Nature in Pfaffenhofen 2017

"Pfaffenhofen on the Ilm" was the motto of our 2012 competition entry for the small garden show "Nature in Pfaffenhofen on the Ilm 2017". The river as the main artery of the city, showing paths along the water and to the water, sometimes also into the water, introducing people to the refreshing, invigorating element, recovering and exhibiting the treasure of the city, illuminating it.

The picturesque district town of Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, a "grown and a growing town" (www.pfaffenhofen.de) with a current population of just under 24,000, is located in the middle of Bavaria between Munich, Ingolstadt and Augsburg, nestled in the natural region of "Donau-Isar-Hügelland" in the area of the Ilm valley. The landscape is characterized by gently rolling hills with lush meadows and a dense network of tranquil valleys. Due to the varied relief, the hill country is characterised by a small-scale interlocking of agricultural and forest areas. The central open space element of the town of Pfaffenhofen is the course of the Ilm River.
Pfaffenhofen may not only call itself the most livable town in the world (awarded a gold medal at the "International Awards for Liveable Communities"), but also the "Town of Sustainability". The world is still in perfect order, one would think, and yet...
...even here there are inner-city problem zones, challenges of modern urban planning typical of Germany and beyond.
Lying close together along the Ilm were the slaughterhouse, the building yard, the recycling yard and the waterworks, a juggernaut in the middle of the city, highly sealed, planted and structurally shielded, detached from the urban space, terra incognita. The Ilm, the unknown being, was a small river, hidden, overgrown, hardly visible and perceptible, too few paths along the water, the wet element could not really be experienced. The Ilminsel, however, the small island directly at the old town, a promise in green, all around the view of the water but no way to get there, high walls from dark times shield, (almost) no tree, no bush, nowhere.

"Pfaffenhofen to the Ilm" was therefore the motto of our 2012 competition entry for the small garden show "Nature in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm 2017". The river as the main artery of the city, showing paths along the water and to the water, sometimes also into the water, introducing people to the refreshing, invigorating element, recovering and exhibiting the treasure of the city, illuminating it. To enable orientation and at the same time to find the scale for the very different new open spaces along the Ilm was an essential part of the task. Strengthening the individual characteristics without losing sight of the common, unified image of the new green space on the Ilm.... The Ilmpronenade is developed as a new backbone from the city mill in the north to the Ilm island in the south. As a continuous open space element, the river space is now to be experienced by the people of Pfaffenhofen. The promenade accompanies and opens up the now finally visible river on new and existing paths, which playfully widens in sections and, accentuated with curved seating elements, invites people to stay on the banks.
The existing, narrower Ilmwegerl supplements the promenade on the opposite bank in accordance with the existing situation.
The city bridges link the surrounding quarters with the Ilm area as paved path connections opening up to the city in an east-west direction. New pedestrian bridges supplement existing crossings.
The three characteristic open spaces - leisure park, citizens' park and Ilm Island - rhythmise the course of the river through the city.

The leisure park has been generously and extensively newly created. The sports areas were arranged in a space-saving and modern way, the surroundings around the climbing hall and ice stadium were reorganized. A generously paved forecourt with an unobstructed view of nature was created in front of the open-air swimming pool. The Ilm promenade becomes the hinge between the sports park and the widened and nature-oriented Ilm area. The banks are formed as meadows with isolated gravel banks and accentuated only by single site-appropriate woods for flood protection reasons. Planned by the Ingolstadt Water Management Office, the gravelly soils were left open to the onset of succession without seeding the meadows, and extensively maintained and developed on a permanent basis.
Small wooden lookout points for observing nature, paths to the water and a fosse path are offered at selected points. Along the way, beach volleyball courts, trim-dich equipment, swings, and balancing stretches continually invite activity.

