Special Mention by the LILA 2025 Jury
As a social space realized through public investment, the project is outstanding in its sobriety, introducing interventions that activate the park by deliberate restraint, lightness and confidence, avoiding the excesses of over-programming. It shows how to effortlessly tackle a typology well known to European cities. The central ‘plaza under the trees’ remains open and unburdened — a space left deliberately undefined, capable of hosting a multiplicity of uses and adapting to unforeseen futures.
Subtle adjustments amplify its everyday functionality: a simple asphalt surface and path extend the spatial affordances for children’s play, while vegetated edges articulate an outdoor room, buffered from adjacent car traffic. The jury recognized in this approach echoes of mottos such as ‘Never demolish, always add,’ associated with the work of Lacaton & Vassal — where social utility and economic pragmatism form the political ground for design action. Winkelriedplatz thus presents itself as public space in its most essential form: adaptive, accessible, and restrained.
– from the award statements
See all LILA recognitions or visit LILA websiteWinkelriedplatz is the largest public green space and the heart of the inner-city dense neighborhood of Basel-Gundeldingen in the direct vicinity of the Basel SBB train station. Its central location, the multitude of usage demands and the impressive tree population on the square are the starting point for the design. The high-pitched crowns of the fifty linden trees form the space-creating framework for Winkelriedplatz as a ‘play space’ for the neighborhood and its residents. It is characterized by a natural simultaneity of diverse uses and an open and communal atmosphere. Inviting entrances integrate the square into the urban space in the center and at the corners. The square frame leading inwards opens up the square as a filigree network of paths. Two inlays of in-situ concrete function as a roller rink, a stage, and a water feature. The two elements quote the design of the 1960s and frame the open and freely usable tree hall. The project was designed based on the September 2017 competition design and completed in August 2023.
Landscape architecture: Franz Reschke Landschaftsarchitektur
Other designers involved in the design of landscape:
Büro Christian Meyer, planting planning
Stauffer Rösch AG, tenders, awarding of contracts, construction management, phases 4.2.41, 4.2.52, 4.2.53
Project location: Basel/Switzerland
Year completed: 2023
Photo credits: Christian Roeder, Franz Reschke
Manufacturer of urban or play equipment:
Burri – benches
Spielraumlabor, LudoCrea – play equipment
