Gabu Heindl :
Park Design For Kulturbezirksplatz in St. Pölten

In the course of the redesign of the cultural district (Kulturbezirk), the square between the Landesbibliothek library and the Festspielhaus theatre was to be adapted to become a place for visitors to linger and as a "landscape" for traceurs — an increasingly strong part of the Festspielhaus' Performance Programme. The invited architect/urbanist Gabu Heindl raised broad issues relating to urban development in her design 'Park_Our_Park', which could unfortunately not be completed. "There is so much spatial and urbanist intelligence in the parkour movement exercises that the course per se can be interpreted in a context of the concept of urban living.
1. Park: Parkour updates the town as an arena for movement in the pathless grounds, as a park for recreational time — especially also parts of the town that are 'only' infrastructure or under development, the 'in-between'. What serves some people as a roof is a playful landing or jumping-off area for traceurs. In this way the parkour challenges the rules of the urban space, the laws of gravity and the fetish for health and safety.
2. Our: The 'Our' in the title implies a 'we' that — like the traceurs' routes — is not a priori a given but is shaped in an act: situative, temporary, by reclaiming the town.
3. Park: The town is a park belonging to the many— not only to those adept at extreme sports. Parkour clearly shows what the community shares: intuitive movement in a topographical arena that is regulated while being flexible enough to change in open urban spaces” (Gabu Heindl).
(Katrina Petter)