tomorrow today yesterday

At the Isartor and in the Tal, in the city of Munich, which is visibly overburdened by car traffic, a sign is to be set that stands for the fundamental orientation in urban planning philosophy: The urban body is being further developed as a breathing system in a strategically comprehensive overall context.

It is time to give the urban spaces their identity back and thus counteract the monotonization of urban development.

Markus Uhrig

The revitalisation of the Tal will give rise to future-oriented discussions,
which include social, economic and cultural aspects as well as changing climatic conditions.

The enlivenment of the Tal, as a breathing system that lives through the people who spend time there.

Rolf Külz-Mackenzie

Objectives of the redesign

– a place to stay
– a humane valley tal
– better air
– historical reference

tomorrow
Here in the Tal there are two city gates facing each other: that of Ludwigstadt and that of Heinrichstadt. It is the last pair of gates to be left that way. This architectural peculiarity occurred five times in Munich.
Maybe the Munich residents are interested in what their city used to be like ...
In the past, a stream visually connected the two gates.
Today this strong symbol of Munich identity has disappeared from our perception.
The gates are still there, the connection is not.
So the story is missing.
Uhrig's fundamental concern is the historical context. The reference to and understanding of urban planning structures are always part of his means, his design methods and solutions.
In an almost poetic sense, Uhrig wants to guide people through the street. It would become a traffic-free boulevard, in which a stream flows again and there are trees that appear as green sash to accentuate the flow of the stream.
Water and greenery will also help improve the microclimate.
With the reclamation of the brook, the two city gates and thus the only remaining pair of towers (Talburgtor and Isartor) will be brought together again.
As part of the architectural solution, small trees are laid out parallel to the stream.
Like umbrellas, flat-cut trees do not obscure the city skyline, and you can see both gates from the benches on the hump-back bridge.
There should be a total of nine bridges. Also intended to tarry, they are equipped with park benches.
A small recreational area is being created and what has been taken away from the people by the car-friendly city is given back to them again.
today
Degraded to a simple traffic island, nothing can be seen of this urban historical integration of this formerly most important Munich city gate.
Markus Uhrig
Only the road leading east to the Isartor, which bears the descriptive name "Tal" (meaning "valley"), still shows all the ugliness that results when traffic can flow unchecked through the old town streets.
Gottfried Knapp
Here, in the historic center, the cosmopolitan city with a heart has an open wound.
Jochen Boberg
The Tal is the most neglected place in the entire old town centre of Munich.
Gottfried Knapp
I want to tell people the history of the city - with modern architectural means.
Markus Uhrig
Medieval Munich will not be recreated, but will be reinterpreted.
The Tal should become a lively valley.
Markus Uhrig
yesterday
Today's Isartorplatz is a relic from the time of the car-friendly city, when it was still planned to break the Altstadtring through the Gärtnerplatzviertel in six lanes and thus connect the Isartorplatz with the Sendlinger Tor-Platz on a kind of city motorway.
In a presentation of the building department in 1970 the planning of the pedestrian zone was shown. It's about Heinrichstadt and Ludwigstadt and the two respective city gates. The history of these two cities is unique; the city within the city.
In contrast to the Karlstor or Sendlingertor, the Isartor is the only completely preserved city gate that has been almost entirely preserved with the main tower, shielding walls and flanking towers. It is also the only one for which its counterpart of Heinrichstadt (Talburgtor / old town hall tower) still exists.
Built by Ludwig the Bavarian in the 14th century, the Isar Gate was saved from demolition by Ludwig I and renovated with private funds. During his reign, King Ludwig II opposed another attempt to demolish the Isartor.
Of the three still existing Munich city gates, only the Isartor is completely preserved.
Henry the Lion secured the income from the salt trade with a coup d'état.
At first the taxes were raised at the Talburgtor (now the reconstructed old town hall tower), and later at its counterpart in Ludwigstadt: the Isartor.
The Isartor often acted as a stage for magnificent events such as the wedding of Wilhelm V in 1568.
Degraded to a simple traffic island, nothing can be seen of this urban historical integration of this formerly most important Munich city gate.
Aus der Audio/Videoskulptur von Lukas Taido und Phil Max Schöll Berlin, 2020
It's not about cosmetic repairs, but about a fundamental change, about the experiment of a utopia. Jochen Boberg