The «innovation» of the project proposal does not take place externally, but rather within the block itself. Its courtyard does not form the usual informal and private counterworld to the formal and anonymous street world, but is itself an urban space: a place where neighbourhood and the quarter can meet without competing for space. Perhaps this place is most comparable to the courtyards of «Red Vienna»: where the houses are accessed from the courtyards, which are themselves beautifully designed and representative meeting places – not informal «backyards» for neighbours to retreat from the city.
Outwardly, however, the aim here is to achieve concrete urban consolidation: two corner risalits are being built on Feldbergstrasse, between which an urban forecourt is being created. On Riehenring, the «Rue Corridor» is being restored and the involuntarily solitary entrance building to exhibition hall 1E is being integrated into the building line. Finally, a tree-lined forecourt is being created on Sperrstrasse, providing distance from the lifeless hall façade opposite and opening up a place to linger in the monotonous traffic area of Sperrstrasse.
The large form of the block interior is defined by four central risalits, which in turn surround an oval roof. This ring is a reference to Hans Hofmann's Rundhofhalle, in which a ring also separates four corner courtyards and connects four central risalits – and, as in Hofmann's building, the festive and connecting gesture of the ring emphasises the public dedication of the courtyard interior. At the same time, the oval separates the four corner courtyards from the centre, so that different communities can be addressed in these four compartments.
The residential city of tomorrow focuses on density and diversity: density means foregoing individual space, compensated by the provision of collective space. Diversity means blurring the boundaries between residential and working cities and counteracting social segregation. The exposed sides of the building block on Riehenring and Feldbergstrasse are lined with shops, cafés, studios and wide hallways in front of the stairwells. Light-filled passageways lead from the street into the courtyard, which – similar to Vienna's municipal housing estates – is designed as an inclusive place for the city, not as an exclusive neighbourhood world. The closer a space is to the centre of the courtyard, the more collective its purpose. At the tips of the four risalits are a kindergarten, a daycare centre and two community rooms, that is, the uses that are most effective in enlivening the open space.
The site offers high utilisation potential – but this cannot be achieved in the form of large building depths, as these are limited by the small living spaces and high levels of road noise. This is no bad thing, as less depth means more natural light in the apartment – an important quality of living in dense urban areas and an increasingly important sustainability criterion. So where to put all the permitted building volume, which is to be fully utilised? The volume is «turned inside out», in the form of four risalits in the courtyard, which provide exposed living space despite the dense surroundings.
Lifestyles are more versatile than apartment floor plans. Although the flats are primarily designed to meet the needs of families, they are also designed so that shared flats can live here comfortably, and the deliberate mix of large and small residential units ensures that residents can remain in their neighbourhood structure even if a change in their life situation results in a change in their space requirements.
