Architect & Developer

Mr. van Berkel, what is the United Network at UNStudio?

We understand it to mean a network of specialists. In addition to architects, we work with artists, neuroscientists and a data analyst to develop our ideas. Our goal is to integrate as broad an intelligence as possible and thereby let our projects grow.

With the FOUR project, you say it's not just about the towers, it's about reviving a neighborhood. How do you approach such a project?

I call our approach clockwise planning. We contemplate how people spend their days. When do they get up, which ways do they go, which infrastructure do they use, where do they stay? From this we deduce what rooms we must create to ensure people feel comfortable in FOUR.

What significance does the project have for you personally?

In our design concept, we are talking about a city for everyone. Our planning is aimed at a balanced mixture of work, living, relaxation and recreation. We are building new connecting paths, passages and squares within the site in order to reconnect the area with the city center. The infrastructure proposed by us creates a new network of paths between the banking district, Roßmarkt, Kaiserplatz and the shopping streets of Goethestraße, all the way to the Alte Oper. The financial district and the city center are growing together again.

And how do you answer this question?

In our design concept, we are talking about a city for everyone. Our planning is aimed at a balanced mixture of work, living, relaxation and recreation. We are building new connecting paths, passages and squares within the site in order to reconnect the area with the city center. The infrastructure proposed by us creates a new network of paths between the banking district, Roßmarkt, Kaiserplatz and the shopping streets of Goethestraße, all the way to the Alte Oper. The financial district and the city center are growing together again.

You speak of a city for all. How can the public use the area?

The site will have many publicly accessible areas, such as an impressive roof garden, a town square, a daycare center, two hotels, a food hall, numerous restaurants and shops. These offers in the podium attract people to the new district and considerably increase the quality of life in the city center.

How do you distribute offices, apartments, restaurants, cafés and hotels among the towers?

Two towers are designed for residential purposes and long stays, including a proportion of subsidized and price-reduced apartments, in order to achieve a mix of milieus. The other two towers will house offices, and a hotel will open in the podium. The towers will completely frame the central square. The listed facades of Junghofstrasse will be integrated and retained. The different orientation and heights of the four towers create variations within the skyline, together with subtle bends and shifts in the individual buildings, we create dynamic spatial and visual relationships between the four towers.

FOUR changes the famous skyline of the city?

I say we enrich the skyline. The almost sculptural family of towers creates the unique impression of a coherent neighborhood within the skyline and underscores the importance of this district.