Wohnen in Potsdam

Competition in two phases for urban development of the Krampnitz area.

Place: Potsdam, Germany

Date: 2018

Design: Arenas Basabe y Palacios + LandLab

Authors: Enrique Arenas, Luis Basabe, Luis Palacios and Miriam García.

Collaborators: Jorge Sedano, Chiara Intreccialagli, Lucía Leva, Cristel Bello, Andreas Benéitez, Franca Sonntag, Paola Cuitiva, Sebastian Ballan, Victor Manuel Álvarez and Caroline Nogueira.

 The contest sought ideas for the conversion of the Krampnitz area, an old military barracks and contiguous 83-hectare plot bordering a forest to the north, fields to the west and a suburban development to the southeast. We aim to include the values ​​of these landscapes in a complex urban fabric, diverse and dense but at the same time porous, with a low ecological footprint and with a human scale. We highlight 3 urban scenarios that define the character of the new neighborhood, having associated characteristic uses, different nature of the free spaces and various building types:

     The boulevard: in a suburban-rural context, is the element of concentration of urbanity of the new neighborhood: density and mix of functions are confined in a more continuous building, both closed and open, building the commercial facade and services of the boulevard , which houses a tram line, collective car parks and regional bus stops.

    The 'park': we do not define a closed design free space, but a canvas on which to apply a palette of landscape tools, based on water management, its control of the water table, the incorporation of crops and native species, as well as purification processes of the former contaminated sites. Measured blocks of housing in height, type 'Stadtvilla', define a discontinuous front, vibrant and porous to the new central free space.

    The street: aware of the environment in which we work, we propose a suburban street, defined by the fronts of hedges, the gardens and the building of open block, row houses, couplets and unifamiliares towards the forest, that extends in green axes North -Sur and combines with the diversity of types in a mixed fabric that maintains the human scale, natural and ecological character.