Village Center Hitzkirch

The historic parish village of Hitzkirch, with its former monastic commandery now used as a teacher training college, is to be densified and upgraded in its village center. The municipality actively guides the qualitative urban development through a proactive land policy. This involves addressing both the historic building fabric and the potential for central uses and new developments. The historic village core—a dense, clustered settlement at the foot of the slope with many stately homes and inns—is the focal point.

In a first step, a vision was developed. This clarified and defined the actual central zone. At the same time, the village center was subdivided into different spatial areas, such as the village core, entrance roads, and small squares. In a second step, development possibilities were outlined for each of these subareas. The focus was on the interaction between buildings and open space. Through design variants, architectural aspects (e.g., roof shapes), urban planning elements (e.g., orientation, address formation, grain), and landscape features (e.g., front gardens, access routes) were explored and illustrated. The process was carried out as part of a public participation process.