The redesign of the market square has the potential to successfully meet the various challenges of Flawil's urban development, and to do so at a particularly effective location in the townscape.
The visible success of the retail trade is the prerequisite for a lively, attractive town centre. This requires attractive car parks: easy to find and located in a well-frequented area, to whose vitality the flow of visitors from the car parks in turn contributes. The cultural centre needs a presence in the town before it can create a presence of its own. On the market square, it has sufficient surrounding space so that synergies can develop between market operations, children's play, beer garden and cultural events. Cultural space and underground car park: the two contradictory tasks that triggered the redesign of the market square come together under one large roof. This roof symbolically marks the departure from a long period of temporary structures that have burdened this place into the future of a lively town centre!
Two striking elements characterise the new square: the wide grove of trees on the one hand and the long roof on the other. Both elements refer to village models: the grove of trees to the «Anger» – a grassy village square in common ownership – and the long roof to functional agricultural buildings, the polyvalence of which allows barns to be used for theatre, weddings, markets and concerts, among other things. We are convinced that «sampling» of urban and village themes does particular justice to the identity of the «urban village» of Flawil. That is why spa towns with their theatres and promenades served as inspiration for us.
