Grasbrook Bicycle Bridge
Daniel Jenett
#Digitalurbanism, Designer, Freelance Professor, Author, Serial Entrepreneur
A Seminar in the department City Planning at the Hafencity University Hamburg (HCU) 20/21: To create a Vision for a 'Lighthouse Project Bicycle Bridge' across the river Elbe to the new district Grasbrook where the development has just started. Blog: grasbrook.jenett.com
The Grasbrook is going to become a new district of the City of Hamburg south of the River Elbe on a former piece of Land that belonged to the Czech Republic since after the Second World War, but was returned to the German State post reunification 1998.
The open competition for Development, Architecture and Landscape Architecture was won by Swiss Architects HerzogDeMeuron and Landscape Architects VOGT after an open call and a participatory process organised by the Hafencity GmbH (a subsidiary of the city of Hamburg).
The Seminar Fahrradbrücke Grasbrook (Bicycle Bridge Grasbrook) in the Winter Semester 20/21 at the Hafencity University Hamburg HCU in the department of Urban Planning is evaluating and simulating the Bicycle Bridge that was projected and confirmed as an essential tool in the promised Traffic Turnaround (Verkehrswende) in the City State of Hamburg, Germany. The Bicycle Bridge is planned to be a unique crossing over the river Elbe for bicyclists and pedestrians, connecting the new district Kleiner Grasbrook directly with the inner city of Hamburg. Its aim is to allow a more diverse way of transport in the future district and to be an example for a new way of mobility that gets recognition for the city of Hamburg as a leader.
"We want to build a bridge for Bicyclists and Pedestrians between Grasbrook and the HafenCity. That is written down in the coalition agreement."
Dr. Anjes Tjarks (Die Grünen), Senator for Traffic and Mobility Turnaround
The area is promised to be connected to the Inner City area of Hamburg (via the Hafencity areal) with a dedicated Bicycle Bridge that proves that the Traffic Turnaround is taken seriously in the City State. The long promised extra leap across the River Elbe, extending the city of Hamburg to the South, is taking shape with that initiative.
The district Grasbrook is an opportunity for the city to alter the mobility of the inhabitants because there is no established infrastructure and habits, but new ideas can be brought to the ground without significant counter forces (as would be the case in already established sectors). New buildings and new technology can play a positive role in enabling new mobility. The Coalition Agreement for the Hamburg Bürgerschaft already includes the goal of making the Grasbrook into a Smart Mobility District, supporting improved ways for the citizens to get around and reach the other sectors of the City. The Bicycle Bridge is fundamental aspect of this mobility planning.
The basic collection for this relates to the current bicycle traffic situation in the Hafencity and Wilhelmsburg, as well as the expected development of the cycle routes and cycle superhighways. The Elbe bridges not only bundle motorised traffic, but are also the only way for cyclists and pedestrians to cross the Elbe at this moment.
The Bridge is meant to be a Light Tower Project, highlighting the sincerity that Hamburgs Government gives the topic of altering Mobility and Transport Patterns. It is meant to send a signal that can be seen way beyond the borders of the City State. When talking about new bicycle mobility it is meant to be named right in line with Copenhagen or Amsterdam. (High Expectations)
The bridge is meant to be a significant improvement for cyclists, dedicated and wide enough to carry multiple kinds of users at various speeds at multiple times and occasions. A Signpost for the Mobility Turnaround!
In order to make the results and research of the seminar available and accessible to the public (Participation), the Mapping Platform with the widest reach was used (hacked?) to put the exhibitions in the digital place. With the integrated feature of Google Street View into the mapping display, the resulting visualisations are accessible directly from the Mobile Phone. Not only are the models built into the Location, but also the presentations are accessible and can be visited similar to an exhibition in a museum, by walking from one display artefact to the next.
Besides the Hack into Google Street View the positioning of the Bridge as a Media entity was one goal to communicate the benefits efficiently to all stake holders and the public. A Name was looked for that would summarise the key aspects of the proposal in a positive and understandable way, so that it would become the Synonym for the bigger effort.
