Roter Ochse

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268852

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Submitted

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NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS RISING STARS : concepts or ideas submitted by young talents (aged 30 or less)

Project title

Roter Ochse

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Description

The work develops a strategy for the sustainable conversion of the prison Roter Ochse in Halle an der Saale, which will be vacant from 2025 when the EU imposes a minimum size of prison cells. The Roter Ochse is an ensemble of buildings steeped in history. E.g. one part of the building was used as an execution site during National Socialism. The architecture of the Rote Ochsen must thus be resocialized after its use as a prison has ended. It is planned to be converted into a music conservatory.

Where is your concept/idea being developed or intended to be implemented in the EU?

Please provide a summary of your concept/ idea

In order to counteract a permanent vacancy or even decay of this historically significant building ensemble, to continue to remember and to preserve urban history, this work is developed with two main theses. 1. The architecture of the "Rote Ochse" must be resocialized: Resocialize is defined as „to gradually reintegrate into society“. The building ensemble has been a place of horror for years. In analogy to a prisoner, the aim is to resocialize the ensemble of buildings, which is currently not visible, i.e. to integrate it into the built environment, into the city. The area of the „Roter Ochse“ has so far formed an independent, invisible island in the city. Since the construction of the prison more than 177 years ago, the area has been inaccessible to the population and deliberately sealed off from the city due to its use as a detention center. After the conversion of the prison, what is hidden from the public will be brought to the outside. In order to make the area accessible, the demolition of the 5 meter high prison wall is unavoidable. The wall is thus tilted and forms a footpath around the area. In some places the course of the wall is blurred by overbuilding. In others, it is set off by a stream with an adjacent footpath. This creates integration into the urban environment. With the aim of uniting the image of the prison interior, which exists only in fantasy, with that of reality, the site must be made accessible to the public and given a public use. Only in this way can a large public experience the place and make it their own. A music academy should find its place on the former prison grounds: Students practice here daily and enliven the area. The use as a music academy offers further advantages: A large part of the cells can be preserved to create many small practice rooms for the music students. In addition, to break the island character of the former prison, a mixed use of the site is needed: Residential, public uses, and commercial should coexist.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of sustainability and how these would be met

2. Urban Mining Another important aspect is the urban mine: the city is seen as a storehouse of materials that can be used as in an "urban mine". In this sense, it is said: "Every intervention in the old leads to something new." The materials of the deconstructed buildings will be reused directly on site. For example, the quarry stone porphyry from the demolished wall will be reused in the exterior walls of the new great hall of the Academy of Music. Clay rammed walls with a large proportion of the quarry stone will be formed. In the process, the outermost layer of the clay is removed by weathering so that the stone reappears. The deconstruction of individual buildings also yields a lot of material. The former gate building will no longer be needed after the resocialization of the architecture. Since the prison will no longer be used, the entrance sluice becomes obsolete. This building will be reconstructed in order to give a new entrance character to the main building, which formerly housed the prison church. After the gate building is deconstructed, the following material will accrue: Wooden beams from purlin roof and wooden beam ceilings, 707 cubic meters of brick porphyry, 29 windows, 50 doors. The kitchen building to be reconstructed will also yield a lot of brick, wood and glass. All these materials will be reused after the conversion. By avoiding long transport routes and dismantling new materials, resources are conserved, waste is avoided and energy is saved. Dealing with stock The new great hall of the music academy will be connected directly to the existing building. Thus it is possible to walk through the former prison. A new building is created that is constructed from old materials reclaimed directly on site. The formerly separating structures appear in new, connecting elements and link the city with the existing building. The architecture is resocialized.  

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience beyond functionality and how these would be met

Almost all buildings of the building ensemble will be preserved and only the internal structure will be changed. In the spirit of resocialization, thresholds are to be reduced or lowered at all levels. This means not only that the site can be accessed without barriers, but also that the existing buildings as a whole have a less fortress-like appearance. By breaking open targeted existing walls and ceilings, these should therefore be made accessible. By deconstructing the gate building, the main building can act as a new entrance building. With a spacious forecourt that has been lowered 3 steps, it can have a monumental effect and radiate its new use as the entrance foyer of the Academy of Music. In addition, the forecourt and the café invite visitors to linger. Some of the windows of the detention buildings will be enlarged downward to bring more light into the interior spaces. The old structure thus remains clearly recognizable, yet the formerly dark prison cells will appear bright in their new use. The visitor can easily see what has been changed and what the previous use of the building was. The existing structure is seen as changed, but not robbed of its history.  

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of inclusion and how these would be been met

In order to make the area accessible to the public, new roads and paths will have to be built across the site, with pedestrian and bicycle paths crossing the area from east to west. The site plan clearly shows how the symmetry of the existing buildings will be interrupted and how the redeveloped area will be integrated into the city.The former prison buildings will be revitalized and expanded. Some new housing buildings will be added to the site as inner-city densification. The path around the site links the outdoor areas and two parking garages take over the stationary traffic. The use as a music academy offers further advantages: Visitors to concerts, performances or dance events can experience the former prison. The restaurant on the top floor is open to the public and, together with the public roof terrace, provides a great vantage point for the entire city. The former main prison buildings now offer space for the music academy, and a student dormitory will be built in the southeast of the prison. Together with the existing buildings, the new L-shaped building will form an enclosed inner courtyard. In order to reduce thresholds in the sense of resocialization of architecture and still allow smooth transitions from the public to the private, architectural interventions will be made. For example, the dormitory is accessed from the north via an access balcony. On the one hand, this separates the private living space from the public courtyard situation; on the other hand, it allows for visual and sensory relationships. From the courtyard situation at the student dormitory, the terrain steps down to the basement of the former prison area. A generous anteroom area of the great hall is created. The new building deliberately takes a back seat to the distinctive existing buildings. The open-air stage merges into the outdoor space on the northern side and is framed by the rammed earth wall with the old quarry stone.

Please explain the innovative character of your concept/ idea

The work demonstrates a strong understanding and a necessary sensitivity for the social and political dimension of the project on issues of conversion of existing buildings and the related questions of a necessary CO2 saving in the building industry through the preservation of the so-called "grey energy". In addition to the ecological, economic and technical aspects, this work did not eliminate the problematic history of the building, but allowed it to become part of a planning process that examined and developed social and urban issues in the same way. The work deals with an increasingly important subject area: the treatment of existing buildings within our built environment as an opportunity for a new contemporary architectural production, as well as the conception of a circular economy in construction, retaining large parts of the physical material in the sense of "urban mining".  Right down to the question and conception of materials, the work drives this fundamental issue into the design and proposes manifold possibilities for the reuse and recycling of building components, building materials and also spatial structures.  

Please detail the plans you have for the further development, promotion and/or implementation of your concept/idea, with a particular attention to the initiatives to be taken before May 2022

It is planned to present these ideas together with the memorial "Gedenkstätte Roter Ochse" in a citizen participation. It is important to involve the residents in the process, and to point out the preservation of the city's history. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to hold this event so far due to the corona pandemic. However, it is planned for autumn 2021. In addition, the work will be presented to a professional audience as part of the BDA (Bund Deutscher Architekten) exhibition "Concern for Existing Buildings" planned for 2022 in Halle an der Saale. The city of Halle an der Saale continues to seek innovative ideas for the further use of the soon-to-be vacant prison.

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that the proposed concept/idea has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Rising Stars Awards more than once in the same category.