Church square Lichtenau Ulm

The exterior surfaces of the Catholic church in Lichtenau - Ulm presented themselves to the planner as a material mix of concrete paving and gravel surfaces with strong unevenness and slopes, without any reference to the church. Only an old, badly trimmed lime tree made one think of a church square. Several preliminary designs by architects were already available and had been rejected again before we were approached. These had tried to achieve an axially symmetrical "presentation" of the little church with pavement patterns and tree positions ("small trees"); the further surroundings were neglected.
We took up the overall situation as an ensemble of church, parish house, rectory and sacristan's house and the important path relationships and proposed a wayside cross of cherry trees (Prunus avium 'Plena') as an ordering centre. The choir room at the church tower was given a lawn plateau in front of it, which emerged from the steep gradient situation and provides a response all by itself to this quiet area around the lime tree and church tower. Uniform square paving, laid perpendicular to the nave, forms a calm ground with square tree slices and the plateau, a few good light fixtures and an old sandstone fountain - nothing else.