Widum

The task deals with the essence of the center - the "public good" as a place of exchange and social coexistence and the importance of the cultural center of the community and its development potentials on the basis of the extended term "Widum".

Village centers fulfill the essential public functions for the population of rural settlement areas and were originally created through various aspects: historical possessions and buildings of cultural importance, fertile agricultural land for supply, efficient protection facilities and settlement activity, convenient trade routes with administration and community facilities.
The landscape surrounding the South Tyrolean village of Burgstall in the Valley of the Adige River near Merano is characterized by extensive fruit-growing areas, which were created in the 19th century by draining the marshland along the river bed. The ruins of the historic "burgstall" fortifications, together with the church and the Widum (parish estate), stood on a platform above the valley and, together with the school, formed the clearly recognizable core of the village. Along the superordinate road network of the motorized traffic that began in the 20th century, a new, elongated settlement developed in the valley to the west of Burgstall, consisting of housing estates, commercial buildings, business premises and local amenities.
The original center on the protective slope increasingly lost its significance and cultural identity.

The result of the debate is a design proposal for the former village square with its existing and new, complementary buildings. The lost village center is to be reactivated and functionally expanded and reconstructed with cultural offerings.
In between, a newly organized open space is to be created: with high architectural quality and a coherent, attractive connection to the settlement below.