© SMAQ . Pubblicata il 11 Maggio 2009.

Mixed Grains is a tactic to create an alter-urbanity in sites with underutilised buildings. It achieves this by accentuating the fragmentation of former industrial areas with a checkerboard of typologies and programs positioned over time. The continual generation of these moves by Mixed Grains unleashes a clash of scales, activities and environmental strategies that can jumpstart an urban condition.

© SMAQ . Pubblicata il 11 Maggio 2009.

Elmshorn, situated 32km north of Hamburg on the Krückau River, is a former market and industrial town ripe for reinvention due to its eclectic collection both industrial shells and village strips. Here, Mixed Grains proposes to strengthen the existing patchwork of various building stock and vacant land in the town as a tool of urban consolidation.

© SMAQ . Pubblicata il 11 Maggio 2009.

Firstly, Mixed Grains takes its cue from the site, which is located at the crossroads of town, land and infrastructure. The resulting matrix is responded to by a chess-board like distribution of grains that are placed inbetween to complete the urban block. This strategy results in a mixture of dwellings (lofts, apartments, double houses, and collective living) which provides a right to autonomy of different ages, income brackets, and lifestyles. This high density of diversity in program and person creates a neighbourhood with the typological variety of a city.

© SMAQ . Pubblicata il 11 Maggio 2009.

The urban compression of Mixed Grains across large and small parcels binds a diverse range of stakeholders together. This strategy searches for urban identity which is representative of all types of people and spaces.

© SMAQ . Pubblicata il 11 Maggio 2009.

SMAQ – architecture urbanism research (Berlin)
Project Team: Sabine Müller, Andreas Quednau, Robert Gorny, Timothy Moore, Martino Sacchi
in collaboraion with HL Landschaftsarchitekten, Buro Happold
Client: City of Elmshorn
Location: Elmshorn, Germany
Program: 99.122 m2apartments, 32.758 m2 retail, 14.570 m2 offices, 3.889 m2 social facilities, 2.632 leisure facilities, 1607 underground parking spots
Status: in development
Site Area: 25 ha
Gross Floor Area: 151.971 m2
Design Period: 2009
Awards: International Competition 2nd Prize

© SMAQ . Pubblicata il 11 Maggio 2009.

© SMAQ . Pubblicata il 11 Maggio 2009.

© SMAQ . Pubblicata il 11 Maggio 2009.

© SMAQ . Pubblicata il 11 Maggio 2009.

© SMAQ . Pubblicata il 11 Maggio 2009.

© SMAQ . Pubblicata il 11 Maggio 2009.