News From Nowhere - The "Zwischenstadt" in Europe

Project Report by Oliver Bormann, Michael Koch, Astrid Schmeing, Martin Schroeder, Alex Wall

Intention: Zwischenstadt (The city-in-between) is both the urbanized area inbetween and including existing cities, and the process of contemporary urbanization itself. The project offers both a way of seeing this new urban landscape as "city," and offers a spatial and strategic grammar for designers and planners. Different European cityregions are considered, as are projects from a new generation of architects and urban designers.

1 Blind Spots: Large, extensively used but not perceived, areas in the Zwischenstadt such as railroad yards, storage areas, industrial zones, logistic centers, waste disposal sites, waterworks, and military areas. These blind spots contribute to the fragmentary nature of the Zwischenstadt.

2 Appropriation 1: The fragmentation of the Zwischenstadt produces, and demands, new forms of public life, new variations of private as well as public space, all in the name of increasing programmatic density in a dispersed and part-time landscape.

3 Appropriation 2: The humble gas station is private, yet it's architecture is open. Due to its illumination at night, it becomes an inviting stage. Ostensibly pure service, its program is increasingly diverse, and it assumes a pivotal role in the movement oriented Zwischenstadt landscape.

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