Martin Luther Platz

Reformation of a Square

Martin Luther Square is located in the heart of Linz's city center and is an important place for residents, visitors, and businesses along the Landstraße. With its redevelopment, the square will gain attractive areas with a high quality of stay:

The square will become a "Salon under Trees," serving as a stage for city life, which can be observed from the green loges along the facades. These loges also enhance the traffic-calmed Johann-Konrad-Vogel-Straße.
South of the church, the area will also become climate-friendly, as the asphalt gives way to "Luther’s Garden," inviting people to linger and reflect.

An open entrance draws the vibrant city life of Landstraße into the green Luther Square. This area will accommodate temporary stalls and tents, markets, festivals, spectacles, and events.

Attractive planting beds with shade-providing elms divide the space along the facade in front of the bookstore into cozy loges. These niches, like the reading corner, offer a place to take a break from the stress of shopping, browse a new book, or observe the happenings on the square.

Across from the bookstore, in front of the shops, an unsealed square will be created. Over 300 square meters of concrete stone will be replaced by a permeable gravel surface, clearly framed by a granite stone band. Rainwater will seep into the underlying sponge body.
Six new trees will complement the three existing ones. Arranged in dense groups of three, they will form "multi-stemmed" tree islands. The light canopy of the nine Gleditsia trees will provide a pleasant atmosphere in the "Salon at Luther Square," even on hot summer days. The cool square will have room for a large outdoor café area, as well as consumption-free zones with comfortable seating. Subtle play elements will spark the interest of both young and old.

In front of the church, the cleared church square will open up. This open space will allow for great flexibility in its use (e.g., for events). A drinking fountain and seating stones will be a special attraction and will connect the unsealed square with the church forecourt. Excess water from the drinking fountain will also seep into the sponge body through gravel. The required bicycle parking spaces will be mainly situated around the planting island, allowing for an open center.

South of the church, the existing parking lot will be transformed into "Luther's Garden," a more intimate place for church events and dialogue. The garden can be closed off but is also meant to serve as a semi-public connection to City Park. Luther's apple tree, a bird bath, and lush perennial planting that frames the gravel path will give the area a special idyll.

The sidewalks of Johann-Konrad-Vogel-Straße will be widened in an eco-friendly manner using the broken and reused paving stones from the unsealed area. The driving lane will be reduced to 3.5 meters and converted to a one-way street. The northern side of the street will become a generous pedestrian area, allowing for an extension of the green loges. A row of narrow-crowned elms will shade the southern facades, creating space for cool seating niches for outdoor cafés, seating furniture, and bicycles. These measures will make the street traffic-calmed, climate-friendly, and enhance the quality of the area.

Funktion: Platz
Auslober: Evangelische Pfarrgemeinde A.B. Linz-Innere Stadt
Art: Wettbewerb, 1.Preis
Jahr: 2024
Mitarbeit: Petra Nagy, Donna Tansil