BTU students involved in the redesign of Cottbus's "Platz an der Sonnenuhr" square

The so-called "Platz an der Sonnenuhr" is a well-known green space in Cottbus's old town centre. Located between the monastery church, town hall and Altmarkt, the area is currently not very appealing. There is a lack of opportunities to linger. To change this, the city of Cottbus/Chóśebuz wants to redesign the Platz an der Sonnenuhr in collaboration with Master's students of Urban Planning and Architecture at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, as well as two planning offices and city residents, and adapt it to modern usage requirements.

The BTU students visualised their initial ideas and concepts as part of an impromptu (short design project). In addition to suggestions such as a wooden footbridge, large planters, a water playground or an interactive sundial, there were creative approaches to redesigning the green space. During this phase, the students were supported not only by the Landscape Architecture department, but also by employees of the City of Cottbus/Chóśebuz and the Infrastructure and Mobility Planning chair in the Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Urban Planning at BTU.

An eight-member jury with members from the participating chairs, the city administration and the commissioned planning offices evaluated eleven submitted impromptu designs. The five best concepts were refined in three planning workshops at the beginning of 2024 in close collaboration between the students and the architecture firms "Octagon" and "Studio futura" in order to adapt them to real requirements: Ideas were fleshed out, particularly with regard to climate optimisation, rainwater management, functionality and materiality. The winning design teams are Andre Leon Schmidt & Willi Willinki, Paul Breitenfeldt & Saskia Wacke, Susanne Schneider-Weller & Hanna Sophie Reinhardt, Eric Jordan Klink & Florian Kühn, Melike Koc & Philip Wucher.

Dr Simon Colwill, teaching and research fellow at the Institute of Urban Planning at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg and one of the lecturers at the BTU seminar on the redesign of Platz an der Sonnenuhr, says of the project's special features: "What makes this project so special is its three-stage, cooperative structure, which brings together the university, city administration, planning offices and citizens, starting with an open student competition."

Dr Colwill also emphasises: "The special added value lies in the practical learning experience for students: They develop creative designs, work closely with experienced landscape architects and experience directly how citizen participation influences urban development. This combination of education, practice and citizen participation not only funds innovative approaches, but also strengthens the sense of community and identification with the Cottbus urban space. Overall, the project enables constructive cooperation and funds the exchange between theory, practice and the public in urban design."

Within a few months, the initial ideas were turned into finished design proposals, which could be viewed and evaluated online by interested parties in September and October 2024. The student designs will be exhibited and presented on 12 November 2024 as part of a public event organised by the city of Cottbus/Chóśebuz. This will give citizens another opportunity to contribute their opinions. Subsequently, the findings from this dialogue will also be incorporated into the concrete redesign of the square at the sundial.

About World Town Planning Day

8 November is World Town Planning Day (often also referred to as "World Urbanism Day"). This day of action has taken place every year since 1949 and is currently celebrated in over 30 countries. World Town Planning Day was established by Argentinian professor Maria della Paolera (1890-1960) with the aim of familiarising the general public with the goals and ideas of Urban Planning. The day is also intended to fund international dialogue between Urban Planning professionals and all those interested in the subject. We would like to take this opportunity to present the above project with student participation.