Park Mitte Altona

Park Mitte Altona is the heart of a major new infill location in Hamburg Altona, on the site of a vast former railway yard. The location of this new park is characterised by the existing industrial heritage and a new urban setting. The competition entry by Karres en Brands is distinguished by a wide range of natural stylistic devices. The logic of scenic contrasts between open-closed, forest-field, high-low, and dry-wet creates a clear, ‘legible’, and especially amenable park.

An extensive citizens’ participation process has led to the choice of a spacious and clear park, where an intense experience of nature and landscape for all age groups is key. The design has a spatial trichotomy with a formal southern side that links the industrial heritage together with two squares; centrally situated, large and open multi-purpose fields; and a narrow but intense urban wilderness on the north side. The urban wilderness is inspired by the children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, and offers the city’s youngsters an opportunity to play in an adventurous setting.

Urban water management is an integral part of the park design. Besides a field for play and movement, the large, open ground is also an overflow area for the surrounding city district. There is a ‘wadi’ (streambed) in the central, lowest part, which performs a buffer function during intense but brief periods of rainfall. In the case of extreme precipitation (once every 30 to 100 years), the majority of the park becomes filled with a layer of water up to 74 centimetres deep—and thereby acquires a completely different look. Discovery, collaboration, observation, and learning to deal with the natural environment are important principles of the design. The park is a contemporary answer to the quest for nature in a world dominated by technological and urban impulses.