Memories of the future

If there is something that we all learned in the past two years, it’s that what was set in stone, can change anytime. In the context of a global pandemic, this change sounds rather terrifying. But in the context of the potential development of the cityscape of Pforzheim – it opens new perspectives. Because Pforzheim right now may seem like a city, that is literally set in stone, or – to be even more concrete – set in concrete.

Justified by a pervasive lost belief of a previous generation of urban planners who approached to actually invigorate the city through large aisles for car traffic, it shows that it was so much easier to drive the throng out of the alleys than to plant it back in again. But now, we all feel and know: It’s possible.

Just as we could never imagine experiencing a New Year’s Eve without fireworks or Shrovetide in summer but can do now – we are also able to imagine a new city. One that is humming and buzzing. One that trades streets full of congestion for fluid structures. Fluid structures within the streets. Within its buildings. And within our heads. Only because something was built for tires, it can be changed with our hands and hearts – which might sometimes be the more disruptive tools for change as cranes and excavators. This is how we will build together memories of the future – with Ornamenta as a lasting fundament for everything that is still up to come.