BILATERAL DESIGN COMPETITION - Spatial concepts for the connection of the border towns Bad Radkersburg and Gornja Radgona

Walk the line
„Walk the line: to maintain a fragile balance between one extreme and another”


Bond and Border

The Idea
The idea engages at the point where the border was at its most visible during the past decades. The former border bridge, whose form and location used to serve only the smooth functioning of custom clearance and which is wedged like an obstacle between the two historic centers of the towns of Bad Radkersburg and Gornja Radgona, experiences a transformation: a space of transit becomes livable, experienceable space. Released from motor traffic, the bridge forms an artifact, a no man’s land between the two countries, a ‘third something’ between the two entities of Bad Radkersburg and Gornja Radgona.

The Bridge – The Townscape
The Idea’s Urbanistic Consequences
The artifact, which is to be used only by pedestrians and cyclists, narrows down the distance between the two historic town centers. The felt distance between the towns is decreased by its traversability on foot.
The far-reaching infrastructural measure by which the highly frequented road across the former border crossing is transferred to the position of the former rail bridge results in the conjunction of the two towns’ expansion areas. The radius around the two towns is lengthened by the road’s relocation. This clears the path for new development sites of both towns: technology, business, and sport in the outskirts. At the same time the traffic-reduced town centers are further developed for retail, culture and tourism.

The Mur – The Landscape
The Mur, tamed and embanked over the decades, is given back by small interventions its capability to spread according to its own dynamic. In the area of the old river arms the bank reinforcements are removed. In time the Mur can thus reconquer its former paths within the flood levees. Apart from the ecological and water management aspects a singular possibility for experiencing nature enters the immediate reach of the town and becomes a recreational area, both for inhabitants and visitors.


The Difference

The Towns
The towns have grown very differently, not only in space, but also in time: Bad Radkersburg in radial system starting with the medieval town fortification; and Gornja Radgona grew linearly along the ridge, beginning with the river crossing near Bad Radkersburg. The differring urban fabric is also reflected programmatically in Bad Radkersburg and Gornja Radgona: whereas in Bad Radkersburg the different programs are bundled together, thus forming clear zones, Gornja Radgona distributes the functions in patchwork fashion along the individual streets.
These main characteristics are assimilated and further developed in the urbanistic design.
The differences are reflected along the water line as on a projection screen: the urban, vibrant waterfront (GR) vs. the tranquil green space (BR); the park promenade vs. the natural landscape (GR).

Urban Development
The emphasis of the project’s urbanistic interventions is on Gornja Radgona, which, today, is very heterogeneous in this respect. The urbanistic interventions in Bad Radkersburg are mainly selective.
The overall urban development concept for both towns has, on one hand, the goal to reinforce the different urbanistic qualities and the specific townscapes of Gornja Radgona and Bad Radkersburg, and, on the other hand, to give an urbanistic impulse for concerted growth.

Bad Radkersburg
Bad Radkersburg has an urbanistically intact medieval town center. The town’s high density gives a very urban impression. However, the introvert situation of town planning in Bad Radkersburg has the effect that the expansion areas outside the former city wall can be connected to the town center only with difficulty.
The aim of the urbanistic concept is to take selective structural measures to forge a connection between the circumjacent areas and the town center, to concentrate parking areas and to move further outwards the through traffic from Bad Radkersburg to Gornja Radgona.

Gornja Radgona
Regarding town planning, the town of Gornja Radgona is extremely heterogeneous. However, this allows for a so-called organic growth. The Slovenian town’s quality lies in its programmatic vitality, which, at a first glance, results in its uncontrolled urbanistic growth, in its patchwork aspect. Contrary to Bad Radkersburg, the problem here does not lie in hindered expandability, but rather in the absence of a tangible urbanistic configuration. Of course, it is not the goal to make Gornja Radgona an ‘ideal’ city, but to elevate the existing urban fabric, including its great qualities, to a principle.
The urbanistic quality of Gornja Radgona lies especially in its proximity to the river. This is emphasized.


The Landscape / Parks
A highly diverse landscape distinguishes the near environs. Cycle tracks and footpaths lead from the centers directly to the floodplain (BR/GR) and to the hilly landscape with its beech forests and its vineyards (GR).
The parks are as diverse as the landscape. The wooded castle hill (GR) and the clear, lower town moat form protective belts around the historic town centers: the castle park as a vertical with a view, and the town moat as a horizontal and as an important part of the medieval townscape.
The banks of the Mur are interpreted differently on each side: the more landscape-orientated town park with the park promenade in Bad Radkersburg, and the urban, stone waterfront with its generous plazas on the Gornja Radgona side.

The Town Moat
The unique medieval town ensemble of Bad Radkersburg has its greatest effect in the city wall and in the wide moat with its unobstructed view to the town fortress.
The concept strengthens this situation and adds a new, subtle layer. The new design allows for a multifaceted perception of the moat and of the historic town: the raised perspective of the city wall, the slightly elevated view from the promenade and a new perception of the moat area via the sunken paths.

The Town Park
The Town Park is the link between spa, town center and the river Mur. It should be a point of attraction both for the town’s inhabitants as well as for the health resort’s guests. A climactic feature is the Geyser Garden directly in front of the Fountain House.

Gornja Radgona Waterfront
A sequence of plazas transforms the town entrance of Gornja Radgona to a city stage. The houses ‘truncated’ by the bridge are reconnected to the cityscape. Obergrieß can be experienced even stronger as before as an ‘Oberstadt’.
The different characters of the plazas (sunlit/shaded, located high/low) allow for a very flexible use.

Castle Hill
Castle Hill is defined by two directions – towards the town and towards the landscape. Towards the town the existing terraces are retained. The edges are furnished with viewing areas which reinforce the visual axis castle - Bad Radkersburg. On the landscape side the vineyard / forest is extended up to the castle. The trees obstructing the view in the visual axes are removed.