ESCHENHEIMER TOWER

FRANKFURT, GERMANY (1985)

A new walkway connecting the Eschenheimer Tower to a nearby Frankfurt pedestrian area relieves the severe and chronic traffic problem created by the nineteenth-century Ringstrasse or 'ring road:' the heavily traveled vehicular passage is too hazardous for pedestrians to cross, while the tunnels beneath it are too squalid and the over-head tram too inconvenient. A barrel vault, which encloses the road, is covered with earth to create a gently rolling hill that, in turn, serves as a pedestrian bridge. The hill becomes a landscaped mini-park uniting inner and outer sectors of the city and reconnecting patches of greenery previously separated by the Ringstrasse. In series, these bridges produce a greenbelt around the city to be enjoyed by pedestrians, joggers, bicyclists and drivers alike. The walkway not only defines the edge of the urban fabric but also re-instates the Eschenheimer Tower the city gateway as a garden foyer.