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The Fabric of Place / Ortsverwebung
First Prize ‘Pfann-Ohmann-Preis fuer Architektur’
Year
2017
Location
Sankt Valentin, Lower Austria, Austria
Institute
IKA Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Team Members
Philipp Behawy, Marcella Brunner, Marie Eham, Christina Ehrmann, Une Kavaliauskaite, Felix Kofler, Tea Marta, Prima Mathawabhan, Madina Mussayeva, Nils Neuböck, Maximilian Pertl, Ruben Stadler, Patricia Tibu
This project explores the use of concrete folding to construct bus stops for the city of Sankt Valentin. The bus stops are composed of strong yet thin shells made from Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) reinforced with woven textile fibers, replacing steel and eliminating its associated corrosion issues. Folding techniques, initially explored through individual studies, enable a myriad of shapes, making the bus stops lighter while increasing their load-bearing capacity. Their positions in the city and their programme (social, environmental, technological) reveals new potential for these stops as places, and generates new opportunities for the urban community. The new places are designed to be strongly connected to the social and climatic environment, providing shelter and creating a fabric of place, bringing together the diverse and disparate areas of the city.