From "dark memory" of war to “Green Mountain” (?). Flak Bunker will have the Hamburg's highest park

Hamburg's largest urban gardening project will create a green oasis in an inner city district. A team of local residents and architects in Hamburg’s neighborhood of St. Pauli have been granted planning permission for a proposal to repurpose a World War II bunker.

The bunker, similar others in Austria and Germany’s big cities, was used to launch anti-aircraft ‘Flak’ fire against allied forces planes during World War II. Nowadays, the war relic is hardly abandoned –popular nightclub Übel & Gefährlich has occupied its north side, and the building is also home to a music school, an instrument store, graphic-agencies and a photographer's studio that pays € 4000 rent per month. The bunker forms part of a series of war typologies occupying several of Germany’s big cities.

The Hilldegarden proposal seeks to create a “green mountain” garden atop the disused roof of the bunker along with a range of mixed-use projects that increase its height by several stories. “We are rebuilding what we inherit.” The project’s initiative states, “Adding something to history while dealing with it and thereby reshaping history itself.”

From gray to green, from concrete to nature: "to create green oasis and a place of encounter and remembrance” is the vision of the “Hilldegarden Hamburg.” The initiative for a public roof garden is composed of a diverse team of members, Hilldegarden has the participation of several design studios, including Buero 51, WTM, Schlaich Bergemann and Partners, Argus, Lärmkontor, Sumbi Ingenieure, Metapol Studios and landscape architects L+. The proposal seeks to extend the bunker’s 40m height to 59m with the addition of several mixed-use facilities.

Hamburg’s Highest Garden

"The view once made to shoot planes and see Karoviertel burn is nowadays one of the most stunning views in Hansestadt Hamburg." Hilldegarden Project.

Located next to the Feldstraße underground station, the new project for the former flak bunker at Heiligengeistfeld will have a construction period of 15 months, the vision could become a reality by 2018.

To realised it, a flattened cone will be built on the roof of the bunker. Creating several levels will house spaces for facilities. On the top, a 1,500 square metres. A 300 meter long public ramp in the form of a green belt will be leading up the way from the Feldstrasse.

Cultural Centre and Memorial

For the interior of the bunker, a cultural use is intended, including, inter alia, cultural hall, an amphitheatre and artist guesthouses. In addition, the bunker will continue to serve as a memorial to the slave labourers who built it in 1942 in just 300 days.

Hilldegarden, like many supposedly regenerative projects, is subject to criticism also. Is the ‘urban spectacle’ really needed to bring people together? Is every abandoned building subject to its mixed-use gentrification fate? Do we need more trees on top of buildings?

Source and further details: www.hillegarden.org