three neighbourhoods to join. Create a sense of belonging through community gardening, sharing food, and farmers' markets.
B. REASSOCIATE: moments of pause increase in duration and frequency. Königsworther mutates from a high-speed through-zone to an open-air kitchen and living room.
C. CONNECT: Callenberger Neustadt and Nordstadt are linked through the closure of Königsworther Straße and Schloßwender Straße to private car traffic. Parking spots turn to parks and patios.
PHASE 3
A. CONFRONT: the social network is now strong enough to open challenging conversations with actors representing opposing demands on public space
B. TRANSPORT AS PASTIME: transportation is understood as more than a means to travel from A to B and much more a source of positive endorphins and fresh air.
C. PLAY: half of the Bremer Damm is closed to car traffic, an active transportation corridor with nooks for nature fascination, hop scotch, a picnic, table tennis offers vacation in the day-to-day.
PHASE 4
A. SHARE: city-shapers from other neighbourhoods, cities and continents are invited to learn from the process of city-making codeveloped by the actants at Königsworther Platz.
B. REFLECT: looking back, we bewilder the thought that this space used to be limited and controlled by white lines and traffic lights.
C. CONVERGE + GROW: the second half of Bremer Damm and the final lanes of the City Ring are closed to private car traffic. Multiple stages of vegetative succession can be observed throughout the intersection through the phased removal of impervious surfaces.
