The aspiration to live and work in urban areas causes a densification of our inner cities. The pressure on the public open spaces is thereby increased: existing open spaces are filled up with residential buildings and so eliminated from the urban fabric. At the same time, as the number of inhabitants increases the pressure on the remaining open spaces raises.

In contrast, new open spaces are being discovered in the city, which for various reasons have not been available for public use and which can now be revaluated - partly by social pressure and partly by changing the framework conditions. This applies in particular to areas on and under infrastructure facilities.

In the dense urban fabric of Stuttgart, the Österreichischer Platz forms a strong traffic-dominated, unattractive and negatively connoted break. At the same time, with its bridge structures and its extensive use as a parking area, it offers potential for a new urban open space. Accordingly, since 2016 different subcultural activities take place, organised and hosted by ‚Verein Stadtlücken’. Meanwhile the public perception of this site is changing.

In this setting, the task was to experimentally design a public open space that could revaluate the particular spatial requirements of the site and connect the existing different city levels.

The red artificial landscape stretches as a new element below the Paulinen Bridge to the Österreichischer Platz. It stands out clearly from the context, leaving the bridge untouched. A sequence of different atmospheres strech along the elongated space. They are characterized by the position and density of vertical elements, by the placement and height of the new topography, as well as by the parallel guidance of lines. Narrowness, vastness, light and dark are staged as a sequence. Day and night, the space under the bridge requires a sensitive light design. With respect by the coffered concrete ceiling grid and by the bridge column rythm, lighting elements are to be installed. Acording to the time of the day, these can produce different light situations. Depending on the intensity, both gentle impressions or dramatic stagings are possible.