The Bürgerpark forms the center of the new green spaces on the Ilm River. The former municipal abattoir, building yard, recycling yard and the waterworks had to make way, are now Bürgerpark, a meeting place for young and old, time change ...
It was developed according to the onion model of enclosing shells: A multifunctional meadow space in the center of the park. Here it is possible to play, make music and have a picnic. The open centre is framed by the park band, a wide circular path with an accompanying and framing, large-format seating and play element made of wood, is both an access point and a place to stay. A lushly flowering band of perennials and grasses in turn surrounds the open meadow space. The outer shell is formed by the transparent, high-crowned tree fringe with offers for fitness, play and stay. A small frog king, which already existed, became the idea generator for the new frog king playground, beside it there are play landscapes for different age groups and mobilities. A wide, flowering hedge of spireas marks the end to the surrounding streets. In a westerly direction towards the old town, the park opens up as an inviting gesture.
A pedestrian bridge spans the park band over̈the crossing flood ditch, an artificial relief channel of the Ilm for floods, which is embedded with a simple lawn embankment with a natural stone bed in the channel in the middle of the park.
In the middle of the Bürgerpark in the water world lies the new Belvedere - the beautiful view. Between the pedestrian bridge over the Ilm and the fortified walls of the flood ditch offers a spacious place to stay on two levels. One is at flood-safe level "between the bridges" with a panoramic view and the other is directly on the water. Here you can take a seat on the steps and look southwards at the water world of the approaching Ilm, but you can also reach almost directly to the water and sit down there in an exposed position. Small places with benches, which use the round of the flood ditch walls supplement the stay offer and offer a sublime view over the Ilm.
The weir for the new Arlmühle was redeveloped extensively, the Arlmühle received a mill wheel and a turbine for the generation of current. The water power is visible again and can be experienced.
The fish can now pass the mill wheel and weir unharmed via the new fish ladder.

The new development at the Bürgerpark was part of the task in the competition. It closes the settlement elements coming from the south in the sense of keystones and at the same time emphasizes the Bürgerpark as a new important element of the public urban space through a self-confident architectural language.
The Ilminsel receives a generously terraced, curved, spatial widening to the water. For this purpose, the old bank walls were dismantled as far as possible and the remaining walls were extensively renovated. The new Ilm terraces offer beautiful views, lawns invite you to camp or picnic by the river. The brave can spot a small drop into the river and - along the bank - can walk part of the way in the water, only to land again at another drop. Playhouses take the houses on the Schwarzbach as their model and interpret them 'en miniature'. Freely arranged groups of trees form partial spaces and offer shady places to stay. Along Münchner Straße, together with the new residential and commercial building, an inviting entrance square was created.

Parallel to the construction of the permanent garden show facilities, numerous other urban redevelopment measures were tackled, as is so often the case, which were long overdue and are now largely completed in 2017, for the opening of the small garden show. For example, the sports and leisure park adjoining the Ilm promenade was completely rearranged from its existing state and the festival site was developed as a permanently usable car park. A section of 450 m of the Ilm river was developed close to nature by the water management office. The Bürgerpark received a residential development on the edge, two new pedestrian bridges span the Ilm. The Schlachthofstraße, an important connection to the old town, was rebuilt to calm traffic. The flood ditch had to be fundamentally renewed after the 2013 floods. A residential and commercial building with an outdoor restaurant was built on the Ilminsel, which can already be used during the garden show, and the retaining walls of the Ilm and the Schwarzbach were completely renovated or newly constructed over a length of 350 m. This was also a particular challenge. This was also the special challenge of the planning in Pfaffenhofen, the coordination of the extensive measures, which succeeded in close cooperation with the office Großberger Beyhl partner landscape architects from Munich, which were entrusted apart from the building supervision of the horticultural show permanent plant and exhibition also with the control of the flanking urban measures. "Nature in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm 2017", the small garden show also acts here as a lighthouse project with synergy effects that cannot be overlooked. In this way, urban density in combination with high-quality, multifunctional open spaces have been created in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm in the last 2 years, in the immediate vicinity of the old town, making the town as a whole even more liveable than it already was.