Urban Blooms: Oasis in Innsbruck’s old town

Innsbruck is really good at beauty! But where a building site is currently disrupting the charming idyll of the old town, creative solutions are needed. The old cobblestones in the old town are currently being replaced by new ones - with the usual, rather uncomfortable hustle and bustle. During this transitional phase, the pretty Kiebachgasse is focusing on colorful leisure activities with seating areas, green lawns and games in public spaces. I immediately took a picture or two of the temporary installation "Urban Blooms" for myself.

Urban Blooms makes the city a green place to linger. Seating furniture and small meadow areas bring nature into the pedestrian zone. The ground has been colorfully painted, including with outdoor games. Why? The old town is currently in a transitional phase and the alleyways are being repaved. The local businesses are sometimes getting creative and neatly arranging their summer sidewalk gardens between the construction site grates. In Kiebachgässlein, it is so beautiful that the slalom of tables makes it so easy to stroll and look around that you can actually sit down right away. Without further ado, a wild idea was born out of the illustrious confusion: What if you could even lie there, so shady and surrounded by greenery? Inspired by Leeuwarden in Friesland, where 1000 trees wander through the city on 100 days, thoughts turned to Innsbruck in mid-June. Just one month later, the first "city blossoms", realized by Innsbrucker Architekturschmiede Snøhetta with regional companies - otherwise it would not have been possible so spontaneously.

"Just yesterday, we painted the entire alleyway with Tirol Lack and 30 motivated people," says Andrè Lomsky, Regional Manager at Innsbruck Tourismus. I reach him by phone in the middle of the construction site just a few days before completion. The historic Kiebachgasse is currently being converted into an art space and as soon as the first Urban Blooms are up, the first children are already playing there. The modules, which can be combined in many different ways, look like colorful building blocks and offer shady cooling, green seating and lounging areas as well as play and climbing facilities. They deliberately appeal to the play instinct of older children and invite them to step onto them with gentle slopes. Large shrubs and green areas add a welcome splash of color to the gray of the construction site, provide shade and bring nature back. The spectacle in the old town is expected to continue until the end of August/beginning of September, when the construction site will be finished. Like flowers in the snow (or the trees in Leeuwarden), the colorful blooms will then continue to wander through the city and blossom elsewhere, reveals Lomsky. The pilot project in Kiebachgasse is therefore also a bit of a test run - and a very promising one at that.

The greening of concrete deserts, consumption-free areas in public spaces, meeting zones and the urban climate in summer are always a hot topic in urban areas. Patrick Lueth from Snøhetta therefore also sees the temporary intervention at Kiebachgasse as a sociological study - how can available open space be used sensibly and sustainably? This is quite a feat, especially in the cramped Kiebachgasse - between sidewalk cafés, stores, apartments, fire department and logistics zones. Nevertheless, the project aims to be spacious and inviting, welcoming and cozy. But only if everyone really plays their part, from the office to the implementation, will it be a small miracle in the end. This feat has been achieved here.

"It would be great if these beautiful trees could stay," enthuses a family strolling past. Architect Lueth from Snohettagoes even further: "The public space is there for everyone, should be easy to use and non-commercial!" At Kiebachgasse, this balancing act has been practiced and achieved - so it will be exciting to see what happens later. Because: there are many construction sites and often not enough exciting free space. With this in mind: see you at the playground!

Photos: All images in the article are from Innsbruck Tourismus, Randall Media Factory, Eduardo Espinosa & Snøhetta.

Urban Blooms: The pop-up urban oasis with seating, green spaces and play areas will remain in Kiebachgasse in Innsbruck until the end of August/beginning of September 2024.

After that, the project will move on and beautify other places in the city.