Altmarkt Zeitz Redesign of the town square

The project "Altmarkt Zeitz" received an award and the audience prize for the architecture prize of the state of Saxony-Anhalt 2016.

"Square as an open, flexible stage of public life - convincingly developed from this supporting principle of the classical European city, the Altmarkt in Zeitz presents itself after its redesign as an appealingly inviting as well as lively playable center of the city," judges the competition jury.

Concept
The goal of the design was to restore the original unity of the square with a simple and contemporary design language. Historical lines are reinterpreted and thus the existing slope situation is solved by wider, flatter slopes - while retaining the northern slope of the square. This enables a direct barrier-free connection between the town hall and the Gewandhaus opposite. The entire square with its immediately adjacent streets will be designated as a traffic-calmed area.

The flat sloping lawns, equipped with spring geophytes, are bordered by wide natural stone elements. Homogeneity of the path and plaza areas is achieved by granite pavers. The result is an area that offers numerous possibilities for use and effectively sets off the outstanding ensemble of buildings. The lighting brightens up historical buildings, components and objects. Steles in the function line in front of the Gewandhaus and between the trees leading up to the town hall offer attractive information carriers illuminated at night. Stool benches, bike racks, and wastebaskets complete the plaza.

The Memorial to the Victims of Fascism has been given a prestigious location in the redesign of the square. At the northwest corner of the Altmarkt, archaeological excavations have uncovered remains of a larger building from the 16th century. This find is part of the Zeitz Underground, a labyrinth of underground passage systems. The finds were artistically alienated and depicted as a surface-like ground relief in the form of the Fog Fountain. The approach used in modern art of alienated fragmentary reproduction of lost elements is intended to arouse curiosity and preserve the spirit of the place. The metallic sheen of the natural stones testifies to their intrinsic value and clearly sets them apart from original components. Recessed misting nozzles lay a fine knee-high mist of water over the relief at intervals, making it disappear and slowly reappear.

The redesign of the Altmarkt provides impetus for urban development and revitalizes the inner-city location.

Construction
With the redesign of the Altmarkt, a ground-up expansion of the square area and a large part of the surrounding access roads was necessary. The goal was the formation of a traffic-calmed zone.

Due to given boundary conditions (archaeological finds, underground passage systems, poor subsoil conditions), a special construction method was necessary with regard to the roadway structure. The roadway was built using a bonded construction method with large natural stone paving in rows with an alternating sequence of paving rows of different widths and lateral edging with runner stones. To avoid damage to the line drainage, a movement joint was created along the adjacent curb system.

Departing from the design of the roadway, the development of the square area was carried out in unbound construction method on a drainage asphalt base layer. For this area, nine different stone formats were laid in a grid pattern. In order to achieve a visual demarcation between the market place and the parking areas, these were laid in rows. Due to the mechanical sweeping, it was necessary to minimize the joint spacing by using dimensionally accurate paving stones.

When carrying out the work, particular importance was attached to the quality of the natural stones to be supplied. This concerned both the mineralogical-petrographical and technical-physical stone properties as well as the manufacture, processing (in particular surface processing) and dimensional accuracy. Within the framework of the construction project, various stone variants were used as paving stones, slabs, steps and wall coping stones. A wide range of colours was selected to enliven the paving appearance. The paving and slabs were supplied in material thicknesses of 12 and 14 cm, depending on the location, and installed in bound and unbound construction methods. In the adaptation areas of the sidewalks and driveways, the small and mosaic paving (segmental arch or scale bond) has been produced in the paving bond from the intermediately stored material.

The redesign of the old market took place in consensus with the monument authorities and can be considered a successful example, for the handling of monument substance and the simultaneous reaction to modern use.