Hamburg - Urban Design Analysis Report

HAMBURG 

INTRODUCTION 

As a major port city, Hamburg is located in norther region of Germany with an approximate area of 755 km². Hamburg has an estimated population of 1.7 million people or more. There are a total of 3 rivers flowing through the areas of Hamburg naming Elbe River, Alster River and the Bille River towards the North Sea defining its strategic location for trading.

Today, Hamburg is not only a transportation core, but also one of the mose opulent cities in Europe. Hamburg started off as a trading port in Germany but has evolved into a media and a sucessful industrial centre housing the manufacturing warehouses and facilities of various high technological companies in the world including Airbus, Blohm + Voss and Aurubis. For centuries, Hamburg has also been a crucial financial centre for centuries and is the seat of the world's second oldest bank, Berenberg Bank.

CONTENT 

3-4 Historical Studies 5-8 Growth & Development 9 - 13 Landmarks and Notable Features 14 - 16 Listed Buildings 17 - 20 Streetscapes 21-22 Facade an Building Quality 23 - 24 Possible Retention and Demolition 25 Conclusion

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HISTORICAL EVENTS 

THE GREAT FIRE

On the 4th of May 1942, thick clouds of smoke started to cover Deichstraße shortly after midnight. Narrow alleyways and wooden houses fed the fire and it wasn’t long before a big fire raged through the streets of Hamburg. Adjacent reservoirs of flammable materials such as rubber, oil or alcohol fed the fire even further destroying the city.

The city was rebuilt after the fire with bricks and stone to prevent the repeat of this tragedy.

WORLD WAR I & II

During World War 2, Hamburg became a target of allied bombing due to its success as a port and an industrial city. Large firestorms were created killing and wounding more than 100,000 people as well as destroying the whole city to rubble

NORTH SEA FLOOD

The North Sea Flood was a natural disaster that happened in 1962 which waus caused by a severe storm. This flood has affected most of the coastal regions of Germany especially Hamburg. The flood has destroyed a total of 60,000 buildings.

Histo repeated itself in 2013 when Cyclone History Xaver hit the coast of Germany causing the worst flood in Europe’s recorded history.

HISTORICAL TIMELINE 

1500 - The bloom of Hamburg as a port 1813 - Siege of Hamburg by multiple forces 1815 - Hamburg becomes a member state of German Confederation 1842 - The Great Fire (Engulfed 1/4 of Hamburg city) 1914 - World War I 1919 - City Rebuild in Progress (Business Remained Slow) 1920s - The Great Depresion World War II 1945 - Nazi Crimes Growth of Hamburg Port 1956 - Invention of Freight Containers Container Terminals moved to South of Elbe River because deep , wide expanses of water were needed 1962 - No North Sea Flood (6000 buildings destroyed) 1970 - 1.7 million population achieved 1997 - Senate’s decision made to Hafen City

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GROWTH DEVELOPMENT 

Images on the right represent historical maps dated back to the 17th and 18th Century. The map shws the city center of Hamburg as the main focus of study because the site of Bille at that time has not yet been developed.

In comparison, the geographical condition of Hamburg has changed as more rivers are now seen flowing through Hamburg.

The city has been gridded into smaller regular blocks for flexibility of town planning. The outskirts of Hamburg has slowly developed to accommodate the rise of Hamburg as a port and industrial area in general. The map of 18th century shows some farming activities as well as some residential areas near the farming areas. The accuracy of study is limited as these are manually illustrated maps. In general, blocks in the 18th century are more well planned and the outskirts have been grided for future planning and development.

17th Century

18th Century

GROWTH DEVELOPMENT 

19th Century

Moving on to the 19th Century, the outskirts of Hamburg had already been densely developed as the busines and economy grew. Unfortunately in 1842, the great fire engulfed a big part of Hamburg city and its people. Most buildings were destroyed in the fire making it crucial for Hamburg to change its face by converting wooden construction to bricks and stone work.