Google Maps / Google Street View
The little yellow man/icon on the bottom right shows the positions of the panoramas on the map. By visiting these Spots (indicated with the small green dots) the 360° views and projects are accessible to the public, everybody with a Computer or a SmartPhone (plus Internet Connection) can take a look at the Visions in an AR 360 integrated into the Landscape. (With VR Glasses it can be even more immersive!)
With one Click on the Icons on the map the Visitor starts a Virtual Walk of the proposed Installation and the Ideation (in Charts and Graphs) that has led to the solution. The exhibited pieces are connected so that they also resemble presentations or museum exhibitions that talk about the creation process and the Facts and Figures that went into the solutions.
This mixed Format was influenced by the Corona Pandemic Restrictions that did not allow visitors to any kind of public event, and also created a familiarity with virtual methods of gatherings and presentations. This virtual map format takes that idea some steps further. Another factor that was also influenced by the Pandemic was of course the acceptance of the bicycle policies by a broader worldwide public, influenced by the experiences that many first-timers now had on their cycles in the urban traffic. The demand for better infrastructure became tangible for many more, including also decision makers and opinion leaders. Last but not least a connection between the pandemic and the CO2 crisis that is already simmering for 3 decades becomes more obvious.
To photograph the 360° Images above the river Elbe a drone was used with a special allowance by the Hamburg Port Authority (the process is now after 1/2 year a bit easier). Shooting in winter times above the river and the shore was tempting because the batteries are working better in moderate temperatures.
The Seminar was instrumental in getting as many people interested in the project, by presenting it in an open format and providing the Documentation and Visualisation to the public, the intention is to put as much emphasis on the topic as possible. The public presentation of the project was given in a virtual video presentation accompanied by a range of officials of the city of Hamburg, and high ranking management of the Development and Building industry involved in City Making in the City State Hamburg.
Augmented Reality in a way that can be used by a broad range of public participants (participation) and can also be installed and developed by non-digital city planners was the key element of this project. Only by combining these, a publication with reach could be achieved and a meaningful democratic discourse enabled.
The Projects
01. GRüNE WELLE (GREEN WAVE)
Paul Erber, Jana Alina Oelze, Maximilian Schreiber
Visualisation in 360°
The Green Wave is intended to be a Bridge with a high quality of stay. Not only are there different ways for a range of alternative transportation options, but also the possibility to stay, rest and spend some time on the bridge above the water is emphasised. The crossing is also an extension of the park and green space concept that covers the whole city of Hamburg, a direct axis to the Lohsepark is envisioned. Green is also ON the bridge, flowers and gras lawns highlight the a use beyond a path or transportation way.
The Green Wave also connects to the new überseequartier (with the new Westfield Shopping Center), allowing the flow coming from the south to go to the future commercial hub directly.
The three different Bicycle Networks of the City of Hamburg are all connected by the Green Wave and the other proposed new bridges (Velorouten V9, V10, V11 , Freizeitrouten F6, F11 and the Radschnellwege network).
02. CONNECTING LINK SüDERELBE
Moritz Angermair, Birte Harwart
The focus of this project is to extend the Crossing further to the south past the Jump over the Elbe stream. It therefore includes a second and third crossing over the Moldauhafen and Saalehafen, so that the network of bike routes extends all across the Island Wilhelmsburg to the southern branch of the stream, the Süderelbe, where it can be crossed by using the Brücke des 17. Juni. The Velorouten 10 and 11 both cross the island and unite at the crossings, only with the new connection at the Grasbrook a significant amount of time is spared and the bike routes do not go right next to the Autobahn.
Fast and Slow Traffic has a place on the bridge, the transportation quality is defined by both expectations of the users. The fast level of the bridge brings the Vehicles across in the most efficient way, the Pedestrian and Slow Speed level is defined by a high level of spatial Quality, benches, green and is elevated to emphasise the View.
Both Levels of the Bridge can be visited here:
Visualisation in 360°
03. WALFISK - THE BICYCLE BRIDGE
Leonie Arp, Jule Grigull, Alexandra Peters, Valentin Wolf
True to the idea of a truly open Project, the Walfisk Bicycle Bridge delivers the whole presentation of the ideas and the renderings in a virtual 360 AR walk across the stream. The visualisations of the bridge are enhanced with boards that explain the concept and reasoning behind.
