Competition

The guidelines and recommendations developed as part of the Ludwigsstraße Forums (LuFos), the basic urban development concept drawn up by the state capital of Mainz, and the results of previous public participation events were incorporated into the competition announcement. This was approved by the city council in September 2019. On May 15, 2020, the competition entries were evaluated and awarded prizes by a jury.

Goal and procedure

Competitions are an important tool for improving the quality of architectural and urban design and contribute to building culture. The organizer (Boulevard LU GmbH & Co. KG) and the state capital of Mainz are keen to see high-quality development of the Ludwigsstraße shopping district that offers a high standard of architecture and open space, caters to a wide range of uses (shopping, restaurants, culture, hotels, and residential), and blends in with its surroundings.

Components of the competition procedure for the Ludwigsstraße shopping district

The urban planning and architectural competition will be conducted as a single-phase, closed competition in accordance with RPW guidelines. Due to the contextual connections and modes of action, the competition will be held as a single-phase competition with three components (see illustration above): The two implementation sections (area northeast of Fuststraße with the Gutenbergplatz 2 concept section, Karstadt complex) are embedded in the urban planning concept section (from Schillerplatz to Gutenbergplatz).

Competition brief for the Ludwigsstraße shopping districtPDF-File3,51 MB

Result

In mid-October, the competition brief was sent to the eight participating office communities, which are interdisciplinary (architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture) and operate regionally, nationally, and internationally. Seven office communities submitted their designs at the end of February. At the jury meeting on May 15, 2020, chaired by Prof. Dr. Neppl, the competition entries were evaluated and awarded prizes by a jury of experts from all over Germany as well as representatives of the city of Mainz and the project developer. The entries were judged on criteria including urban planning, architectural and open space quality, compliance with the basic urban planning concept, technical and economic feasibility, and compatibility with the recommendations from the public participation process.