As a city, Hamburg has been struck by numerous disasters which has shaped what Hamburg is today. The 20th century map shows the building blocks becoming even smaller blocks as Hamburg city evolved from a port to an industrial city. The city center of Hamburg has been built as a modern city in Germany and is graded one of the most livable cities in Western Europe today.

Whereas the outskirts of Hamburg like Veddel and Bille has been de developed into a region of mixed use ranging from residential and commercial to industrial purposes.

18th Century

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IMAGE 19th Century

21st Century

SITE : BILLE 

Bille river is a small and slow-flowing river in Stormarn, Schleswig-Holstein. The source of the water comes from the north part of Hahnheide forest.

A lot of old estates and tasteful parks are laid out along its riverbank. Bille is one of the 3 rivers that flows through the lands of Hamburg together with Elbe and Alster river.

The 3 images show maps of the site at different times from the 19th to the 21st century. The site is considered to be a heavy industrial area that houses many factories, warehouses and a lot of empty land used as an open carpark space for trucks, trailers and containers.

Only a few residential and commercial areas were spotted.

20th Century

IMAGE IMAGE RESIDENTIAL

MANUFACTURE

COMMERCIAL AND LIGHT INDUSTRIAL WAREHOUSE AND EXPORT The red highlighted region represents an area which is more concentrated with residential blocks. Most of the residential buildings are apartment buildings. The orange region represents a heavy industrial area where most of the buildings are meant for manufacturing.

The yellow region is a scatter of commercial shoplots usually on the boundaries of the region and some packaging and light industrial areas on the inside or the back of the commercial areas. The green region cono warehouses for export. sist of

GEOGRAPHY

 The chosen site sits on 3 differ- From a walkthrough and obserent regions of Hamburg with a vation of images of the site, the quarter (of the site) each on industrial area has a few differHammerbrook, Hamm and the ent typologies which we have largest part on Rothenburg- categorized in various definisort. The approximate value of tions such as manufacturing, population on the site is less packaging, export and show than 2,000 people because rooms. There werw a number that part of Hamburg is mostly of buildings that were abanused as an industrial area, doned as well as empty plots of making it hard for people to feel land which is underused. comfortable living around it.

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LANDMARKS & NOTABLE FEATURES

SPEICHERSTADT

HAMBURG RATHAUS

CHILEHAUS

 

 

ö 

The Speicherstadt translated from German is quite literally: 'City of Warehouses', (the warehouse district). In Hamburg, Germany is the largest warehouse district in the world where the buildings stand on timber-pile foundations, oak logs, in this particular case. It is located in the port of Hamburg within the HafenCity quarter The district was built as a free zone to transfer goods without paying customs. As of 2009 the district and the surrounding area is under redevelopment. As the first site in Hamburg, it has been awarded the status of UNESCO World Heritage Site on 5 July 2015.

The site consists of the Town Hall and the statue of Roland that stands near the town hall. The town hall was built in the 15th century when Bremen joined the Hanseatic League. It was renovated in the 17th century and a new Town Hall was built nearby in the early 20th. Under the Holy Roman Empire, Bremen had extensive autonomy which allowed the town to grow and made the town hall a center of power. Both the old and new Town Halls survived bombings during World War II. The statue of Roland was built in 1404. It stands 5.5 m (18 ft) high

The name of this huge shipping office complex was inspired by the man who built it, Henry Brarens Sloman, who made a fortune trading saltpetre with Chile. The Chilehaus was constructed from 4.8 million bricks and serves as an example of the Brick Expressionism of the 1920s, inspired by Brick Gothic and Expressionism. The ten-storey office building is one of the historic architectural monuments of Hamburg. Due to its distinctive architecture with its lean, unconventional structure - its top evoking the bow of a ship - it is an attraction known st well beyond the boundaries of Hamburg. Built between 1922 and 1924 by F. Höger, it is considered a representative example of the revival of north German brick construction and is a UNCSEO World Heritage Site

LANDMARKS & NOTABLE FEATURES

HAMMER PARK

ST. NIKOLAI MEMORIAL

é 

 

 

The hammer park area extends over nearly 16 hectares and is surrounded by the Hammer Steindamm in the West, the Sievekingsallee in the North, the Caspar-Voght -Straße the East and Hammer courtyard to the South. The latter is reminiscent of the earlier name of the site. After the opening of the park in 1920 the Sievekingsche cottage wihthin the park was used as a restaurant, it was later destroyed in 1943 during Allied air raids. There is a sports staduium area of the park dedicated to football and athletics which includes a grandstand for 2,000 spectators. There are also adjacent tennis courts of Hamburg Turnerschaft of 1816.

