On the basis of a master plan for the development of the university location Gießen of the Technical University of Middle Hesse (THM), consisting of several campus areas, the planning area was analysed. It is located in the city centre of Gießen.

As a result, the Gutfleischstraße-Campus-area was expanded to include a laboratory and technology centre with three new buildings.

The urban reorganisation provides clearly assigned buildings for the departments KMUB (Hospital and Medical Technology, Environment and Biotechnology) and MNI (Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Informatics), which create a clear address and at the same time form a spatially and creatively striking ensemble in their interplay.

The spine of the entire campus is a sequence of different open space qualities, which are constantly accessible from Ringallee in the east and Gutfleischstraße in the south thus a continuous platform – a landscape for learning – is shaped. The central square, clearly defined on three sides and designed as a central meeting place for student life and informal communication, becomes the lively core of the campus with high lounging qualities.

The buildings are developed in direct interplay with the continuous open space; exterior and interior spaces merge seamlessly. A uniform, large-format paving material – alternating light and dark slabs – dissolves as a dark surface from the interior in the open space into a light surface of the surrounding square area. Lawns are inserted into this grid, which merge into a sunbathing lawn in the central square. Striking seating elements offer alternating sun and shade. The concise, close interlocking of paved areas and vegetation with the base areas of the buildings gives the ensemble its own identity-creating character with a high recognition value.

In this way, the campus – as a hybrid between a park and a square – is developed out of the urban context.

Project Data

Other designers involved in the design of landscape:
HASCHER JEHLE Architektur, Berlin

Year completed: 2019

Photo credits: © Lichtschwärmer