New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Project category

Identify the award category for which this project is being submitted
Reconnecting with nature

Email user
rinke@dtp-essen.de

Basic information
Project title
Gleispark Frintrop

Full Project Title
Gleispark Frintrop - a park with history

Please provide a short, catchy description of your project to be used in communication towards the public.
Gleispark Frintrop, a former railway site, is situated on the border of the cities of Essen and Oberhausen at a central location in Green Corridor B between the Ripshorst woodland garden and the Läppkes Mühlenbach stream. The 30-hectare site was developed for the public as an extensive landscape park. The focus in designing the park area was on sustainably securing and further developing the high ecological and aesthetic qualities of this ruderal site.

What was the geographical scope of your project?
Local

Where was your project implemented?
Member State(s) and Western Balkans
Germany

If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
Essen, Frintrop

Does your project address mainly urban or rural issues?
It addresses urban-rural linkages

Does your project refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations (hard or soft investments)?
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)

Has your project benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
No

Has your project won an EU prize with a monetary value awarded?
No

Is your project fully completed
Yes

Please indicate a date (mm/yy)
2007-05-18

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As an individual
Please provide the contact details for the project promoter (the individual or representative of the organisation authorised to represent the project).
- First name: Klaus
  Last name: Tenhofen
  Gender: Male
  Nationality: Germany
  If relevant, please select your other nationality: Germany
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Im Löwental 76
  Town: Essen
  Postal code: 45239
  Country: Germany
  Direct Tel: +49 201 74736110
  E-mail: post@dtp-essen.de
  Website: http://dtp-essen.de
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
- URL: https://instagram.com/dtp_landschaftsarchitekten/
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): #dtplandschaftsarchitekten
In case my project is selected as a finalist of the NEB Prizes 2023, I agree to share the name (individual and/or organisation’s), email address, website and social media accounts indicated above with other NEB Prizes finalists. I also agree to publish the name (individual and/or organisation’s), website and social media accounts indicated above next to the public description of my project in the channels of the European Commission.
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
Previous participants

Description of the project
Please provide a summary of your project.
For a long time, today's Gleispark Frintrop was home to a railway freight station and marshalling yard. Until the 1960s, the area was dominated by about 30 hectares of railway tracks, and the ruderal vegetation on the site was already rich and valuable at that time.
The landscape architects came up with a management concept to preserve the outstanding landscape and the species-rich vegetation and to further develop and permanently strengthen the contrast between wooded areas and open rough pastures. In this way, Gleispark Frintrop became a model of successful transformation: from an industrial site to a green space with great biodiversity, climate resilience and a balancing function.
This "dialogue of vegetation" was complemented by design decisions that ultimately turned the site into a park. These include a two-kilometre network of paths with symbolic entrances to the surrounding urban districts at various points and several follies. Two steel grating towers draw visitors up the stairs to explore the surroundings by directing their gaze across an elongated grassland patch and onto scenery typical of the Ruhr region or along a narrow path lined with birch trees. The "Drehberg", a hill made of excavated material, marks another important meeting point in the park.
Following the conversion of the old railway site into the Gleispark in 2000, the landscape park was repeatedly expanded. Today, for example, it includes an old tunnel originally built for railway staff. This not only created another access point, but also provided an important pathway through the green space that many people use every day.

Please indicate the main themes of your project with 5 key words.
Ruderal vegetation

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
Dialogue of vegetation

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
Several follies

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
Network of Paths

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
Successful Transformation

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of sustainability and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
As a template for the park, the landscape architects used the ruderal vegetation that had grown on the former railway site since it was shut down. At the time it already included grasses, shrubs and woody plants that grew in linear structures along the disused railway tracks. They developed a management concept aimed at preserving the outstanding scenery and the species-rich vegetation and further developing and permanently strengthening the contrast between woodland-like areas and open grassland. As a result, Gleispark Frintrop became a model of successful transformation: from an industrial site to a green space with great biodiversity, climate resilience and a balancing function.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people (through design, positive emotions and cultural benefits) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
The landscape architects designed various follies: two steel grating towers invite visitors to explore the surroundings by directing their gaze across an long grassland patch and onto scenery typical of the Ruhr region or along a narrow path lined with birch trees. The "Drehberg", a hill made of excavated material, marks another important meeting point in the park. Here, too, visitors are drawn up the stairs and reminded of the site’s history. This is also done by buffer stop-like brickwork, an exposed bunker or stacked railway sleepers along the paths.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of inclusion (ranging from accessibility and affordability for all to inclusive governing systems, design for all principles or new societal models) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
The Gleispark is a contemplative place that is open for use by the public. It is an important green space for local residents who use it for daily walks and Sunday family outings and where young people meet in the evening. The Gleispark is open to everyone and is an excellent example of an accessible public space that excludes no one, allows people to meet, facilitates integration and offers quality of life.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the project and civil society have been involved in the project and what has been the impact of this involvement on the project
Citizen participation was encouraged throughout the planning process.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the project. Please highlight what the added value of their engagement was.
The Gleispark Frintrop is an important key project in the Emscher Landscape Park, the lead project of the IBA - International Building Exhibition Emscher Park. On the one hand, it is the great strategic importance as a connecting link in the north/south oriented Regional Green Belt B and Canal Emscherpark as a west/east green belt in the Emscher Landscape Park. On the other hand, the Gleispark Frintrop is the most species-rich industrial nature site in the IBA area scenery. In this respect, numerous regional and local stakeholders were interested in a preserving project development. Instead of a "profane" subsequent use of this area, e.g. as commercial space, it was necessary to enforce the preservation of open space and careful development as neighborhood open space in the regional network in the political arena. The extremely high level of biodiversity and the idea of an open-use design created the basis for broad regional and municipal support for Gleispark Frintrop.

