Award set up by the Foundation

The “Lebendige Stadt” Foundation presents a Foundation Award each year in recognition of innovative civic projects such as particularly outstanding cultural and civic marketing events, successful city displays comprising elements such as light, sound and water (as temporary or permanent installations), and projects in the field of building conservation and tourism, especially if these are of cultural or artistic value.

Fondation Award 2005

the most innovative sporting venues

Foundation Award 2005

  • Awards for sports venues in Essen and Berlin
  • Award ceremony in Hannover attended by Lord Mayor Schmalstieg
  • Cash award of 15,000 euros
  • Special mentions for seven sports venues

 

The „Funbox Amalie” trend sports hall in Essen and the Schule am Mummelsoll school in Berlin have been selected by the nonprofit „Lebendige Stadt” Foundation as the most innovative sporting venues. The award, which carries a total cash prize of 15,000 euros, was presented in the main hall of the New Town Hall in Hannover on Tuesday, December 13, 2005. At a ceremony attended by Hannover Lord Mayor Dr. Herbert Schmalstieg, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the „Lebendige Stadt” Foundation, Alexander Otto, presented the award to the winners of the competition. The jury chaired by Düsseldorf-based architect Christoph Ingenhoven unanimously chose the two winners from a total of 134 entries.

 

Seven further sports venues received honorable mentions: the sports hall on Europastrasse in Tübingen, the Niebuhrstrasse play and sports facility in Berlin, Sportpark Flandernhöhe in Esslingen, the Bendix-Gymnasium/Annette-von-Droste-Hülshoff-Gymnasium grammar school in Dülmen, the Dreifeldsporthalle hall in Barleben, „Camp 24|sieben” in Kiel and the Sportgarten venue in Bremen.

 

The award was open to new or converted sports venues or concepts that appeal to a broader public, that are based on innovative ideas and that breathe new life into the town or city. The decisive criterion was not the total investment volume but the quality of the project as a model for other municipalities. Alexander Otto, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the „Lebendige Stadt” Foundation: "Sports venues can help to create new opportunities for people, new ways for them to interact, thereby promoting the vibrancy and quality of life of our towns and cities."

 

The jury thought it was important to choose projects in two different categories. The first award was to go to a smaller project of the type that is frequently improvised and driven by imaginative funding strategies and commitment on the part of local people. The other award was reserved for a project with more conventional funding and operation but of outstanding quality. This year, the jury voted unanimously to give the Foundation Award to the „Funbox Amalie” trend sports hall in Essen and the „Schule am Mummelsoll” school in Berlin.

 

„Funbox Amalie” trend sports hall in Essen

In the eyes of the jury, „Funbox Amalie” is particularly successful in meeting the criteria for the competition as the project appeals to a broad public, is based on innovative ideas and breathes new life into the city. The nonprofit Essen Sports Federation has implemented an ingenious concept in the protected industrial hall of a former coalmine site. The aim is to encourage above all young people to take part in sporting activities. The trend sports on offer include skateboarding, BMX cycling and Asian martial arts as well as dance courses. In addition to serving as a sports venue, „Funbox Amalie” is also a youth center and therefore plays an important role both in the city and for the surrounding region. These were among the reasons the jury gave in support of their decision.

 

The „Schule am Mummelsoll” school in Berlin

The second winner is the „Schule am Mummelsoll” school in Berlin. The school is situated in Marzahn-Hellersdorf at the end of an old prefab high-rise development and serves as a school and sports building for the mentally handicapped. The jury praised the attractive architectural design, which helps to ensure the harmonious integration of the building in the surrounding area: "Ingeniously closed off towards the outside yet extremely transparent within, the building helps the children to overcome emotional barriers, to open themselves and to establish relationships with others"; this was one of the reasons given in the statement by the jury.

 

Sports hall on Europastrasse in Tübingen

Seven further projects received honorable mentions. They included the sports hall on Europastrasse in Tübingen, where the jury was impressed by the fact that the sports hall serves as a multifunctional arena. It is suitable for school sports, mass participation sports, trend sports, competitive sports and professional sports. This flexibility ensures maximum utilization rates at an appropriate cost.

