Breathing Urban Space

The Calwer Passage designed by Christoph Ingenhoven is located at the geographical centre of Stuttgart. A new seven-storey building is being constructed there, which will be intensively landscaped with around 2,000 large-format planters. The building’s greenery is arranged in horizontal bands, one above the other on each storey, and partly connected to each other with vertical climbing aids.

The green facades are complemented by greening the roofs with a wide variety of trees and shrubs. This creates a breathing urban space that helps to reduce local fine dust concentrations and counteract the overheating of built-up areas in summer. The local microclimate is thus decisively improved.

In this interview, Florian Starz, team leader at Werner Sobek AG, explains the challenges that had to be overcome in the planning of the façade. Click here for the film.