Since 2011 the entire park area including the National Stadium is a part of the Hamburg monument list.

St. Nikolai Memorial is Hamburg’s most important memorial for the victims of war between 1933-1945. During the bombing raids on Hamburg, the church tower served allied pilots as a point of orientation. During Operation Gomorrha in 1943, along with the 270,000 homes that were destroyed, the church was hit as well and suffered the same fate. Approximately 35,000 people were killed at the time.

The ruins serve today as a memorial. The tower is still the highest church tower in the city. A glass-walled panorama lift travels up to an outlook platform at a height of 76 metres. The museum in the vaulted cellar provides information about the destruction of Hamburg in the Second World War

The Roman Catholic Church of St. Erich between Billhorner Röhrendamm and Marckmannstraße in Hamburg's Rothenburgsort was built between 1961-1963. It was subsequently destroyed during the Second World War Church of St. Joseph at Bullenhuserdamm. The design for the modern church building, which resembles a large fish from the outside, comes from the Berlin architect Reinhard Hofbauer.

The steeple is especially visible in the cityscape can be seen even from miles around, especially between stations and the route between the Elbe bridges.

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CHILEHAUS 

Built with the use of 4.8 million dark Oldenburg bricks, Chilehaus sits on a very difficult terrain which required some 16-meter depth of reinforced concrete piling as its foundations. Despite its sharp corners facing the main street, this building shows a touch of softness with a curved brick facade on Pumpen street. This old shipping office complex features a courtyars in the middle (shown in image on the right) As well preserved as it is, the Chilehaus is still in use today to house offices of multiple companies. Back then, this building was not only used as a building but also served as a warehouse and accommodation for 4,500 workers of the company. This building is indeed the masterpiece of Expressionist Architecture.

1195-1842 - The medieval parish church of St Nikolai A few years after founding a "New Town" by Adolf III von Schauenburg "Neue Burg" on the ruins of the Bishop's Castle with the other side of the cathedral, demanding the resettled citizens for their own church. Graf Adolf was then a small chapel of about 12.0 x 26.0 m building to hold approximately 300 people.

In the following centuries, this building was repeatedly enlarged, the layers of an onion equal. The first extension in the years 1240 and 1250 took a between the chapel and used it as a sanctuary. Three ships with three yokes formed an almost square floor plan. The approximately 22-meter-high central nave was only marginally wider than the aisles and even slightly higher than this, so that a uniformly vaulted "hall" which of course significantly lower former chapel added.

About 150 years later in around 1384-1400, more construction followed with a second extension and was bordered by two equally high chapel tower bases.

In the years from 1400 to 1425 the last extension was made with a conversion of the old chapel with a new apse chapel with Attachments.

The church received a tower in late (1517). But lightning and fire, caused by structural defects led to collapse to other towers, this is evident from the city views from different centuries.

The first rather squat acting tower followed in 1593, a second, replaced the 1656/57 slender tower known today, almost 128 m towering baroque tower of Peter Marquardt. All towers owned a movement that has always been attached so high that it was visible from the whole of Hamburg, and so was considered a "standard clock" for the Hanseatic city.

The last tower remained until 5th May 1842, when the outgoing of the DeichstraĂ&#x;e "Great Fire" captured St. Nikolai . In just four days it burned down and as a result about one-third of the entire city was destroyed. The only remains of the Church were the tower stump and part of the exterior walls.

Today the St Nikolai Memorial Hamburg is central place of remembrance for the victims of war and tyranny of 1933-1945. At present the highest church tower in the city is currently being restored, the operation proceeds. Despite the scaffolding on the tower of St. Nicholas, which now extends to the tip, the lookout tower clock is open daily. The panoramic glass lift moves to the location in 76 meters high platform, from where visitors can enjoy the view over Hamburg.

