HAFENCITY

HAMBURG, 1999

Hamburg plans to extend its city centre onto former harbour areas along the river Elbe. However, Hafencity, a 150ha development - is no simple extension of the inner city. The project grasps the opportunity to build up a new, second city, to create a double star. The center of the new City is foreseen at the crossing point of three harbor-basins where an urban entertainment center with cruise-terminal, concert hall and a hotel/congress complex are located around this central water surface.
Maxwan proposes a wide variety of urban environments on this enormous site, in a response to market driven processes that would inevitably lead to monotonous ghettos of offices or housing. Hafencity is subdivided into quarters of different characters, each with a specific programmatic mix. The master plan defines a series of strategic projects, which are to trigger the development of Hafencity and specify the urban and architectural quality of the plan at crucial points.