The garden layout was chosen through a student competition. Participants were tasked with developing an ecologically sustainable open space concept for an area of over 400 m² and 75 m in length. Over the course of a semester, five design proposals were developed and continuously refined through discussions with representatives from the City of Innsbruck and the architects of the student housing project (Hanel and Manzl). The winning proposal was ultimately implemented by the City of Innsbruck.
In follow-up seminars, students transformed reclaimed concrete rubble into public urban furniture, now installed in the reuse-themed garden at Südbahnstraße/Karmelitergasse. The project demonstrates how irregular and hybrid reused materials can be reimagined through experimental construction methods, adaptive joinery, and circular design strategies.
Join us on Monday, 07.07.2025, at 3 pm at Karmelitergasse 9 to celebrate the opening of the garden and its furniture design—celebrating local reuse, hands-on design, and a shared vision for more circular urban spaces!
Project lead: Univ.-Prof. Stefan Rutzinger / Univ.-Prof. Kristina Schinegger (i.sd)
Lead furniture design: Muchen Yan, MA / Arch. DI Fabian Partoll (i.sd)
Instructors design courses and seminars: Arch. DI David Kienpointner, DI Moritz Riedl, Muchen Yan, Fabian Partoll
Student assistants: Julian Duggen, Fabian Quiring
Students / Furniture concept design: Julian Duggen, Jan Buley, and Dominik Obkircher
Students / Garden concept design, 1st prize in student competition: Max Estermann, Sarah Körling, Jan Schambach
Cooperation partners:
Amt für Grünanlagen – Planung und Bau Referat, City of Innsbruck: DI Lisa Stöllnberger, DI Mag. Marcus Pinter (Leitung)
Consultancy biodiversity: Marion Chatelain (PhD), Applied Animal Ecology Research Unit, UIBK
Funded by:
OeAD Student Housing GmbH
Amt für Grünanlagen
University of Innsbruck
Supported by:
Werkstätte der Fakultät für Architektur, UIBK
Strabag
Erdbau Arno