EUROPAN17

The “Learning from Common Ground” project reimagines the Grünau district as an ecological transition from a car-oriented, socially engineered model to an inclusive, environment-centered landscape. It shifts the focus from a human-centered city to a system where relationships between humans, non-humans, and nature shape urban development. The masterplan is structured as a network of interconnected commons, conceived as a soft infrastructure of care that transforms Grünau into an educational landscape. Public space, landscape, and architecture foster ecological awareness and social resilience. A continuous green corridor links schools, parks, civic facilities, and sports areas within a 15-minute network for people and non-human species, enhancing biodiversity and connectivity. At the architectural scale, a linear axis between the new school and the commercial area becomes a sequence of urban rooms and learning spaces, extending education into the city. Existing infrastructures are progressively depaved and renaturalized, enabling soil regeneration and biodiversity growth. The transformation is incremental: initial phases activate the commons through temporary uses and community-driven initiatives, followed by soil reconfiguration, refurbishment of existing buildings such as the former Konsum, and new mixed-use constructions. In the long term, densification extends to rooftops and façades, integrating vegetation and new spatial layers. Buildings are reimagined as hybrid ecological infrastructures hosting both human and non-human life. The former Konsum becomes a civic hub with community and cultural functions. Overall, the project envisions Grünau as an evolving ecological district where architecture, landscape, and infrastructure merge into a continuous system of care, education, and biodiversity.