hutterreimann + cejka Landschaftsarchitektur: The seven historical fishponds on the edge of the town of Wernigerode near the northern Harz mountains provide the setting of the garden festival 2006. Enclosed by industrial and farm land, blocks of prefabricated flats and allotments the existing landscape has a disjointed quality , the ponds being spatially seperated from each other. The project makes visible the location´s  hidden qualities without erasing the vestiges of history.

A walkway running 1.000m from east to west – the “Fish Walk” – links the ponds. Along the walkway come the so-called “Follies”, designed as architectural features for walking along, planned by the office of A-lab architektur, and providing a stage for water as an element. They serve to create a mood, to provide points of pleasure, drawing attention to themselves, attractions both during and after the horticultural show. The “Follies” are various things – a waterfall for walking through, a translucent aquarium,  showing the various stages of fish breeding, a media-art event showroom for virtual underwater life, or just large seats in the water. More than this the  “Fish Walk” is a “Mineral Gorge”, cutting deeply into the landfill, making it a geological nature trail, from the foothill of the Harz to its mountainous heights. Along the ponds, where there was once a dump for waste building materials, winds the “Garden Strip”, a series of 40 theme gardens. Look out for the “Recycling Gardens”,  in which building materials and demolition waste in combination with plants are turned into design elements. The gardens are bordening a wide meadow, taking the “Magic wood” in it´s center. This is framed by a shining ribbon of perforated metal, sparkling treasures evoke the legend of the Wernigerode dwarfs. The gently curving ” Landscape Promenade” provides a subtle counterpart to the brash linearity of the “Fish Walk”. Thus a modern park has been created, displaying its own special regional features in the balancing act between show and sustainable use.

Landscape architects: hutterreimann + cejka Landschaftsarchitektur in collaboration with: A_lab architektur, Jens Schmahl (Architecture „Follies“)
Location: Wernigerode/Harz, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany
Client: The town of Wernigerode
Competition: 1.Price 2003
Construction: 08/2004-04/2006
Costs: € 8.700.000.-
Size: 35 ha (350.000 m2)
Photographs: Franziska Poreski & Christo Libuda
Text by authors of the project
Visuals: Horst Bilek
Consultants: Planting: Christine Orel, Christian Meyer
Constructional engineering: Bollinger + Grohmann, Architekten und Ingenieure GmbH / WIG, Wernigeröder Ingenieurbau GmbH
Civil engeneering, foundation soil: IBH Ingenieurbüro Herold
Rehabilitation and water management: HGN Hydrogeologie GmbH
Traffic planning: MKR Harz-Consult