Please explain which disciplines and/ or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and implementation of your project. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was.
Sustainability: preservation of existing biodiversity of grasses, shrubs and woody vegetation.
Aesthetics: various follies such as steel grating towers, the ‘Drehberg’ and numerous seating areas integrated into the site enrich the park
Integration: citizen involvement, an accessible public space available to all.

Please give information on the results, outcomes and impacts achieved by your project in relation to the category you apply for. This includes also benefits from the project for direct and indirect beneficiaries
Until the 1960s, the area of today's park was dominated by about 30 hectares of railway tracks. When the yard was no longer used, the area was abandoned and a species-rich vegetation settled. When open spaces in the surrounding area were developed as part of the IBA Emscher Park programme in the 1990s and ideas for the future use of the old Frintrop railway yard were explored, options such as a commercial area or a landfill site were also looked into but ultimately rejected. Even back then, the ruderal vegetation that had grown on the site was too rich and valuable and the landscape too poetic to be built over. Added to this was the area’s role as an important link in Green Corridor B of the Emscher Landscape Park as well as its proximity to the Ripshorst woodland garden and the Emscher tributary ‘Läppkes Mühlenbach’. At that time, the decision was taken to transform the old railway yard into a landscape park and to interconnect it both functionally and ecologically.

Please provide documents showing the results, outcomes and impacts of your project
Web link
Web link
- https://dtp-essen.de/projekte/gleispark-frintrop
Please highlight the innovative character of the project, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the project
The Gleispark Frintrop shows in an exemplary way how vegetation that has already grown on an old industrial site can be transformed into an appealing landscape park.
The Gleispark Frintrop is a successful example of the transformation of an industrial site into a green space with great biodiversity, climate resilience and a balancing function.

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your project.
It is a pre-polluted site: operational inputs had polluted the soils with heavy metals. On the other hand, the unique succession vegetation developed. It was important to analyze these restrictions and qualities in advance and to assess their development relevance. This was done on the basis of various successive hazard assessments and ecological reports. At a very early stage, the approving supervisory authorities were involved in the ideas of a conservation of the important vegetation and an extensively designed utilization concept while observing the necessary safety measures.

Please describe which elements of your project could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and context. This may involve for example aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings etc.
- Reclaiming industrial wasteland as open spaces for people as a great opportunity
- Gaining and maintaining value through proper maintenance
- Valuable biodiversity through development

Please explain what kind of global challenges the project addresses by providing local solutions
Management and valorisation of industrial sites
Development of ruderal vegetation, high biodiversity thanks to well thought-out maintenance concepts
Preservation of important open spaces in densely populated areas to provide quality of life
Please attach at least 6 high resolution images (or other types of visual representations, if images are not possible) to your application.
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Yes

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Yes

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Yes

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Yes

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Yes

By submitting your application, you understand that all the applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be shared for the purposes of the selection processes, and notably published on the secured platform prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu and for the purposes of the promotion of these on the New European Bauhaus website and/or other European Commission communication channels. In this sense, the applications would be widely available. Applicants should ensure that they present their projects, in such a way that they could be shared without giving rise to intellectual property related concerns. If your submission is selected as one of the finalists, it will additionally be shared for the purpose of the public vote that will take place. The European Union is granted a licence to use and share your application with the general public and the official external experts for the purposes of the selection process, including the voting. The European Union has the right to use the images and visual materials and the description provided in the application for communication purposes related to the contest and beyond. Rights granted comprise the right to store, reproduce, display, publish and communicate or distribute copies in electronic or digital format, including, but not only, through the internet. Unless you have disclosed your name, the European Commission has no obligation to share your name when using or disseminating your contribution to the public. The European Union cannot be held responsible in case any submitted project, is found to infringe third party’s rights. The European Union shall be neither responsible for the use that third parties may do of the applications or related content.
Yes

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you read and understand that the ‘Guide to Applicants’ of the NEB Prizes 2023, available online in the website of the NEB Prizes 2023, is an integral part of this application form and that it must therefore be observed when completing and submitting your application.
Yes