Dirk Zweering

The urban situation along Aachen‘s Monheimsallee is constituted by its different sides. One is the edge of the densified inner city structure, the other is the historic health resortKurviertel.

Besides the representative architecture, the Stadtpark is a main part of the Kurviertel. It is the biggest and most frequented park in Aachen, but its connection to the Monheimsallee is very poor.

From these circumstances derives the urban strategy to pull the park towards Monheimsallee and create an address in connection with the design project. Consequently, the concert hall is not regarded as a building, but as part of an

’informated’ park topography.

The multi-purpose hall becomes a space in between two topografies: the visual topography of public park space and the functional topography of the roof.

The hall itself is integrated as an ’informated’ depression into the continuity of space.

The necessary separation of the hall is managed by rotating acoustic elements, which can be moved mechanically and thereby allow the hall to be completely closed or opened.

When closed, the reflecting surface on the exterior side mirrors the surrounding area, the park. The hall never appears as a volume, but as a changing reference towards the continuity of the park, dependent on the open or closed state.

The other functions, administration, artist´s area and the restaurant, enjoy the view from the roof. The topography is thereby introduced into an infrastructural system, built by the roof and the basement underneath.

Under the topography alll the secondary functions are situated, which are concerned with hall and stage or audience.

The roof as urban marker is developed as a functional layer for technical requirements in the first place. From out of the remaining volume the administration and artist´s space and the restaurant are substracted as volumes. Those areas without any function reduce the thickness of the roof, which at the same time points out the entrances.

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