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Figure from:Grossform and the Idea of the European City: a Typological Research

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The selection was not based on economic criteria but rather on the notion that these districts formed the ‘cornerstones of the symbolic geography of the city’ [9: p.223]. Ungers and his team produced morphological sequences illustrating the development of the selected districts into architectural islands. (Fig. 1) ‘The architectural and planning intentions for the future consist solely in enucleating the true configuration of each urban island on the basis of which it was first chosen. It is essentially a matter of establishing, in a way, the “physiognomy” of that part of the city in question, and leaving one’s own stamp on it to such an extent that it finds its proper expression.’ [7: p.94]

Figure 1 The selection was not based on economic criteria but rather on the notion that these districts formed the ‘cornerstones of the symbolic geography of the city’ [9: p.223]. Ungers and his team produced morphological sequences illustrating the development of the selected districts into architectural islands. (Fig. 1) ‘The architectural and planning intentions for the future consist solely in enucleating the true configuration of each urban island on the basis of which it was first chosen. It is essentially a matter of establishing, in a way, the “physiognomy” of that part of the city in question, and leaving one’s own stamp on it to such an extent that it finds its proper expression.’ [7: p.94]

Related Figures (5)

projects leading to the selection of the design of the Culture and Business Center for the Nordweststadt by Dutch architecture company Van den Broek en Bakema from 1961 (Fig. 2). The design of the Culture and Business Center for the Nordweststadt in Frankfurt by Van den Broek en Bakema was submitted in the competition for the center of the Nordweststadt, an ambitious city development project by the Frankfurt City Council, which had been won by German architect Walter Schwagenscheidt two years earlier in 1959. The Culture and Business Center was conceived as the cultural and social center not only for the Nordweststadt but also for a larger catchment area of the suburbanized areas of the Northwest of the city of Frankfurt with an approximate total number of 80,000 inhabitants. [20] This center should not only be a traffic hub and shopping center, but a ‘city crown’ for the suburban area; an urban place, which provides a sense of identity and collectivity for the inhabitants. Ungers used the project in his publication on Grossform to illustrate the concept of the ‘closed block
projects leading to the selection of the design of the Culture and Business Center for the Nordweststadt by Dutch architecture company Van den Broek en Bakema from 1961 (Fig. 2). The design of the Culture and Business Center for the Nordweststadt in Frankfurt by Van den Broek en Bakema was submitted in the competition for the center of the Nordweststadt, an ambitious city development project by the Frankfurt City Council, which had been won by German architect Walter Schwagenscheidt two years earlier in 1959. The Culture and Business Center was conceived as the cultural and social center not only for the Nordweststadt but also for a larger catchment area of the suburbanized areas of the Northwest of the city of Frankfurt with an approximate total number of 80,000 inhabitants. [20] This center should not only be a traffic hub and shopping center, but a ‘city crown’ for the suburban area; an urban place, which provides a sense of identity and collectivity for the inhabitants. Ungers used the project in his publication on Grossform to illustrate the concept of the ‘closed block
Figure 3: Floor plan of the design of the Culture and Business Center for the Nordwestadt by Van den Broek en Bakema (Image: Architectengemeeinschap van den Broek en Bakema [21: p.12]; Collection Het Nieuwe Instituut/ BROX). digitally. This is a constant adjusting and searching process for reference points in the existing plan and in the descriptive texts about the project.
Figure 3: Floor plan of the design of the Culture and Business Center for the Nordwestadt by Van den Broek en Bakema (Image: Architectengemeeinschap van den Broek en Bakema [21: p.12]; Collection Het Nieuwe Instituut/ BROX). digitally. This is a constant adjusting and searching process for reference points in the existing plan and in the descriptive texts about the project.
Figure 4: Re-drawn floor plan (Image: Eva Sollgruber).
Figure 4: Re-drawn floor plan (Image: Eva Sollgruber).
Figure 5: Diagrams explaining the main design principles of the project (Image: Eva Sollgruber) ‘igure 6: The ‘fact sheet’; collected data bout the project (Image: Eva Sollgruber)
Figure 5: Diagrams explaining the main design principles of the project (Image: Eva Sollgruber) ‘igure 6: The ‘fact sheet’; collected data bout the project (Image: Eva Sollgruber)