Unfolding the Fan — Kärntner-Boulevard

TEAM DATA

Team representative: Radostina Radulova-Stahmer (DE) – architect
Assocate: Deniza Horländer (DE) – architect

Studio D3R, Mannheim (DE) - Graz (AT) 
info@studiod3r.com – studiod3r.com

See the complete listing of portraits here 
See the site page here 

^{R. Radulova-Stahmer & D. Horländer}  

INTERVIEW
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1. How did you form the team for the competition?

We are sisters and we love thinking about space together. Both of us studied architecture in Germany but in different universities, Deniza in Stuttgart and I in Karlsruhe. We decided to do an Erasmus exchange and internships abroad and we got to know various international offices and different teaching approaches at the universities in Madrid and in Delft. We share the same dedication and devotion to architecture and urbanism but we look from different perspectives at the same spatial problems. We graduated at the same time in 2010 and since then we are doing projects together as STUDIO D3R.

2. How do you define the main issue of your project, and how did you answer on this session main topic: the place of productive activities within the city?

The specific session topic in Graz was the dispersed and fragmented streetscape of Kaerntnerstrasse. We soon realised, we needed to consider a bigger scale to solve the linearity. The main issue of the project is to interconnect the densely built street fronts with the landscape in the surrounding. We defined strategic aims on the bigger scale as a conceptual framework and created diverse small-scale urban structures and spaces. We propose a set of possible urban typologies to relocate the existing programmatic structure along the street in order to preserve the actual urban mix of small-scale economies. We consider the integration of productive urban activities as crucial for sustainable urban planning, following the principle of ‘the city of short distances’.

3. How did this issue and the questions raised by the site mutation meet?

The issue of the productive city offers a great opportunity to rethink the idea and the identity of main access roads in cities like Graz. The site mutation of the Kaerntnerstrasse combines two urban conditions, the periphery and the accessibility. This enables the future implementation of the productive city on an urban scale.

4. Have you treated this issue previously? What were the reference projects that inspired yours?

During the last two years we focused our research and design on the topic of the productive city. Radostina also dealt with the topic in the academic context and supervised a master studio on productive city at the Leibniz University in Hanover. Further we developed a research proposal on the issue for the Robert Bosch Foundation. And we still keep on searching for adequate spatial solutions in order to meet the challenges on different levels, social, environmental, economic or legal.

5. Urban-architectural projects like the ones in Europan can only be implemented together with the actors through a negotiated process and in time. How did you consider this issue in your project?

The development in time is project immanent; not only due to the scale of the project itself but also due to the complexity of the small-scale structure of the properties. To assure the flexibility of the project we propose an incremental implementation and further recommend developing multiple scenarios for the future.

6. Is it the first time you have been awarded a prize at Europan? How could this help you in your professional career?

We have been awarded a prize at Europan for the first time. We are very excited to contribute to the urban development of Graz, as Radostina recently moved to Graz to teach at the TU Graz, Institute of Urbanism. The Europan competition is a great opportunity for us to engage in architectural and urban discourse and elaborate specific solutions for general European spatial problems. The Europan network is supporting and encouraging young professionals to innovate the discipline anew. And we are proud to be part of it!