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RATHAUS TOWN HALL CHILEHAUS ST. NIKOLAI WAR MEMORIAL INDUSTRIAL

SPEICBERSTADT WAREHOUSE DISTRICT

S-BAHN HOTEL

BILLE BRIDGE

LOCATION OF LANDMAKRS The above location map clearly identifies the site boundary within Bille river and the landmarks within Hamburg with important significance. This is the analysis of landmarks and notable features in the whole of Hamburg area.

From this map, it is highlighted that the most prodominant landmarks in the city are in their height and facade quality. These landmarks and important features of Hamburg city becomes a prominent feature for the people who live in it to recognize as a node or a point of reference. These old buildings are also a part of cultural heritage and is crucial to be preserved for future generations to see as Hamburg is a very historical city. Urban planning is not just about building new things but it is also important to preserve these heritage landmarks as it it part of the identity of the city

LISTED BUILDINGS 

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HERITAGE MONUMENT 

The site around Bile river has only been recently developed as an industrial area therefore only a few of cultural or heritage monuments have been identified. Although these buildings are not listed as UNESCO’s World Heritage site, these are still notable landmarks with an immense history dating back to the 18th century.

Bullenhuser Damm School It was not very clear when the Bullenhuser Damm School was built but something very significant in the world war history happened in this very building. Images on the left illustrates the school before World War 2 and the school today. The building is located in Rothenburgsort area of the site. Several air raids have destroyed most of the buildings in Hamburg city but fortunately, this building was only lightly damaged.

On the 20th of April 1945, 20 Jewish children that was used in medical experimentations and 4 of their adult caretakers were brought to this school to be killed. That night on the same day, 24 Soviet people who were also bexperimented were brought there to be murdered as well. This building is no longer in use today but serves as a memorial to all the children and other innocent people.

Chocolate Factory WendenstraĂ&#x;e This building was built in year 1908 as a factory for the chocolate brand Reese & Wichmann due to the breakdown of their old production site at Speersort. Designed by Theodor SpeckbĂśtel, the building was designed as two seperate wings on the east and west side sandwiching a courtyard in the middle, with two entrances on the north and south side.

Un Unfortunately during the Second World War, the attic and the gables of the factory were destroyed. After the world war in year 1952, the roof of the factory was redesigned and restored from the fourth floor of the building. From the images, it is seen that the restored roof is made from steel and glass giving the courtyard plenty of natural lighting.

This building defines Hamburg and its history by just the outer looks of it because it was not demolished and instead, it was restored which combines different styles of architecture in one building harmoniously. The chocolate factory only operated until the late 1990s. Today the factory is occupied by the German Hoya Lens company.

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The aerial view images on top illustrates HafenCity in 1900 and HafenCity today. Alot of buildings that are destroyed in the World War 2 has been rebuilt with new materials like concrete and glass. The building in the middle is the Elbe Philharmonic Hall. The history f Hamburg Philharmonic started in 1828 when the society was founded. Today, the philharmonic culture is still strong and ongoing, hosting amazing shows.

STREETSCAPE

 Image shows the streetscape around Alster Lake in the late19th century. Hamburg was founded at the at the mouth of Aslter River as early as the 9th century and was used as a port. A dam was built at the river to power a watermill. When the second dam was built in 1235, the shape of the river changed to the look of a lake which is Aslter Lake today. Due to the advance in industrial technologies, deeper waters were required for bigger container ships to do business.

This picture is taken in year 2014 from Alster Lake. The building facades have changed from old brickwork architecture to concrete and plaster showing a less heritage look. Most of the buildings around Alster Lake is built and rebuilt to accommodate the rise of tourism industry in Hamburg. This area in Hamburg is redefined when it was no longer a port. Today, Alster Lake is a famous tourist attraction with public and tourist transportation that takes people on a river tour which runs for about 9 kilometers. Besides that, there are also small boats and canoes for rent for tourists to explore Hamburg by themselves.

