Students:  Nicolas Ganz, Bettina Dobler

A sequence of chambers - a framework for a new development strategy

The Ergolz valley is constituted by two linear elements: The river and the trainline. All historic centres, industrial areas and service providers are located between these elements. Beyond these borders the settlement consist mainly of single family houses. These growing residential pockets are the main threat to the unbuilt. Since we do not consider their typology or density desirable they shall be frozen. All further densification should happen in the stripe.

The topographical conditions and the forest edge give the Ergolz valley a rhythm of six chambers. The clarification of their edges by of introducing additional forest buffers allows a better reading of their sequence. By adding a clear border to the settlement with a path and landscape interventions the pressure on the unbuilt shall be inversed to the inside of the strip. The neglected river is activated by a continuous path  and a series of recreational areas. Between the river and the train an newly introduced tramline negotiates between the speed of the train and the flaneur at the waterside. By introducing green cross-links at every other station formerly unattractive spaces are activated. Overlaying the therefore created “map of potentials” with the map of the building reserve zones and the proposed crosslinks indicates possible areas of future “inner”development.