LOCATION
The Ludwigsfeld housing estate occupies a special, even somewhat peculiar position on the outskirts of Munich. Like an island, surrounded by fields and green spaces, directly in the neighbourhood of a large industrial area, it forms the tree-covered home for today's residents. Not planned as a housing estate, but as an isolated, heavily secured, easily supervised order of barracks, close to a factory for which the people who were imprisoned here had to do forced labour. So it was not the favour of a scenically impressive, green residential location that led to the first buildings of the existing nucleus, but the pragmatic detention of prisoners. And yet, in the course of its history, the Ludwigsfeld settlement finally underwent a gradual rededication to a residential area, to a scenic, cherished settlement on the edge of the city. The task now calls for a perspective for the further development of the settlement, but today not because of but in spite of its proximity to the factories and the city streets.
OCCUPATION
First of all, the existing qualities of the settlement must be supported and safeguarded. These are above all the simple typologies of the existing buildings and the overall urban ensemble that results above all from the interplay of these buildings with the stately trees. This structure is strengthened by precisely placed and dimensioned additions of a new type. Compact atrium houses and open pergola courtyards create a residential mix that complements the existing buildings and more varied residential locations. The Onyxplatz, freed from through traffic, is strengthened as the local centre of the existing settlement by a small shop unit and a daycare centre. Important open spaces such as the so-called "roller skating slab" and other defining internal open spaces will be preserved. Existing pathways are strengthened and new, partly informal paths are upgraded and defined. The existing open spaces are understood as a common green space with the new residents.
A NEW QUARTER
Along Karlsfelder Straße, two decisive parameters require a north-side consolidation of the neighbourhood. On the one hand, the unalterable course of an existing canal suggests a kind of spatially opening route through the placement of the buildings; on the other hand, the existing tree population must not be reduced excessively. An ensemble of rotated, IV-XII storey houses and spatially opening passages are the result of these considerations. The open spaces along these buildings create new, green areas for the residents. In the east, the new ensemble is complemented by a neighbourhood garage. To the south and east, facing the open landscape, there are compact yet open courtyards, which on the one hand can ensure the defined noise protection goals for the motorway running to the south, but on the other hand also provide an alternative, high-quality O/W-oriented offer of urban living that complements the settlement model of the existing buildings. Manageable neighbourhood modules mediate between the open landscape and the neighbourhood, open up to their respective neighbours and define spatially defined public spaces that serve to link the existing settlement and the new structures. Such an urban space, designed as a neighbourhood square, is formed in the north from the public building blocks of the school, the large retail trade and complementary uses such as daycare centres and shops. To the south, the neighbourhood square will be connected via a car-free alley to another, smaller square, which will serve as a neighbourhood centre, a possible public transport stop and a reference space for the new series of neighbourhood building blocks, with urban uses such as a neighbourhood meeting place. The two public spaces described also serve as urban stepping stones along the connection of the adjacent open landscape, through the structure of the residential courtyards described to the memorial and further, across the new park into the interior of the existing Ludwigsfeld. At the defining places of the new neighbourhood, at the entrance in the southwest, at the neighbourhood square and at the southern end of the inner lane, there is in each case a contour-superimposing high point that corresponds to the landscaped, open character of Ludwigsfeld. The new district thus shows a structure of different new and existing urban spaces, scales and typologies, which correspond to the idea of dividing the plan area into manageable units and fulfil the desire for the development of individual building sections.
OPEN SPACE
The Ringpark as a connection and frame for the existing settlement and as a link to the new quarters is the overriding design approach for securing, promoting and developing the existing open space qualities. This also creates the identity for the new urban extensions. New pedestrian connections create good inward networking and neighbourhoods between existing and new housing. An alternation of green and urban alleys, free of individual traffic, links the new neighbourhood with public transport stops and mobility centres. Sheltered residential courtyards and intensive rooftop uses complement the multi-layered open space offer. The partially underbuilt courtyards allow for the planting of large trees and infiltration areas that contribute to sustainable water management in addition to retention roofs.