The name Walfisk is taken from the regional dialect in Northern Germany, it means Wale Fin, and is supposed to describe the Tail of the animal reaching out of the Water, in itself a very memorable sight. It describes the middle of the bridge, where a covered terrace invites the visitors to take a rest and enjoy the view onto the city panorama of Hamburg. Also the bottom of the Platform is transparent, so that it invites to take a look onto/into the river.
Boards along the bridge point to interesting points along the shore, explaining the rapidly changing southern part of the city.
Another important part of the Bridge Concept is the designation of the appropriate Flora that is supposed to cover and enrich specific parts of the built environment. It is influenced by the marshes that are typical for the Ebb and Flow area of the stream going into the sea.
Visualisation in 360°
4. YELLOW BRIDGE
Ayse-Gül Duman, Hubertus Funk
The 295 m long Yellow Bridge is a suspension bridge (like the K?hlbrandbrücke), offering 3 levels for the growing demand of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Traffic of the future. The Top Level provides enough space to all for resting and watching the activity of the harbor, the bicyclists are crossing through the tin tunnel, looking outside through the round windows. The bottom carrier of the bridge is enforced and carries a suspension railway that is used for services and as a tourist magnet!
Visualisation in 360°
05. GRASBRüCK
Hannah Sommerschuh, Jeremy Werther, Johannes Heymer
The Grasbrück takes the assignment of bringing sufficient people across very seriously, in line with the big target of providing a real alternative way of crossing the River Elbe in to the city of Hamburg, the sheer numbers back this solution: the southern districts Veddel, Wilhelmsburg and Harburg have 84.000 Inhabitants, Harburg by itself provides 31.000 commuters into the city of Hamburg. The Grasbrook will add 6.000 Inhabitants with another potential 16.000 working there. To provide safe and adequate transfer the concept of the Grasbrück provides clearly separated paths for the bicyclists and pedestrians, so that different speed is not turning into an obstacle.
The pedestrian Bridge on top of the Bicycle Bridge allows for a different kind of usage of the paths, Benches and Greenery make it a more tourist oriented building. The bottom bike lane is optimised for a quick crossing of the River, optimal for commuters in both directions. The Bicycle Lane is protected (all year use!) with glass windows on both sides.
The Bridge all the way to the west safes the bicyclists from the Veddel on Veloroute 10 to the City of Hamburg one kilometre or about 5 minutes. This is not nothing seeing that the average commute only takes about 20 minutes (average in the city). It also brings the Bridge more in line with the green belt already in place.
领英推荐
The aim is to become more of a multifaceted building than 'just' a bridge, also by connecting the Green Ways of the City with the green environment south of the Elbe: To provide multiple uses for a multitude of citizens.
Visualisation in 360°
360° (Summary of the Research Current Situation)
360° (Bicycle Bridge Concept on Location)
360° (Sideview with Layers)
06. SMART PORT BRIDGE
Isabella Hajdu, Kaira Rechnio, Michael Bratkowski
A Future Bridge needs to provide more than just transportation and shelter, it is supposed to bring new and exciting smart aspects into the mix! Of course everything that is a requirement for a 21 century bridge is also required but to gain positive and remarkable customer applause (social media?) it has to go a couple more steps in a virtual walk through. Adaptive Lighting, digital Interaction (Graffiti), Smart Benches (USB charging included) and an overall presentation in 3D AR is required to get enough likes and followers!
Virtual Walk on the Future Bridge
360° Visualisation
A view from the inside of the structure provides an adequate feeling of the UX (user experience), this plays well with the Gamification of the Interactive Billboards. The Idea of providing public space for Graffiti (to prohibit Graffiti) is taken one step further by enabling the direct update of the imagery by the next User.
Taking the gamification one step further, the interior of the Bridge becomes a level of a Computer Game of the nineties (at least in the way it is presented and can be explored).
The Schnittansicht shows that and digitally enhance bridge can also be a beautiful space with greenery and cover. The wooden benches build a welcome contrast to the digital enhancements. Two sided bicycle lanes enable quick and safe travel, the visibility between the travellers and the the view of the surrounding is still a given.
