Südraum, Leipzig
with Atelier Phusis, 1993-1994
Südraum Leipzig is a place that has experienced massive landscape devastation resulting from over sixty years of brown coal pit mining. The landscape at present is comprised of vast craters 200 meters deep that cover dozens of square kilometers. It is destined to become a large water park for the city of Leipzig by the year 2050, replete with lakes, “new rivers”, wet prairies, forests and new residential areas. This winning project concept results from a complex topological study of the site‘s water infrastructure rehabilitation, which will extend over into the next half century. Beyond the restoration of the hydrological system, a landscape regeneration program is defined as well as a circulation network that can insure the economical & development of this region. Varied topographic typologies are to be built by the same industrial technology that eradicated the landscape identity of this large territory. The result design offers a complex reweaving, utilizing machines on hand to regenerate, with time, a new landscape and economy.