OTTO LINNE PREIS - luchterhandt

5. Project Brief
There has been a deliberate decision to define no specific project brief for the Otto-Linne Award 2011.
Competitors’ task is to form their own opinions about the planning area described above. By closely
examining the place and how it is linked with the rest of the city, entrants are to identify for themselves
what the development of this place involves in terms of themes and challenges and present their plans
for answers to the problem. Contestants are called upon to develop creative concepts which will express
a convincing and forward-looking attitude in terms of urban landscape architecture.
The most important concern is to create an integrated overall strategy for the open space planning of
the review area of the south-east gateway to the city/Bille mouth in the Hamburg-Mitte borough of
the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. From now on it is left to the contestants’ discretion whether
they examine a large, contiguous area or concentrate on a part area or place within an area, or on an
exemplary detail.
Thematic fields
All entrants are invited to discuss the challenges currently facing landscape architects and open space
planners as they relate to this site and to help develop solutions. The following themes seem unavoidable:
Spatial unit of the landscape; Bille mouth - Elbe
Many Hamburg residents are unfamiliar with the Bille as a spatial unit of the landscape. And yet it is an
important part of Hamburg’s watercourse topography, even if, in the process of industrialization, the
place where it empties into the Elbe has been remoulded and relocated so that it is now barely visible or
tangible - neither as a waterway, nor as a place for sports and leisure. Although it is still a strong presence
in the eastern district of Hamburg-Allermöhe, where many appreciate the attractive open space it
provides, the mouth of the river has been obscured by buildings, is overgrown, inaccessible and hidden.
Moreover, its relationship with or connection to the Elbe and other nearby waters (flood control basin)
seems unclear and unresolved. History and present significance, use and usefulness, environment and
accessibility, the aesthetics and atmosphere of this water (space): these are the keywords indicating
which aspects should be treated in greater depth.
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