The top image shows a market place in Hamburg and the bottom image shows a marketplace in Rothenburgsort. This comparison shows that most of the cultural or human activities happens in Hamburg city center. The chosen site is a quieter area compared to Hmburg city center.

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STREETSCAPE 

This is another comparison of streetscape in Hamburg. The old buildings by the lake are usually comercial at the bottom (ground floor) and residential on top.

Because Hamburg is expanding as an industrial city, the buildings have all been rebuilt into something that is worth more commercial value like office towers and hotels. However, some of the old heriatge buildings are still well preserved and kept as tourist visitation centers such as The Speicherstadt, Chilehaus and the St. Michael’s Church which can be seen in the bottom photos.

This image shows the streetscape of the residential area on the chosen site. Most of the residential areas here comprises of apartment buildings of 3 to 6 floors.

This area is where most of the comercial buildings are built with a number of showroms and galleries seen. Most of the showrooms are for properties on sale and also for automobile offices like Mercedez Benz and BMW. There are some small restaurants on this part of town as well to acommodate all the peple that works there.

In this picture, an old church can be seen. This is the oldest church on site and it is called the “Kirche St. Erich�. Other than this building, the rest of the buildings on site are mostly new and recently developed because this area does not have a long history compared to Hamburg city.

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FACADE & BUILDING QUALITY 

 We have determined that the most common building type in our site specifically is for industrial use; such as factories/warehouses and production related buildings.

We believe these buildings appear to be built for purpose and function, rather than focusing on the aesthetic qualities which the more iconic landmarks display; such as the intricate neo-gothic architecture of the Rathaus Town Hall and Nikolai Church.

Most of the industrial buildings on the site are fairly new with some exception to some old warehouses and factories that are either still in use or abandoned. The new industrial buildings from our findings are typically structured in a grid format with steel, concrete and glass being the main material sources. These materials combined gives it a very rigid facade and outlook as a part of defining its building use. The building in the image above is the Mercedez Benz showroom and it is clearly defined by its large panels of glass facades to allow passerbys to see through the building into the showroom.

FACADE & BUILDING QUALITY 

Within our research of Hamburg we have determined that within the residential area of Bille, there are many considerably large, rectilinear brick buildings with an average of 5 floors with a grid-like symmetrical facade are common to the area.

The uses of these buildings are namely apartment buildings, flats and hotels as well as the occasional office block. The buildings are of a traditional nature, with the majority being constructed in the 1940’s. Symmetry is apparent and no real hint of any contemporary architecture inhabits the site. Glass panelled windows are a consistent feature throughout most of the residential blocks 22

Huge plot of empty land used as a domestic carpark but if left empty at night.

Abandoned Warehouses

Other carparks for big vehicles and containers that are no longer in use.

OPPORTUNITIES 

There are a lot of opportunities and possibilities on this site.

There are a lot of empty parking lots that is only used during the day, with some exception to container carparks. This problem can be solved with the proposition of a multi storey carpark and the lands can be used to develop the area further. Besides that, there are also a lot of abandoned warehouses and factories that can be demolished. After some research, there are no by laws and restrictions to preserve buildings on the site because most of the buildings are quite new except some old houses and the old church.

From this nolli map, it is obvious that there are alot of empty spaces on site that can be used for the better of the city. The highlighted parts on the site plan are empty carparks that can be utilized for further development.

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CONCLUSION 

After the historical research of Hamburg and the chosen site, we can conclude that the site around Bille river has its historical values but the cultural quality is very vague, especially when compared to Hamburg city itself. This is an important point to be taken into consideration when doing an urban planning project on the site as the site is losing its heritage and cultural identity.

Vandalism happens all over the site especially on old brick buildings which have some historical value individually to a certain extent. Proper preservation should be carried out to further preserve its true identity and roots.

In conclusion, the site is blooming as an industrial area but it lacks the touch when it comes to residential and comercial areas.

The site lacks green pockets and proper residential areas for the large amount of people who works in the city forcing the working class tto travel a distance to get to work daily.

7001 - URBAN DESIGN URBAN ANALYSIS   