Design Studio WS 23/24

Design Studio WS 23/24: A desire for the countryside: a new quarter for Schöngrabern

The primary school in Schöngrabern is the starting point for this design programme. This building, consisting of two classrooms and a gymnasium, dates back to the 19th century and will soon no longer be used for its original purpose. For this reason, the possibilities for a subsequent use should already be studied now. In the current consideration, however, the adjoining building should also be used. However, the neighbouring environment should also be intensively included in the current consideration. The neighbouring parish church, which is significant in terms of art history, appears particularly striking and is surrounded by a no less interesting open space. The slightly sloping terrain within the larger ensemble is also noteworthy. Moreover, adjoining properties in the immediate vicinity are also to be actively drawn into the expected development scenarios. The village itself used to suffer intensively from high through-traffic, but this has recently been reduced considerably by a bypass road. Now, within the framework of the design exercise, the aim is to combine utilisation concepts with architectural measures that contribute to a meaningful neighbourhood development. The main objective is to develop a realisable overall concept and a concrete, usable design solution for the site in question.

Task

The elementary school in Schöngrabern is the starting point for this design program. This building, consisting of two classrooms and a gymnasium, dates back to the 19th century and will soon no longer be used for its original purpose. For this reason, the possibilities for a subsequent use should be studied now. In the ggst. However, the adjacent surroundings should also be intensively considered. The neighboring art-historically significant parish church appears particularly striking and is surrounded by a no less interesting open space. The slightly sloping terrain within the larger ensemble is also noteworthy. Furthermore, adjacent properties in the immediate vicinity are also to be actively included in the expected development scenarios. The village itself used to suffer intensively from heavy through traffic, although this has recently been significantly reduced thanks to a bypass. Now, as part of the design exercise, the aim is to combine usage concepts with architectural measures that contribute to a meaningful neighborhood development. The main objective is to develop an overall concept that can be realized and a concrete usable design solution for the site in question. place.

Resume

Looking at the results now available for the old elementary school building in the center of Schöngrabern, it quickly becomes clear that the designs were by no means limited to the building itself. Rather, it became a self-imposed goal to further explore the immediate surroundings of the building and to examine references within the grown architectural ensemble in its environment. This was done not least in order to be able to understand the building and its surroundings as a lively town center. The desire to create space in the sense of generating usable levels – both inside and outside – on which social life would be able to settle, could not and should not be held back.

Here, however, the question of “how” and “how much” quickly arises. The question of what could possibly be demolished and how much should be retained in the interests of local identity. The memorable steps and the church building that crowns them become the starting point for almost all the designs. The existing building thus becomes the measure of things to come. It is used to weigh up how much cubature, height or area would be acceptable, always depending on the respective concept or design idea. In this way, the confrontation with the existing building becomes a structural balancing act, on the one hand destroying nothing or as little as possible and on the other hand wanting to create something “new”.

The spectrum ranges from restrained extensions or even only minor changes to the interior of the school building to bold, large-scale extensions or even independent structures above and below ground level in the immediate vicinity of the old school building. It is undoubtedly at this interface between the building and its surroundings that the discourse begins, which will probably need to be further explored.