Hüttwilen: Fantastic Village Spaces and Where to (Re)Discover Them
Development Potentials of Village Density within the Fabric of the Historic Village Centre
Master's Thesis at the Chair of Sustainable Urbanism, 2019

In his Master Thesis on the Swiss village of Hüttwilen, Ferdinand Schachinger addressed the pressing issue of reducing land consumption through inner development rather than urban expansion in rural areas. According to the author, the “development potentials of village density within the fabric of the historic village centre” had to be approached with particular sensitivity. Inner development should never have been misunderstood as densification at any cost. Instead, Schachinger argued that it should have focused on returning to an organic pattern of settlement growth and strengthening its spatial coherence.

The project developed a systematic urban design methodology for the differentiated inner development of villages. The author proposed a precise approach for identifying spatial qualities and translating them into strategies for carefully integrated densification.

According to the jury statement: “The densification strategies were well explained and convincingly derived, and were accurately applied to the village of Hüttwilen. Schachinger identified the ‘dialect’ of the local architectural language and successfully translated it into the design of the village centre.”

This approach was demonstrated through the case study of Hüttwilen, Switzerland, where Schachinger analysed the specific qualities of individual spaces and identified the elements shaping them in order to derive principles for successful spatial design and the further development of village structures.

The project also built on the Regio Frauenfeld Design Studio, which the Chair had been conducting as a research and teaching project with the support of the Canton of Thurgau since 2018.

The case study in Switzerland—an important reference for limiting land consumption in settlement development—proved transferable to both growing and shrinking rural regions in Bavaria.

Every two years, the Academy for Rural Areas awarded a prize to outstanding young researchers. The jury, represented by the Scientific Advisory Board, selected theses from across the German-speaking world that addressed current and future-oriented challenges relating to rural areas with sensitivity, originality, and critical reflection.

Due to the exceptionally high number of submissions from a wide range of disciplines in 2020, the Academy awarded four main prizes and two recognition awards.

Ferdinand Schachinger’s work was already the fourth Master Thesis completed at the Chair of Sustainable Urbanism to receive an award from the Academy for Rural Areas, following the work of Denise Ehrhardt, Anne Gruber, and the team of Theresa Friedrich, Johannes Hemmelmann, and Julian Numberger. 

Learn more about Ferdinand Schachinger’s project in the Master's Thesis showroom.

• Information on the Academy Award and all prize winners: http://www.akademie-bayern.de/news_detail.php?i=321