City entrance Aalen Landscape art in the Aalen triangle

Basic idea:

Grazing has produced a typical form over decades. More than we realize, nature uses tools that are similar to those of culture: Plants are selected by grazing, the wind shapes the trees, the seed often marks the edge of the forest as if drawn with a ruler. The formative elements of nature with its fauna shape the form of the landscape. These typical pasture landscapes of the Swabian Alb are to be made visible.

Design concept:

Derived from the open sheep pastures of the Swabian Alb, the image of landscape design by animals was created: shaping by selection --> juniper heaths; shaping by browsing --> spherical, compact bush shapes and hut forests; shaping by acceptance --> individual trees and groups of trees (shade providers).

This was interpreted artistically and implemented in the design of three hills.

German Landscape Architecture Prize 2003

First prizeGerman Landscape Architecture Award 2003

Jury verdict: The project shows an innovative way of dealing with the infrastructural residual areas in the landscape in a new and meaningful way. At the traffic junction "Aalener Dreieck", a sensible and perceptible landscape-architectural design is implemented with reduced means.

A conscious, artistically inspired aestheticization of the landscape takes place. Reference is made to the cultural-historical environment and historical landscape elements. The design is developed from the typical pasture landscapes of the Swabian Alb. No secret is made of the artificiality of the landscape; it is even emphasized with a special clarity.

The project stands out in a special way from the daily routine of landscape conservation planning with its everyday compensation measures and shows beneficial perspectives. It unites exemplarily a large-scale, subtle object planning with landscape planning approaches and exposes thereby also "forgotten" for the profession again.