07. HAMBURGER KNOTEN (HAMBURG NODE)
Timon Kühn
360° Visualisation
Why building one Bridge, when you can build a whole Node of Bridges? The Concept of the Hamburger Node takes the liberty to go one step further with the solid argument and arrives at a solution that is very Hanseatic (Hamburg, the Harbor, the Hanse making a Node also a very good Symbol), yet on the other hand providing a solution to the future mobility theme of a growing city beyond replicating the usual car centric thinking in concrete one more time. It is a refreshing take on building infrastructure with the right aspects in mind, Cradle-to-Cradle Philosophie, Environment Assessment and Sustainability Thinking to name just a few. The fresh look onto the legacy of a harbour will provide a tourist friendly tongue in cheek bonus! By not simply taking the bicycling as the solution to everything, but allowing for a moderate focus on multiple future mobility means, the Hamburger Node is casting a view beyond current trends.
And of course why stick to a Velorouten Planning that is 30+ years old, when nobody had the South of the Elbe as a new district in mind, let alone spoke of Climate Change or New Mobility. The New Veloroute emphasises the connection the Hamburger Node is bringing to the new district, showing sincerity of the purpose.
Ship Mast (Center of the Node)
The center of the installation is a Ship Mast that is very visible all across the Harbor, the Elbbrücken and the Hafencity / Grasbrook area. It is a visualisation of the Senators Tjarks call for a Lighthouse project, repeating and emphasising the ambition the project entails.
08. FREIHAFENELBBRüCKE
Kalle Broszeit, Artur Haus, Linus Weilbacher
As was discussed in the Seminar, the Freihafenbrücke, right next to the bigger Elbbrücken System which is carrying the majority of the car traffic into the city of Hamburg, was actually finished in 1926 with a second level and a solid construction that would allow subway tracks to go on the first floor. That way the bottom could be used by more trains, Cars, carriages and pedestrians and the top level with 4 tracks would be reserved for the Hochbahn, the Hamburg Subway.
The reason for the separate Bridge was the Freihafen (hence the name) that was an area outside customs, so that the harbour could operate internationally.
The idea of this proposal is to create a Hamburg Highline here (similar to the NYC construction), by using the top level for Pedestrians Sightseeing and more. With this approach of not building a completely new structure, but restoring and maintaining the already existing bridge two major arguments could be made: The installation would be faster than building from scratch, and second the carbon footprint would be significantly lower by maintaining the already existing iconic early industrialism structure.
To make optimal use of the Bridge the following split was suggested: Top Level for Leisure Activities and Tourist / Exhibition purposes, the bottom are (still) for a new mobility split.
To enable a better way for the Bicycle Traffic is to send it not on the same Bridge as the heavy car traffic (Red), therefore a new routing for the Veloroute 10 would go across the FREIHAFENBRüCKE (Blue)
Already in itself a remarkable Historic Monument, the FREIHAFENBRüCKE could be the perfect symbol for Hamburgs respect of historic Context combined with a new look onto Transportation and Mobility in general. (..after all this is synonymous with the promised Light Tower Project!)
P.S. The day following the final presentation Radio NDR 90,3 announced that the bridge will not be destroyed but renovated.
..
The planning of a new Bridge takes a big amount of time, and the political stakeholders that need to be involved and give their green light are numerous, specially since it touches on very important crown jewels of Hamburg, the harbour business. At the moment the Norderelbe where the bridge is going to be installed, is used as a parking spot for High Sea Ships, and the Norderelbe itself is part of a Bundeswasserstrassen (similar to an Interstate Highway). These facts have come to the light of day in researching for the Bridge Proposal, and will certainly make it hard to make a building project happen quick.
On the other hand the Hafencity Building site has in itself broken many records in its 20 year history, and to apply the same spirit to a new mobility project might propel it forward.
The Corona Pandemic has influenced the work in this seminar because it made it easier to gather a crowd digitally for presenting and demonstrating the findings.
The Project has shown a lot of potential for the Use of Augmented Reality in City Planning. The potential participation by allowing virtual walks within the actual Place enhanced with Ideas and Explanations are a fruitful way of preparing and involving the Public in Decision Making Processes (Participation) that expand conventional imagination.
Sources
Material and Lectures can be found here >>.
? Daniel Jenett, 2021
Designer, Wissenschaftler und Dozent
1 年Congratulations to you Daniel Jenett and to the students!