The Leipzig Convergence: Tracks to Transformation
Instructors: Prof. Verena Schmidt, Alice Geletey, Pola Koch I Year: Feb. 2025 I Location: Leipzig. I Program: Residential • Commercial I Software: AutoCAD, SketchUp, Rhino6, ArchiCAD, Photoshop, Illustrator, Lumion
Originally developed as a freight loading station, the site lost its functional relevance following post-industrial decline and became spatially fragmented. The project reinterprets the existing railway infrastructure as a structuring spine, organizing new urban functions along a linear system. Through controlled accessibility, layered spatial organization, and integrated mobility and green strategies, the proposal reconnects the former industrial enclave with the surrounding urban fabric while maintaining continuity with Leipzig’s post-industrial identity.
The site evolved from a logistics-based industrial hub into a fragmented and underutilized area following post-industrial decline. Today, it represents a transformation zone where existing infrastructure can be reactivated to support mixed-use and creative urban development.
The site is located at the interface of large-scale transport infrastructure and fine-grained residential fabric. This condition produces asymmetrical accessibility, limited permeability from the north, and weak integration with surrounding neighborhoods.
The surrounding urban fabric exhibits a heterogeneous mix of typologies and programmatic uses, forming a varied spatial condition. Rather than homogenizing this diversity, the project interprets and organizes these relationships through a structured spatial framework.
The design process follows a palimpsest approach based on tracing the cultural and spatial imprints embedded in the site. Existing elements such as graffiti, informal artistic expressions, and industrial remnants are read as active layers rather than residual conditions. Through identifying fragmentation, establishing a linear framework, introducing controlled connections, and defining key intervention zones, these traces are translated into a structured and integrated spatial system.
A continuous promenade structures the project as a linear experiential system. Following existing industrial traces, it links programs and open spaces through a sequence of spatial transitions. Controlled randomness is introduced along the route to generate spontaneous encounters and enrich the user experience.
The proposal establishes a spatial dialogue between existing industrial structures and new volumes. Rather than a tabula rasa approach, key elements are preserved and reinterpreted within an adaptive framework, maintaining industrial continuity.
New interventions are selectively inserted to avoid disruption. These volumes act as connectors, activating underused areas and linking fragmented parts of the site.
Existing buildings function as anchors. Their retained qualities support new uses while organizing the site into a more coherent spatial system.
Section
West Elevation
