Overture Ottensheim

Goals of the Course
To guide sustainable developments in rural areas, visions are needed. The challenges facing a municipality are very similar nationwide, including an aging population, shrinking public infrastructure offerings, and an increase in vacant properties. Strategies are required to recognize, connect, and strengthen local potentials with the aim of preserving the identity of the place and providing impulses for new generations. In the context of design and the associated excursion, the supervisory team aims to show architecture students planning tools and possible approaches, to develop them, and to discuss them together.

Background
Municipalities on the outskirts of cities encounter challenges in coping with their tasks. One way to actively counteract this is through municipal cooperation. To take advantage of opportunities locally, it is necessary to first become aware of these strengths and recognize them as such. In addition to the dormant potentials of proximity to the city, the issue of mobility resonates in the everyday lives of people in the Urfahr West region. Mobility is a significant accelerator of the decline of town centers, a subject undergoing a paradigm shift. Old concepts, designed for motorized individual transport, are on the verge of final implementation in Linz after decades of discussion and being shelved, while negative impacts of such planning elsewhere have already led to a rethink, expansion of public transportation, and a departure from motorized individual transport. In this tension, the theme of mobility is examined in the Urfahr region, and unbiased, comparable, and applicable examples are sought. For example, the "gate situation" of the municipality of Ottensheim will be revitalized by developing a comprehensive concept.

Key Topics of the Design studio
Gate formation/identity/profiling, including "Green Production," vertical production "Lagerhaus_Neu," and adjacent agricultural areas or connection to the Ottensheim market. Genius Loci vs. anonymity of transportation infrastructure. Making the hidden quality of life in Ottensheim along the B127 visible. Flood protection for Bleicherbach/connection/crossing of the Ottensheim market core - Niederottensheim district. Park&Ride Mühlkreisbahn/tram in connection with a new concept for the warehouse.

Design Phases
Analysis + in-depth research through independent research - presentations/inputs from experts/observations of best examples. Excursion + reflection. Analogy-contrasts to the design area.
Design of the overall concept (plenum) / spatial and use sequence along the B127.
Design of sub-areas (small group work) / elaboration of selected themes/areas.

Brochure for download:

• Overture Ottensheim 2019.pdf