Staging the landscape - a cross-border architecture exhibition in the open space of the Alpine Rhine Valley

back to overview

Type and Duration

FFF-Förderprojekt, January 2021 until December 2021 (finished)

Coordinator

Architecture

Main Research

Sustainable Planning and Construction

Description

Internal densification is putting increasing pressure on public open spaces. In recent years, a paradigm shift has taken place in how settlements should be developed: They should be densified and thought from the landscape (Brandl & Fausch, 2016; Brandl, Fausch & Moser, 2018). The romanticized image of the Arcadian landscape is contrasted with the reality of highways that cut through monocultivated farmland in a sprawling area. It becomes clear that landscapes must be better staged/ displayed in order to create high-quality retreats for the growing population. Denn "Landschaften sind sta?ndigen Vera?nderungen un-terworfen. Es ist deshalb wichtig, dass ihre Qualita?ten in die Planung einbezogen werden, und zwar sowohl in la?ndlichen als auch in urbanen Ra?umen" (Raumkonzept Schweiz 2012, S.44).
Large-scale architecture exhibitions in the open space have always displayed landscapes. The International Building Exhibition IBA See in the Fürst Pückler Land, for example, designed various landscape parks between 2000 and 2010, the European Capital of Culture Ruhr:2010 transformed the Zeche Zollverein into a cultural center, the Swiss national exhibition Expo.02 exposed architecture in and around Lake Neu-enburg, and regionale2010 transformed Cologne's Rhine boulevard. The exhibitions function as heteroto-pic places, where in a fixed period of time and in laboratory-like conditions, architectures are created and processes are initiated, which have an effect beyond the exhibition period and are to be continued (Durth, 2010). It can be seen that large-scale architecture exhibitions are increasingly implementing sustainable and regional planning goals (Kaps, 2018; Pachaly, 2008).
"Culture led regeneration" has been studied primarily in an urban context (Bailey, Miles & Stark, 2004; Bianchi, 1999; García, 2005). For according to Heinrichs (2003, p.43), the "cities are the nucleus of cultural work" in Europe. This view is to be questioned by this research project and refuted using the example of the Alpine Rhine Valley as a region. According to Liechtenstein's first Creative Industries Report (Staub, Jochum Gasser, Kaps & Martinez, 2014), 19.6% of all workplaces in Liechtenstein are in the creative in-dustries. This is very high compared to metropolitan areas and shows that culture has the potential to be used as a motor in Liechtenstein and the Alpine Rhine Valley.
This research project aims to investigate how a staging of landscape by means of large-scale architecture exhibitions can initiate spatial development processes with the help of culture and from the open spaces. Based on a dual approach - on the one hand by means of a historical study and on the other hand by case study analyses of large-scale spatial and architectural exhibitions in public open spaces and with the invol-vement of the design studio - planning tools will be identified that use such exhibitions as incubators of spatial planning developments based on the landscape. The aim of the project is to develop a concept paper for a cross-border exhibition in the public open space of the Alpine Rhine Valley.

Reference to Liechtenstein

Weiche Standortfaktoren gewinnen zunehmend an Wichtigkeit bei der Entwicklung und beim Heraus-arbeiten eines unverwechselbaren Profils von Städten und Regionen (Häusermann & Siebel, 1993, S.13). Das Alpenrheintal ist ein trinationaler Siedlungs- und Landschaftsraum, für den bereits zahlrei-che Raumkonzepte entwickelt wurden. Das Raumkonzept Liechtenstein 2020 strebt an, "seine Kultur-landschaft als wichtigen Standortfaktor" zu nutzen, zu schützen und zu stärken und "die überörtliche Zusammenarbeit mit den Gemeinden und Nachbarregionen" zu intensivieren (vgl. auch Raumkonzept Schweiz, 2012, S.38-39). Laut erstem Kreativwirtschaftsbericht Liechtensteins (Staub et al., 2014) zäh-len 19.6% aller Arbeitsstätten in Liechtenstein zur Kreativwirtschaft. Das ist im Vergleich zu Metropoli-tanräumen sehr hoch und zeigt, dass Kultur das Potenzial hat, als Motor in Liechtenstein und im Al-penrheintal genutzt zu werden. Das Konzept für eine grenzüberschreitende grossformatige Architek-turausstellung im Freiraum soll das Alpenrheintal physisch und narrativ zusammenführen, es als kultu-rellen Standort schärfen und als solches lokal und regional vermitteln.

Keywords

Strategy, Architectural mediation, Theory of Architecture

Project Manager

Project Collaborator