The Wildgarten urban neighborhood plan in Vienna, Austria which was a Holcim Awards Bronze in 2014 for Europe as “The Commons” has now been completed.

The open areas allow for adaptable programming and use of the shared spaces.

The Holcim Awards Bronze 2014 winner for Europe has now been completed in Vienna and is home to around 2,300 residents in 1,100 housing units and ground-floor commercial spaces with a total floor area of 83,000sqm.

Urban situations colonize the area, acting as objects and keeping the area alive at any time of the day.

The master plan encourages biodiversity across the site where 60% of land is greenspace, including wilderness corridors that provide habitat for native alpine marmots and diverse local flora and fauna.

Pedestrian friendly environment: distances are measured in minutes, important facilities are reachable within a 3 minute walk.

Liquid city: Instead of a predesigned urban tissue, a controlled growth process is proposed. The initial grid of gardens is the support of the urban, which will develop in time through small-scale gradual appropriations. The result will be a liquid city that works as a complete urban configuration in all stages of consolidation, satisfying the current societal needs, but is also able to adapt itself to any contextual change or future necessities.

Eco-city: Sustainable urban development of a piece of the city. We use the green open space as a support of the buildings, and not vice versa. Land consumption is minimized in favor of green space, keeping a respectful attitude towards the existing landscape as well as the environment, but always without losing compactness and density. Diversity of actors and investment capacities are represented here, generating a multi-scalar intervention.

The Commons (GartenSTADT) vs City Block: we look for a human and local scale based district.

Porosity, not only in the urban fabric, but also in the low ecological footprint.

Flexibility, which guarantees social and economic balance, where everyone can find what they need.

1. Garden south orientated; 2. Keep the existing trees; 3. Growing housing; 4. Northern wind protection.

Game-board: Democratic urbanism, in which different actors and needs can take place.

Diversity of urban scenarios is possible in the common space, thanks to urban-post-it appropriation.

Pedestrian area based on alternative mobility. Peripheral road traffic, minimized transport demand.

Allmende: collective, reprogrammable, low-maintenance open space for the community.

Presentation of the Holcim Awards Bronze 2014 Europe for “The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria” (l-r): Jury representative, Arno Brandlhuber, brandlhuber+, Berlin, Germany; project authors Enrique Arenas, Luis Palacios and Luis Basabe, Arenas Basabe Palacios arquitectos, Madrid, Spain; Josef Nowak, Managing Director Holcim Vienna; Feliciano Gonzales, CEO Holcim Spain; Urs Fankhauser, Holcim Area Manager Western Europe; and Luis Cacho, Chief Counselor for Economics, Embassy of Spain in Moscow.

Winners of the Holcim Awards 2014 Europe main prizes (l-r): Luis Basabe and Luis Palacios (Bronze); Gilles Delalex (Silver); Francisco Leiva, Lucia Pierro and Marco Scarpinato (Gold); and Enrique Arenas (Bronze).

Luis Palacios Labrador, Arenas Basabe Palacios arquitectos, Spain, member of the Holcim Awards Bronze winning team for “The Commons: Participatory urban neighborhood, Vienna, Austria”.

Luis Basabe Montalvo, Enrique Arenas Laorga, and Luis Palacios Labrador.