Along the Werdersee in northern Germany’s Bremen, De Zwarte Hond, together with Urbanegestalt, designs a new urban district of 17 hectares with 550 homes, a daycare center, a school, and various amenities. In 2014 De Zwarte Hond in collaboration with the Cologne-based firm Urbanegestalt, won the design competition for the urban plan of Gartenstadt Werdersee and designed two multifunctional buildings at the western entrance to the district. These buildings accommodate neighborhood shops, nursing and care facilities, and social housing.
The garden city design addresses two fundamental human needs: green living in the heart of the city and social cohesion, with public space playing a pivotal role.These principles were central to the original garden city vision at the beginning of the 20th century. The Bremen design offers a contemporary reinterpretation tailored to the local context. A key innovation lies in the treatment of public green spaces at the district’s edges, creating an ‘inverted centrality.’ Unlike traditional garden cities, the peripheral zones now take center stage, serving as green communal spaces for shared activities.