RE-THINKING SCHÜTZENMATTE
Gateway, Impulse location, Conflict zone, Babylon, ...
The Schützenmatte is a dynamic place in the history of the city of Bern. Dominated for centuries by memory and fortifications, is today a space for uses which cannot be found anywhere else in the city.
Parking lot, drug trade location, viaduct and an autonomous center in a former riding school meet here as differences of interest of urban society: for some, the Schützenmatte is a " non-place ", for others a welcome niche, a central location, an underused area with a lot of potential, an open and public space in the city which must never be blocked.
Together with synergo Agency from Zurich, we support a two-year process of dialogue which renegotiates the Schützenmatte and develops a sustainable use concept for the space. In continuous workshops with a 70 -member monitoring committee of representatives of key institutions and stakeholder groups, decisive questions are raised and solutions are developed in a city wide context as well as for future use and design of the place. The results are fed back into public forums with a wider audience.
An essential element of public participation are the Experimental days: the parking lot is cleared away for four days and declared as an experimental field for alternative use ideas.