SELB
The city of Selb is a large district town in the district of Wunsiedel in the Fichtelgebirge (administrative district of Upper Franconia), located directly on the Czech border, and close to Saxony and Thuringia. Selb is known nationwide since the 19th century as a "porcelain town".Located in the center of the city, not far from the historic city church, the design site is bordered to the north by the buildings of Ludwigstrasse, to the south by Karl-Marx-Strasse, and to the west by Bachstrasse. The "Erkersreuter" creek runs through the inner area of the precisely outlined quarter.The buildings along Karl-Marx-Strasse have had a high vacancy rate for some time due to their typology and the backlog of redevelopment. As a stimulus for necessary inner development, the new youth and cultural center JAM was opened in the direct vicinity in 2016 as the result of a EUROPAN competition.
The proposed development takes up the grain of the surrounding building and plot structure, and rearranges it.Along Karl-Marx-Strasse, a scaled spatial sequence of alternating two- and three-story units is thus created. The 2-story units receive an upstream enclosed courtyard. On the one hand filters between private and public space, on the other hand a clear spatial edge to Karl-Marx-Strasse. A slightly elevated head building marks and occupies the space at the intersection of Karl-Marx-Strasse /Bachstrasse. In the northeast, the front row connects to the existing development with a studio unit.Another courtyard typology is arranged to the northwest to create a neighborhood alley.The head building narrows access to this, differentiating it from other "public" streets. As with the existing archway in the northern part of the site, a threshold is created to support the identity and independence of the new neighborhood.
The main focus of the design is to create a flexible link between work and living. In addition, there are communal areas that are intended to promote contact and enable the residents to build a network.The neighborhood alley between the buildings is an access, meeting and play zone, and is widened in the east to form an open space with a fireplace. The main access to the residential and work units is from Karl-Marx-Strasse, creating a high frequency of casual encounters.A wide variety of apartment sizes encourage a mix of diverse user types.
Masterthesis OTH
Kommission
Prof.Anne Beer
Prof.Markus Emde
Prof.Johann-Peter Scheck
Renderings ©studio vbzs
Drawings ©studio vbzs