Underground Landscapes

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Name	Underground Landscapes, Karlsplatz Station, Munich
Location	Munich
Country	Germany
Authors	Milkana Mladenova, Natalia Vergara


<googlemap version="0.9" lat="48.140432" lon="11.556244" type="terrain" zoom="11" width="300" height="250"> 48.140089, 11.566404, Karlsplatz (Stachus) Karlsplatz (Stachus), Munich, Germany </googlemap>

Short Introduction to the Area of Study

Karlsplatz is one of the busiest stations in Munich as in 2009, 351 million passengers rode the U-Bahn. This is why it is one of the most important landmarks in Munich and therefore an everyday landscape both for locals and tourists. Since its construction in the early 1970s it developed as a “city within the city “. It houses a shopping center, bank, food courts and ticket counters in 5 levels underground, differentiated by color and texture in order to make the experience of the travelers an easier and better one, as well as in above ground it connects to the main tourist’s attractions and the shopping district. Its importance is emphasized by the fact that all public transport lines intersect in this point, making it a very known place by the people that pass through it every single day and somehow do not consider it as “their everyday landscape”.

Exercise 1: Sketching the Landscape

Time frame: October 25 - November 15, 2011

Student activities:

Creation of analytical drawings and sketches
Presentation of results

Please upload a selection of your drawings/sketches/mental maps and add them to the image gallery

A waiting place
Underground Textures
Everyday paths
Perception + Everyday Paths + Activities
The first floor's plain white space is made visually interesting through the forms in the ceiling.
A stop of the S-Bahn after the train passes through- an empty space, even if thousands of people use this stop.
Karlsplatz underground level 1
All public transport lines pass through or near Karlsplatz station.
SBahn

Exercise 2: Landscape Layers

Time frame: November 15 - 29, 2011

time based changes and 'landscape biography', and/or:
topography, open spaces, built, green, traffic and water structures on different layers. *Definition of zones with coherent character
Description of this character.

Transport connectivity of Munich
Underground levels at Karlsplatz
The renewed in 2007 underground passage at Stachus(Karlsplatz)
Aerial view and underground mapping of stops for U4 and U5
Ground Layers "What Meet the eye"
Layers "Public transportation System"
Surrounding
Activities, movement patterns, stores and levels inside Karlsplatz Station.
Time Line Karlsplatz

Please publish your findings here

Exercise 3: Behaviour Patterns

Time frame: December 6 - 20, 2011

How do people behave in this area? How do they use the space? What is important for them?
Observation of study area, interviews with local people and mapping of use patterns.
Preparation of short presentation

Please publish your findings here

Ground Level Patterns (How people move)
Level 1 Inside Patterns
Level 2 Underground Sbahn Pattern
Level 2 Underground Ubahn Pattern
What people remember. (Interviews)
Examples of Behavior Patterns. (Interviews)
Most visited places according to people in the area. As preferred way of transportation between the levels most people chose the elevators or escalators. As a reason they point out the busy everyday life. The least used are the stairs.
One of the main attractions for visitors during the winter - the Christmas market and ice-skating ground. Image as seen on : http://v2.cache5.c.bigcache.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/17893151.jpg?ir=1&redirect_counter=1
Visitors' behavior defined by the main points of interest around Karlsplatz.
Mapping Social Activity

Exercise 4: Communication Concepts

Time frame: December 19, 2011 - January 17, 2012

Based on the different landscape assessment approaches students will develop a communication concept for their area of study
Which measures would be necessary for enhancing the awareness for the area?
Students are free to choose their method.