IBA meets IBA in Hamburg
The IBA Hamburg, which will be realised until 2013 on the Wilhelmsburg island in the Elbe, was the occasion to look back in an exhibition to 100 years of the history of the very different international building exhibitions (IBA), to their contemporary objectives, approaches and significance for town planning, architecture and urban society. The IBA Hamburg GmbH lined up with this exhibition in the tradition of the IBAs in the 20th century and took up a position on its subjects with an associated current project works show.
The IBA Hamburg sees itself confronted by considerable structural deficiencies on its largest Elbe island, Wilhelmsburg, in the Veddel and at the inland port in Harburg. Wilhelmsburg is characterised by contrasts in a way that no other location is. Just seven minutes by suburban train from Hamburg's central station, industry, the city and the port encounter marshes, nature conservation areas and surrounding water. Numerous major roads criss-cross the 28 km of the IBA site, in which people from over 40 nations live. The conflicts and opportunities of globalisation are concentrated here to a greater extent than elsewhere. The IBA Hamburg is searching for quintessential answers to these challenges – answers for urban planning problems, the urban economy and for the social and cultural cooperation in the metropolis. The search is for solutions that provide impulses for planning and building culture.
The exhibition IBA meets IBA thus offered both inspiration for the activities in Hamburg and an initial presentation of the project ideas for the IBA Hamburg 2013. A former supermarket in the centre of the island in the Elbe has been changed into an events location and has invited Wilhelmsburg's residents in particular, as well as the profession, to come and obtain information on the international building exhibitions and the current status of planning.
