TIROL CITY (Innsbruck, Austria)
Mittelgebirge, the Inntal and the scenery of the Nordkette

European cities aren’t autonomous nucleuses surrounded by landscape used for agriculture anymore. Cities are multifaceted connected on various levels and create networks by combining landscaped areas. If we, as urban designer, will manage to understand these structures, we should be able to implement the future development of these city systems in our designs. This semester we will focus on the urban network around Innsbruck: Tirol CITY.

Igls
Igls is a small village in Tyrol (Austria). It lies on a plateau on a higher sea level as the city of Innsbruck. From the political point of view it is part of the city.
Two times (in 1964 and in 1976) the Olympic winter games where based in Innsbruck. At that time Igls (or more precise the Patscherkofel, mountain behind the village) was one of the places where some of the sports events where placed. In Igls you still can find some of the touristic infrastructure and if you want to go skiing, it’s still nice to do. But since a few years you really feel that the touristic perspective in Igls and the Mittelgebirge is not a very good one. The infrastructure is a bit old and there are more “hip” places to go.
On the other hand, the Mittelgebirge itself is one of the nicest and one of the more expensive places to live in and around Innsbruck. In the weekends many people from the city of Innsbruck (living down in the center) get up there for hiking, horse riding, jogging, skiing and so on.
The topic for this course is about working on the future of the region. At the moment it is exactly the right time for that, because there are a lot of people from Igls and the rest of the Mittelgebirge  thinking about how to go on with this region… Till now there is not a clear vision yet. One of the topics that is discussed is housing: Innsbruck has to expand because it is a growing city.

The assignment
Make an urban design of a housing area on a given location in Igls, that fits in your vision on the further development of the Mittelgebirge region.  Start with analyzing the spatial characteristics of the region.

Design weeks

The first design week is on the project site in the Mittelgebirge.  We analyse the Inn Valley as wel as the specific location in Igls. We will work at the department of architecture at the University of Innsbruck and we will get input from W. Andexlinger to understand the Tirol City concept and to develop a vision for Igls. In the second design week we will use the landscape as backstage, as a décor. Therefore we will visit the Noordoostporlder and you were asked to make a conceptdesign for a similar program (new village) in totally different circumstances (the polder).

Partners

Saxion University of Applied Sciences, department of urban design
University of Innsbruck department of architecture - Studio 1
Dr. Wolfgang Andexlinger, architect
Prof. Dr. Arnold Klotz, director urban design of Vienna and Innsbruck (retired)
Klaus Defner, community of Innsbruck
Stephan Tischler, Institute for Infrastructure Engineering University Innsbruck
Innsbruck foto by Jelle van Kampen

Results

Final presentation:
Define a vision (concept) on the development of the given area.
Develop design instruments to design your housing area in relation with the network city/ landscape/ context of the area. (site plan 1:2000, sections, perspectives, scenario’s)

Design your housing area.
site plan 1:500, ground floor plans 1:200, sections 1:200, perspectives, model 1:500 or 1:1000
Inn valley and Mittelgebirge / analysis by Björn Mensink

Schedule

Concept schedule spring term (March –June)   Holydays:  Eastern, Pentecost, Kings day  3x 1 week
                     March                        April                             May                           June                 
week 1         introduction            research                      design                      design
week 2        analysis                     design                         design                      design
week 3        design week 1          design                         design                      presentation
week 4        concept                    design week 2            design                     assessment

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Period:
2015 spring term

Work load:
40 hours per week

Costs
€ 4800.-

Course contents

Competencies:
In this Urban Nomads program you will develop  6 professional competencies: Concept, Urban Design, Analysis, Urban Research, Urban Strategy, Being aware of surroundings.
During 1 semester you will work continuously and integrally on these competencies. You work individual and you will get weekly feedback in classes on your products. This project includes 2 design weeks and a final presentation.

Feedback on products:
Once a week you get individual feedback on the design products in the studio of Urban Nomads (location, day and time have to be announced)

Final presentation:
At the end of the course you will present your project to professionals.

Portfolio:
After the final presentation your portfolio will be accessed by certificated assessors on the 6 competencies. You will receive a certificate