Meissen is a major district town with around 28.000 inhabitants near Dresden and lies directly at the Elbe river. The town developed along the Triebisch, which is a tributary river to the Elbe. Nowadays the Triebisch is very embanked and not really acknowledged as it lies on the backside of buildings and is hardly accessible. The Triebisch flows through the dense historic district which has only a few open spaces and most of them are used as parking lots. There are a lot of narrow public streets with just barely any city trees. The green meadows of the Elbe are also disturbed by traffic noise. If you follow the Triebisch upstream the city gets more open and you can find several open green spaces that partially have connections to the surrounding recreational areas but don‘t fulfill their potential. The famous Meissen porcelain manufactory is very defining for the cityscape in that area but it is not accessible from the direction of the Triebisch due to a wall. After the manufactory, you get to the former industrial area which shows the lowest density of development. The old cold deposit is a brownfield between the railroad and the Triebisch and is the biggest open space there.
Architects: Marcel Götz & Christoph Odenthal
Status: Concept
Even though the passages between these three parts of the town are fluent they show distinct characteristics that allow them to be categorized as urban, mid urban and sub-urban: the urban space is the historic district, the mid urban space stretches from the Käthe-Kollwitz-Park to the porcelain manufactory and the suburban space extends from the S-Bahn-station to the end of the old coal deposit.
The concept „Make way for the Triebisch!“ adapts and connects to the Triebisch differently in each of the three parts to match their characteristics.
In the urban area new accesses are created to walk down and along the river, in the mid urban area the Triebisch gains more space to expand with a rising water level and in the suburban area, the Triebisch supplies a new body of water to combat floods while also serving as a recreational hotspot. Additionally new connections are designed to link the surrounding green spaces so the Triebisch regains its original function as an axis of development and connectivity.
In the historic district, the access road leading to the big bridge leading over the Elbe will be moved to the northern side where there is a parking lot at the moment, this creates the new so-called Kändler-square as the entrance to the old part of the city. There a water fountain is installed that adapts the form of the Triebisch to already call attention to the river. From the Kändler-square you get a better access to the Elbe meadows and the mouth of the Triebisch. A new set of seating stairs serve as seating possibility and a ramp leads down to the new jetty that follows the Triebisch through the historic district.
Also, a new bridge is created for cyclists and pedestrians to cross the river apart from the busy street. The jetty also connects to the higher situated new pocket parks, that fill up vacant lots and add green to the otherwise stony old town, and leads to the Käthe-Koll-with-Park in the mid urban area. The existing road between the park and the Triebisch as well as the wall will be removed so the riverbed can be enlarged and be part of the new designed Meadow-Park. The river gets more space to expand with the different water levels and newly planted trees like poplar, alder, and willow contribute to the flair of a meadow. The Meadow-Park is the beginning of the Porcelain-Promenade, which is accompanied by an alley of warty birches. The pavement is designed to resemble the pattern of the famous Meissen porcelain which has hundreds of years old tradition. Also, a new entrance gains access to the manufactory from the promenade, there is also one of three balconies with benches, the other ones are at the Triebischtal-School and the church of Saint Benno.
At the city train station, you get to the suburban area and the former coal deposit which is transformed into a new recreational space and natural pool, which is supplied by water from the Triebisch. There is a very high abundance of sport and free time activities so this place is designed to supply that need. In the northern part, you can find beach volley ball fields and a beach bar surrounded by a grove of pines and birches through which several wooden jetties lead to the lawn for sunbathing and over the water. These jetties also divide the bath into two swimming zones and one swamp zone which serves as a natural filter for the water. The water in the bath is staunched by a special inflatable rubber dam, this is necessary so the dam can be easily opened to give more room in case of a flood.
Marcel Götz
Marcel Götz studied Landscape Architecture at the Technische Universität Dresden and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences in Ås and graduated as Master of Science in 2018. During his studies he took part in several design competitions either as student or as student employee in several Landscape Architecture offices in Dresden. He has won a first price at the German Landscape Association‘s Student Competition 2017/18 for his Master thesis „New Views“, a commendation at the 2017 Vectorworks Scholarship and received a commendation at the Peter-Joseph-Lenné-Award 2016 with Christoph Odenthal for their project MAKE WAY FOR THE TRIEBISCH. After graduating he now works on design competitions as freelancer for different offices. His goals are to create livable open spaces combing social and ecologial aspects based on extensive analyses of the project sites to ensure to create the best possible solution for that.
Christoph Odenthal
Christoph Odenthal received his MA in Landscape Architecture from the Technische Universität Dresden, Germany in 2018 while simultaneously having his own firm designing private gardens. He has worked and studied in Germany and Italy, and now lives and works in Chicago. During his course of study he won numerous prices and honors
such as a scholarship from the German government (Deutschlandstipendium) for his outstanding accomplishments in Urban Design, an honor from the international Lenné-Preis in collaboration with Marcel Götz, a special honor from the Architektur Preis 15, and an honor from the BBSRcompetition (Bundesinstituts für Bau-, Stadt- und Raum-
forschung). Before his academic career, he completed an apprenticeship in landscaping which taught him practical and creative approaches to open space design that greatly influences his work as a designer today. Thinking outside the European design mainstream and using his practical expertise, Odenthal specializes in renaturation, and sustainable, climate-friendly design while emphasizing creative ways to integrate water into urban and public spaces. His artistic as well as social goal is to sensitize people for the public space, their built and natural environment and to learn to become a pedestrian – a more aware subject walking through space.