City Harbour – BUGA Rostock 2025

The design addresses the various temporal layers of Rostock’s landscape and cultural history: estuary delta, bastion and industrial harbour. For many centuries, Rostock developed on the safe elevation of the city hill, at a safe distance from the Warnow river and its natural hazards. The water’s edge was reserved for industrial development and trade. The great locational advantage of a central harbour with large conversion areas now creates enormous urban development potential in moving the city centre right up front next to the water.

An archipelago of meadow clods furthers the green belt into the ring of former fortifications and emphasises the intersection of park landscape and harbour. The clods, which vary in height, create a close dialogue with the prominent high point of Kanonsberg. The soft modelling of the mounds, which are planted with grasses, answers the roughness of the harbour surfaces with a poetic lightness. The landscape motif extends to the central plaza with its iconographic landmarks of ALM and HALLE 625, which form the heart of the archipelago. The newly planned Halle 625 is understood as an extension of the public space. Squares surround the building on all sides, making it accessible from all angles. With its characteristic roof volumetry makes for a calm and iconic building that aligns itself with both the city and the open harbour area.

Along Kempowskiufer, the harbour edge continues as a linear waterfront promenade, forcing the various vectors of movement into a linearly organised urban space. The waterfront promenade, rows of trees, flood protection, cycle path and commercial buildings are organised parallel to the waterfront.