26. April '24
A group of five people are happily gathered in front of a shop with large windows, reminiscent of the Hochschule Coburg community spirit. They are arranging various potted plants on a wooden table. The shop sign reads “Raum für Zukunftsideen.
A group of five people are happily gathered in front of a shop with large windows, reminiscent of the Hochschule Coburg community spirit. They are arranging various potted plants on a wooden table. The shop sign reads "Raum für Zukunftsideen.
Coburg is expanding its urban green oases: New raised beds and creative green games are now enlivening the city center.
The projects were developed by students at Coburg University of Applied Sciences and promote community and urban gardening. Following last year’s “Scrat” co-gardening project in front of the AWO multi-generation house, more raised beds, green games and mobile seating areas are now moving into Coburg’s city center.
They invite you to join in, plant, harvest, take a seat and even play a spontaneous game of planting chess.
All of the ideas were developed in cooperation with lecturers and students from Coburg University of Applied Sciences ( Interior Architecture and Integrated Product Design course) and the city of Coburg (Green Deal) and were realized together with the AWO multi-generation house and the city makers.
Students Celine Reither, Marie-Lou Sapinel and Eva Brunner developed the idea of bed-sharing, as there is often a lack of space in city life to grow vegetables and herbs independently.
In order to meet all requirements, the beds are available as small containers for use on garden fences, as raised beds and as ground beds.
In all variants, the special design element is a slotted plate.
This also offers the option of hanging small containers and tools.
The shared use is intended to create a communicative contact, the opportunity to share yields and at the same time make the city greener.
One such raised bed has now been built and is available for public use in front of the Zukunftsbüro at Steinweg 14. Taking a seat at the herb table Gardening together is also the focus of the “open up” object, which was designed and built by Agnes Raabs, Noreen Schulz, Lea Hering and Nina Sadel.
The four-meter-long wooden module has small benches that can be easily pulled apart and invite people to take a seat.
This brings together smaller and larger groups of people, and the fact that the herb table can be driven underneath also makes it suitable for people in wheelchairs.
The clay pots embedded in the table are planted with herbs and invite you to lend a hand yourself – whether by tending the herbs or cutting some of the herbs you need to spice up your own cooking.
The smart green furniture can be found temporarily and for the first time at “Coburg blossoms”, the spring event of the city makers on Saturday, April 27 in front of the Zukunftsraum at Steinweg 14. The modular and thus flexibly deployable giant chessboard “Pflanzmatt” shows how plants can be playfully integrated into the cityscape.
Lea Neubauer, Vanessa Dorn and Sarah Horn came up with the idea.
Three table legs of different heights visually emphasize the rank of the pieces.
The different figures are represented by six different plants, which can be chosen according to the season and personal preference.
This provides additional knowledge about the respective plants, such as their appearance, flowering times, etc.
The wooden modules are also planted with moss to create the green playing field.
The special chess game will also be used for the first time at “Coburg blossoms” on Saturday, April 27 at the Coburg weekly market and can be played with pleasure. Coburg’s urban gardening is so easy to recreate “It is particularly important that all the objects are accessible and can be recreated by everyone,” explains Karin Engelhardt, Green Deal project manager. “Each element can be assembled with little experience – the materials required can be found in the DIY store next door,” Engelhardt continues.
The construction was financed by funds from the special fund for revitalizing city centres, which the city makers obtained from the state of Bavaria for precisely such POP-UP measures.
“In future, the smart objects will provide green moments, seating and play areas when strolling through the city and will be used in different places in the city center,” says Anette Vogel from the Stadtmacher.
Anyone interested in borrowing the objects can contact the city makers(stadtmacher@coburg.de Tel.
09561-877-300). Background CO-Gardening 2.0 “CO-Gardening 2.0 – Raised beds with added value in the form of micro gardens for our city of Coburg” was the name of the project of the Integrated Product Design and Interior Design courses, which was supervised by Prof. Philipp Stingl and Carl Baetjer.
“This practical project was initiated back in 2022 by the City of Coburg’s Green Deal team.
The special feature: all Coburg residents were able to vote for their favorite project both online and in person.
