Architectural vision – a reference for Europe
The area of the Garage Campus with its existing buildings is to be structurally renewed and further developed. The framework for this is an architectural vision that makes a significant contribution to making the campus an intervention area for the European Capital of Culture 2025 and, far beyond, a showcase project with European appeal. It is inspired by the construction form of a scaffold. The scaffold allows us to reach, connect, elevate and also store and display things in the form of a shelf. It follows the constructive principle of skeleton construction, a central theme in industrial architecture. It allows large spans, can be erected quickly and is modularly expandable, making it ideally suited for multifunctional room designs.
The architectural vision is conceived as nomadic architecture. It can be expanded, reduced or completely deconstructed at any time without leaving any permanent traces. The wooden structure uses only components that can be returned to the circular economy or find a new use directly on site. Construction is standardized to shorten building time and reduce construction costs. For the Garage Campus, this construction method creates a new backbone that brings together the previously heterogeneous development. All new parts complement and strengthen the existing uses, and the landmark site is preserved. The architectural vision, if funding and broad community support can be secured, envisions two major architectural additions – Vertical Kappel and The Bridge – in addition to minor changes.
Vertical Kappel
The structural expansion and reinterpretation of the main building can become a landmark visible from afar on Zwickauer Strasse and for the Kappel district. It creates space for the diverse use scenarios that will animate the Garage Campus in the future – workshops, startups, studios, showrooms, laboratories and rehearsal rooms. The flexible usable and modular wooden structure can adapt to the diverse and dynamic uses and grow in staggered construction phases. It is expandable and deconstructable and can be fully recycled. The dynamic process of appropriation by the users remains visible despite the striking and dominating wooden structure, as the rooms can be divided variably and can be made available in different standards of construction.
The Bridge
The bridge is the symbol for the connection of people and cultures. Where bridges are created, places are created. The Bridge is first of all a symbol for a cosmopolitan Chemnitz and a bridge to Europe and the world. But it is also a crossing that connects the Garage Campus with the eastern allotment garden area Kappler Hang, the Brau- stolz area and the Kappelbach cycle path. The existing boundaries of the site are broken up and the Garage Campus becomes interconnected with the surrounding area. As an additional feature, The Bridge offers opportunities for integrated use. It becomes part of the gastronomic offer (food chain) and a real laboratory for sustainable nutrition. In addition to these functions, it serves as an appropriation space with urban underground flair.