Press release 2022/09
The Architects' and Engineers' Association of Berlin-Brandenburg (AIV) organised its renowned Schinkel competition in Rüdersdorf near Berlin this year. Under the motto "Ressource Rüdersdorf - newly mixed up", the competition called for new ideas for the site of the former feed phosphate factory. Participants were given tasks in the fields of architecture, civil engineering, urban planning, landscape architecture, transport planning and fine arts.
Prize money totalling 28,700 euros was awarded this year. A total of 123 entries were submitted, eleven of which were honoured. The big Schinkel Festival, at which the award winners will be honoured, will take place on 26 August 2022 in Rüdersdorf's Kulturhaus.
Organised for the 167th time, the Schinkel Competition is one of the best-known and oldest German competitions for young talent.
Mayor Sabine Löser explains:
"It was a great pleasure for me that the organisers chose Rüdersdorf near Berlin for this year's Schinkel Competition. Even the intensive preparation with guided tours through the municipality, many of which took place on the normally well-secured private grounds, showed the potential that the eyes of the planners, engineers and architects discovered in our town. I felt particularly honoured to be able to take part in the intensive examination of each individual entry as a judge. I was very impressed by the high quality of all the entries."
The "Future Factory" design by Katrina Westphal and Ing-Kerrin Ziegler attracted particular attention in the community. Not only did they win 2nd place in the architecture competition, they also received a special prize from the municipality of Rüdersdorf bei Berlin and Wohnungsbaugesellschaft Rüdersdorf mbH for their innovative approach.
Sabine Löser continues: "The subject of the competition is the industrial wasteland of the old chemical factory in Rüdersdorf near Berlin. The task of the competition was to breathe new life into the ruined site in the form of a creative quarter and not just to develop the largest possible residential neighbourhood, as previously only investors had proposed. The winners of the special prize went one step further and actively involved the people in the community in the competition by conducting a survey. The interests, wishes and attitude to life of the people of Rüdersdorf were taken into account. This form of participation is groundbreaking for our town, which in the past has all too often suffered from the constraints of industrialisation, the mass cement production required for the GDR's housing construction programmes and, even today, restrictive regional planning regulations and economic interests. Broad public participation is the central building block for a smart and forward-looking municipality that is orientated towards the interests of local people and shapes the future together with them."
The special prize from the municipality of Rüdersdorf bei Berlin and Wohnungsbaugesellschaft Rüdersdorf mbH will be awarded at the municipality's spring reception on 2 April 2022. The event will also include a talk with the chairs of the AIV Schinkel Committee Gesche Gerber and Ernst-Wolf Abée.
You can find more background information on the competition at https://www.aiv-berlin-brandenburg.de/10436-2/