The proposal introduces four strategic large-scale landscape features: the Forest, the Mound, the Lake, and the Sun-Plaza. They modulate wind flows across the site, creating distinctive landscape landmarks and districts within the wider territory. By promoting ventilation across the city and its adjacent neighborhoods, the proposal seeks to reduce heat accumulation and air pollution while establishing a new civic park with diverse microclimatic conditions generated through air movement, enhancing public use and outdoor comfort throughout the seasons.

Each landscape feature combines climatic performance with ecological, productive, and social functions. The (1) Forest guides airflow, filters air, supports biodiversity, and provides shade; the (2) Lake retains seasonal rainwater for irrigation and humidifies the airflow moving toward the downwind agricultural fields; the (3) Mound redirects wind flows, induces local updrafts, offers panoramic views of the city, and shelters the Sun-Plaza from cold winds; and the (4) south-facing Sun-Plaza reactivates the existing U-Halle as a sheltered civic space for markets, exhibitions, and community gatherings, using the thermal mass of existing buildings and paved surfaces to store solar heat and extend outdoor comfort into the evening. Demolition debris from the existing military barracks is retained and reused on-site to construct new landforms, including the Mound, as well as pathways and permeable pedestrian surfaces, transforming the material legacy of the former military infrastructure into a new civic landscape. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations informed the positioning and configuration of these landscape features to investigate their effects on wind velocity and direction.

Beyond the temporary garden exhibition, Aeolian fields establishes a long-term landscape framework integrating climate adaptation, agricultural production, recreation, and economic development. The masterplan proposes a new climatic infrastructure for Mannheim, foregrounding the sensory qualities of air—its temperature, humidity, movement, sound, and scent—while fostering urban resilience and collective well-being.

Competition and Institutional Partners: Stadt Mannheim, Deutsche Bundesgartenschau-Gesellschaft mbH (DBG), BUGA Mannheim 2023 gGmbH

Team: Silvia Benedito and Alexander Häusler (Partners) Geunhwan Jeong, Peter Zuroweste, Courtney Goode

TRANSSOLAR, Climate Engineering: Mathias Schuller (Partner), Markus Krauss, Ashwin Ghanta