MVRDV to spell 'HOME' with four towers located on former army site in germany

MVRDV has released a proposal for an ambitious masterplan to revitalize a former US army barracks in mannheim, germany. the project will see the 41-hectare -hectare site being transformed to offer mixed typologies and developments, including community spaces, restaurants, cafés, commercial opportunities and housing.

all images © MVRDV

MVRDV’s challenge is to introduce density and diversity drawing on the existing fabric of the franklin mitte site. a distinctive feature will be the central ‘hub’ where the diverse typologies will be based. this hub named ‘green hill’, will be made from demolished barrack buildings. meanwhile, the four residential towers will be built around the hill and be shaped in the four letters of H-O-M-E. the hill plans to hover across existing buildings making it a focal point for the development with streets cutting out of it and connecting to the residential areas.

‘with a series of investors a variety of typologies and interpretations of the past is celebrated. a primary axis cuts through the center of the scheme, piercing through some of the old structures, whilst connecting the two surrounding nature areas and at the same time, creates transitions from old to new. ‘the green hill’ is the central icon of this revitalized neighborhood, a park heart of the community for people to walk on, relax, a great panoramic look out onto the neighborhood and its home towers,‘ explains winy maas, founding partner of MVRDV.

the brightly-colored residential structures include the ‘O’ tower, which contains 102 apartments, and the ‘M’ with 160 units. each consist of different sized pixel-type residences with varying balcony sizes. the ‘M tower’ will be the largest and features an activated roof with tennis courts. the lower levels of the ‘O’, form a public stage with roofs and tribunes leading up from the ground level. this design allows for individual adaptation suited to the needs of residents giving them a more flexible use of space.

the goal for MVRDV’s development is for the habitation process to take over the architecture, turning the structures into lively environments that foster individuality and a community spirit. the towers will be designed in collaboration with other practices — haascookzemmrich STUDIO2050, who are working on the ‘H’ building, and AS+P, who are responsible for ‘E’.

‘how does one form a family of residential towers?’ says maas, ‘in franklin mitte’, we will create a fine-grained extremely homely and cosy neighborhood with a central hill that is both a park and shopping center. the home towers signal a welcoming suggestion. especially needed in these days of doubt. mannheim is an ambitious city with a strong social agenda, the site is currently occupied by 10,000 refugees, I find that impressive and to be honest, quite touching.’’

masterplan development and layout

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project info:

name: home towers and a versatile green hill
location: mannheim, germany
year: 2014 onwards
client: RVI and PD capital holding gmbh
budget: undisclosed
program & size: 62,200 sqm mixed-use and residential including parking
O-tower: 12,380 m2 (120 apartments)
M-tower: 17,890m2 (185 apartments)
mixed-use green hill: 17,000 sqm incl. parking and supermarket
design team: winy maas, jacob van rijs, nathalie de vries, jeroen zuidgeest, markus nagler, johannes pilz, mikel vazquez, philipp kramer, elena ambacher, christine sohar, remy koning, xiaoting chen, rebecca pröbster, máté mészáros,
elien deceuninck, marco gazzola and susanna horn jardemark
visualisation: antonio luca coco, paolo mossa idra and tomaso maschietti, matteo artico, carlo cattò
partners: wenzel+wenzel

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