After the enlargement of the railway in the 1990s, which caused the narrowing of the road and the end of some activities, the arches are in a state of semi-abandonment and reveal a crisis of public space and relational use on Hüttenstraße. We believe that the arches are spaces with a great public potential which needs to be returned to the community in order to develop new relational experiences.
The project considers the arches as an extension of the space for public use. With minimal intervention on the floor we intend to restore the provisional accessibility of the spaces. Three infrastructures will then be built, one for each arch, which will characterize its function and temporary use linked to the festival activities. The built spaces will be freely accessible by everyone.
Covered Square
Walking through Hüttenstraße from the Ehrenfeld train station, at the house number 4 one encounters the first of the three arches we were asked to transform with a temporary intervention to host CityLeaks Festival Center. This space is conceived as a covered square, where we decided to include two main functions by coupling them into a single structure: the Kiosk and the DIY publishing studio. The resulting structure reflects these two natures: the back part is a solid box made out of plywood and takes its light from a shed roof, whilst the front part is a waved surface covered with aluminum foils and opens to the street. This arch also hosts a permanent exhibition documenting the festival's artistic processes and outcomes.
Theatre
This is the space where public events, presentations, theatrical and musical performances take place, but it is also a space for daily activities, workshops and leisure time. The back wall of the second arch is occupied by a wooden structure conceived as a large theatrical stage. At the entrance a mobile wooden bridge crane on wheels, underlying the proscenium, serves as a flexible infrastructure for every kind of event. On the other side of the street, a small public garden functions as an extension of this space, offering the possibility to host public events immediatley reaching out to the open public space.
Headquarters
The headquarters of the Festival Center has a »parasitic« structure added to the container previously used during the residency programme. This structure responds to the primary functions and needs of the festival: office, storage and carpentry workshop. The bridge structure that protrudes outside the arch is a service balcony and a landmark to signal the planned activities and events, communicating with those walking along Hüttenstraße.
Orizzontale
Architects' collective based in Rom whose
work crosses the fields of architecture,
urbanism, public art, and DIY practice
