Atelier Dreiseitl

Atelier Dreiseitl is an interdisciplinary design studio based in Überlingen, Germany. The studio was founded in 1980 by Herbert Dreiseitl, an artist and informally-trained landscape architect, to create aesthetically and socially valuable sustainable projects that focus on the use of water in the urban environment.         

The studio takes an interdisciplinary approach to its projects by integrating art, urban hydrology, environmental engineering, and landscape architecture.  Atelier Dreiseitl has worked on projects that integrate sustainable water practices in urban parks, urban plazas, water features, swimming pools, water playgrounds, external and internal water features, and housing developments. The firm specializes in integrating art with technical water systems in order to make urban water processes visible to the public.  

Design Vision and Goals

Atelier Dreiseitl’s strong design vision is centered on its philosophy of water in the urban system: “Water is selfless, extremely transformable, full of surprises both quiet and powerful, and yet remains the reliable carrier of life for all organisms. Its untarnished beauty and elementary power were regarded with respect in many cultures, admired and revered in religions and mythologies. Today we rediscover its fundamental value─an essential role in environment, climate and life of this planet.”  (Herbert Dreiseitl on www.Dreiseitl.de)

Atelier Dreiseitl uses artistic water systems, or watercourses, to make urban water processes visible to the public. The aesthetically pleasing aspects of its designs encourage people to reconnect with water through new experiences. 

Technical Expertise

Atelier Dreiseitl’s projects are not just complex water features; the interventions are an interface between the urban environment and the natural water processes that shape it.  As Herbert Dreiseitl puts it:

 “I was particularly dissatisfied with one very common idea: water as a decoration in the townscape, a pleasant toy for artists and architects, but a superfluous one sometimes – and this is said while all the essential water management in the town, like for example rainwater removal, drinking water provision and sewage disposal, is dealt with functionally, scarcely visibly and without any aesthetic sense as part of the engineer’s domain.” (New waterscapes: planning, building and designing with water, 9)

Herbert Dreiseitl’s goal is to make the functional systems of the urban environment visible. By designing water features that are more than just fountains, Atelier Dreiseitl addresses urban water processes in important and meaningful ways.

Atelier Dreiseitl advertises its technical expertise as the ability to incorporate a wide range of engineered water systems, such as such as rainwater harvesting, storage, treatment, and reuse; retention and infiltration techniques; gray and black water systems; heat exchange and climatization using water; natural water treatment systems; water flow patterns; green roofs; water proofing; and water feature detailing. For more information see the Atelier Dreiseitl Engineering page of this website.

Projects

Atelier Dreiseitl has worked on many projects over the past 30 years, primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Western Europe. Most of the projects are funded through private contracts for institutions and private housing complexes. Atelier Dreiseitl has also worked extensively in the public sector as well, the most famous example of which is its work at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany.   While most of its projects take the form of large waterscapes, Atelier Dreiseitl has also worked on standalone sculptures that involve water. Starting in 2000, Atelier Dreiseitl worked on projects in China and, more recently, designed large storm water management systems in Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.
           

For this project, I studied two of Atelier Dreiseitl’s projects:  Town Hall Square in Hattersheim, Germany and Lindenplatz in Gummersbach, Germany. Both of these projects involve the redesign of public squares using water as the central element.  Both squares employ complex underground water systems that support watercourses with strong artistic elements that run throughout the public spaces. In the case studies portion of the website, I outline the project history and design.  I also analyze the extent to which the projects achieve Atelier Dreiseitl’s goal of integrating functional water systems with artistic features to create new experiences of urban water systems.