Konstantin Overdiek

The inner green belt originated in the effort to create a large, encircling urban park for the city of Cologne. An effort begun but never completed. Thus, the inner green belt currently exists only as a fragmented strip of parks and open spaces. 

The merging of these fragments into a larger whole has been the subject of renewed discussion, particularly since Albert Speer’s Master Plan, and is a key component of numerous current and future projects and interventions. 

The project aims to connect existing fragments and expand the inner green belt. Sealed areas will be regreened, and connections between existing green spaces will be created or restored.
The contours of the new town will be structurally refined and strengthened, and gaps will be filled. Paired high points will be placed at prominent city entrances, functioning as gateways to the city center and emphasizing the landscape. 

The green spaces, some of which currently appear very undefined and fragmented, are dedicated to three types of cultural landscape: the park, the urban wilderness, and agriculture. A continuous cultural landscape is created that encompasses Cologne’s city center. 

Architectural islands will be placed in the emerging cultural landscape outside Cologne’s city center: citadels in the wilderness, forums in the park, and farmsteads in agricultural areas. Each of these typologies will be assigned specific functions and spatial characteristics. 

Thematically, the islands draw on the palimpsest of Cologne’s urban development. They reference the forums and temples of the Roman city, the courtyards and fields within the city walls of medieval Cologne, and the forts of the fortress rayon in the landscape outside Cologne’s gates. 

As further exploration of this concept I designed one of these Islands, a sports center in the wilderness. The building explores both its connection to the landscape and its historical context.

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