The notion of a city is often associated with the image of growth.
However, as a result of structural change, there are former industrial cities that have been in decline for decades. Ternitz, in Lower Austria, is a good example of that. Yet, in shrinking towns also lies great potential for transformation, providing opportunities to rethink our image of a city.
Residents of the former steel worker’s settlement “Dreiersiedlung” currently face problems like social isolation, over-aging, segregation, reduced mobility, and especially a lack of well-equipped, shared public infrastructures and spaces. However, the settlement provides great spatial potential with generous green areas, vast amounts of unused space, and numerous vacant apartments.

The students and the tutoring team spent three weeks in Ternitz: this helped to share knowledge among the group and enabled constant exchange with the residents. The summer school students teamed up in 4 groups, each working on their design projects for different sites in the worker’s settlement to design and build a range of new shared infrastructures. The designs, their program and placement were carefully chosen to meet the needs of different people at the Dreiersiedlung.

After an intensive design phase, the students presented their proposals to the project partners and residents and then started translating their ideas into built objects.

Despite each group being equipped with the same amount of wood, a great variety of designs was created. However, all projects aimed to set new impulses for the settlement. Based on this low-tech manufacturing approach, we designed, discussed, tested, dismantled, improved, built, and finally joyfully inaugurated different Common Spaces with the residents of the Dreiersiedlung.

Colorful mobile furniture pieces are placed in specific gathering points of the settlement.  The set of furniture objects can be combined in various ways and – depending on the configuration – offers different scales of privacy or communication.

A wooden platform with a swap shelf, a solid bench, and a table work as a new infrastructure for Caritas Österreich which will be on-site in the years to come to accompany the transformation of the area. An elevated terrace with seating steps investigates the spatial and functional potential of connecting the mezzanine floor to the outdoor spaces.

Shaded by large trees – A 15m-long table with a large wooden structure now serves as a central meeting point for festivities, neighborhood dinners, or card games.

Right between the „Volkshaus“ and the children’s playground, one can now find an outdoor kitchen and seating facilities for gathering, relaxing, cheering, or playing.

Agentur Gegenblick visited us during a card game afternoon organized by the Caritas Team and produced a beautiful video with a part about Ternitz. Watch the video here!