2001
Büchnerstrasse I–III - Leinefelde - Germany

The Südstadt of Leinefelde in Thuringia was established in the late 1960s as a residential town for a cotton mill that had been strategically built in the middle of rural Eichsfeld.
Over the next thirty years, the city’s population grew from 2,600 to 16,500 inhabitants.
At the time of German unification, the residential complex Leinefelde was more than ninety percent comprised of multistory prefab apartment buildings.
Early on, the city recognized the need for a general overhaul as well as a creative approach to these buildings.
Some 2,000 apartments have since been dismantled, their removal strategically prepared through enhancement and reconstruction measures.
Core neighborhoods were consolidated, so that buildings could be removed around the periphery.
Through shrinkage and renovation, Stefan Forster Architekten created such a neighborhood in Büchnerstrasse, which, located at the southern edge of the town, now approaches the ideal of a garden city with clear, open spaces.
The buildings from the 1980s were reduced by one to two floors and now vary in form.
The apartments were repartitioned to feature generously sized, private spaces.

imagetext

Strategy

Category

Contributor

Architecture as Resource / Imprint