 

The Niebuhrstrasse play and sports facility in Berlin

The Niebuhrstrasse play and sports facility in Berlin-Charlottenburg is above all an attractive meeting place for young athletes. As outlined in the reasons given by the jury, the project represents a kind of "appealing minimalism, the essence of streetstyle aesthetics and durability". It is the perfect place to "play, meet others, run, sit down, write, sweat, compete and relax."

 

Sportpark Flandernhöhe in Esslingen

A further special mention went to the Sportpark Flandernhöhe venue in Esslingen. It can be used all year round – seven days a week, 24 hours a day – by people taking responsibility for their sporting activities. This form of self-organization breeds responsible attitudes, tolerance and acceptance, and the jury believes it points the way to new options for the development of sports venues in Germany.

 

Bendix-Gymnasium/Annette-von-Droste-Hülshoff-Gymnasium grammar school in Dülmen

The project at the Bendix-Gymnasium/Annette-von-Droste-Hülshoff-Gymnasium grammar school in Dülmen is one element in the redevelopment of a seven-hectare wasteland site that previously housed a textile factory and is now home to 200 apartments as well as a service and medical care center. The sports hall was built in the protected textile factory, profiling one of the alternatives to building new facilities and outlining a meaningful way to utilize an existing protected building.

 

The Dreifeldsporthalle in Barleben

The Dreifeldsporthalle in Barleben is another model for the successful integration of sports hall on a protected site, in this case an old farm. In its statement, the jury said the sports facility has helped to revitalize the center of the village and also serves as an important meeting place.

 

„Camp 24|sieben“ in Kiel

At „Camp 24|sieben”, the only venue of its kind anywhere in Germany, the aim is to promote sailing as a mass participation sport with the support of a public-private partnership. Camp24 is meanwhile seen as being of key locational importance for the city of Kiel. The jury also said the project is worthy of support as the city of Kiel and Camp 24 are using existing resources – in other words, the popularity of the sport of sailing in Kiel – to raise funds that will help to promote the spread of the sport.

 

The Sportgarten venue in Bremen

Another special mention went to the Sportgarten venue in Bremen – a former shipbuilding hall that has been converted into a youth and leisure sports facility with an area of 7,000 square meters that houses a varied range of sporting activities and exercise courses. The Sportgarten venue can also be used as the setting for concerts and other events on 330 days of the year. In the reasons it gave for its decision, the jury praised the innovative and hands-on approach of the project, saying that it serves as a model for venues in other towns and cities.

 

The 2005 Jury

Christoph Ingenhoven

Jury Chairperson, Managing Director of Ingenhoven und Partner Architects

Hella Dunger-Löper

Vice-Chairperson of the Jury, State Secretary for Construction and Housing, Berlin

Dr. Rolf Böhme

Former Lord Mayor of Freiburg

Dr. Albrecht Buttolo

Saxony State Secretary for Civic Planning and Housing

Jens Friedemann

Journalist at Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Dr. Roland Gerschermann

Managing Director of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Prof. Dr. Heiner Haass

Town Planning / Sports Site Development Hochschule Anhalt (University of applied sciences)

Hermann Henkel

Managing Director of HPP Architects

Dr. Hans Jägemann

Head of the Environment/Sporting Venues section at the German Sports Federation

Friedel Kellermann

Managing Director of RKW Architects

Gery Kley

Saxony-Anhalt Minister for Health and Social Affairs

Prof. Volkwin Marg

Managing Director of Gerkan, Marg & Partner Architects

Dr. Hans-Georg Moldenhauer

Vice-president Deutscher Sportbund and Vice-president Deutscher Fußball-Bund

Dr. Karl Quade

Vice-President Competition Sports at the German Association of Sport for the Disabled

Ilse Ridder-Melchers

MdL Member of the State Parliament, Member of the Executive Board of the German Sports Federation

Manfred Ruge

Lord Mayor of Erfurt

Dr. Herbert Schmalstieg

Lord Mayor of Hannover

Reinhold Spaniel

Civic Director of Social Affairs, Housing, Youth and Sports, Duisburg

Werner Stürmann

Head of the Sports Department, North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of Civic Planning & Housing, Cultural Affairs & Sports