WESTPARK AUGSBURG (AUSGBURG, GERMANY)
Laudation by Lieneke van Campen for Westpark as PDF here!
With the withdrawal of the American army in 1998, Augsburg used the conversion of the barracks for an overall spatial development and to expand the green system. After a planning and realisation process lasting more than 15 years, the Westpark was completed in 2021.
Like a leisurely river, a meandering ribbon, made of light-coloured asphalt, lies in the middle of a tree-lined park landscape. It changes its width, individual lanes drift apart and reconnect to form the main path through the park.
The spaces in between are special places with sports and play animations and / or special plantings that interpret American landscapes. Fields with flowering prairie shrubs, dense groves of trees or topographical faults, which also refer to the Wertach floodplain, alternate in various forms and invite visitors to explore, experiment and investigate the park.
Many existing trees were integrated into the park and supplemented with North American, bright red, orange or yellow tree species. The edges to the buildings are uniformly bordered with rows of trees, which create the framework for the generous, open grass landscape loosely covered with tall trees. Some of the grassland is mown regularly and used for ball games and sports, while large areas are mown only twice a year and develop into extensive meadows rich in flowers and insects, which also serve as compensation areas or ecological connectivity.
The framework of the park was realised in sections before the adjacent structural development, but with “empty spaces” for future ideas and use. The planning was conducted with a time lag and with the participation of the residents.
Design: Lohaus – Carl – Köhlmos Landschaftsarchitekten
Photo: Eckhart Matthäus Fotografie
