Hopfenmarkt

Hopfenmarkt (meaning Hop Market) is a historic square in Hamburg’s Old Town. Historically the main square of the medieval new town, it has remained an important public space in today’s German port city. Delimited by the Church of Saint Nicholas of Hamburg, whose bell tower is a landscape landmark throughout the city, the square also hosts an underground museum housing part of the surrounding walls of the medieval “New Castle".The concept of the project focuses on the creation of a public square dedicated to the city and its inhabitants, as well as their relationship to the city’s past. The aim is to reveal the different layers of the site's rich heritage through the development of the Neue Berg Museum. A key aspect of the proposal is the oculus (or temporal window), which aims to celebrate the medieval surrounding wall by making it visible from the new square.A varity of spaces are developed within the square: the Lindenhain, the mound and its mirror oculus, the museum pavilion, the esplanade of the Vierländerin fountain and the vegetated Willy Brandt boulevard.Aligning with Hamburg’s urban and landscape policy, for its ecological and cultural ambitions, this project sits within a broader urban strategy for the development of a green, inclusive, pedestrian and cycling city.