An what is perhaps the most unusual interim use that has ever existed in a new development area in Frankfurt is no longer reminiscent today. Until 2016, where Pariser Straße meets Europaallee in the Europaviertel, there was a miniature golf course. “Golf with a view of the skyline” was the slogan. Instead of 18 holes, there is now a skyscraper with 18 floors – and an even better view of the skyline.
A special urban planning situation has arisen: anyone coming out of the tunnel under the large park in the center of the district on the way to the city center drives towards a kind of gate. To the right of the street is the Praedium residential high-rise, on the left is the FAZ Tower, where the publishing house and editorial staff are currently occupying. Both towers form a portal that frames the skyline in the background.
The idea of this type of development goes back to early considerations about the conversion of the former marshalling yard. Plans by the architectural offices h4a from Stuttgart and Albert Speer & Partner from Frankfurt have been revised several times, but the gate situation to the east of the Europagarten was always part of the concept.
“Very powerful and flexible floor plan”
The two skyscrapers that form the gate are around 60 meters high. This is small by Frankfurt standards, where several towers have broken the 200 meter barrier. Planners therefore also speak of “high points”. What is striking is that the basic shape of the tower realized today – two staggered panes reminiscent of an H when viewed from above – was already marked in the high-rise master plan of 2008.
Flooded with light: the foyer of the FAZ Tower.
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Image: Lucas Bäuml
However, the building at Pariser Strasse 1 should not have looked like this. The offices of Sauerbruch Hutton from Berlin and Meyer Schmitz-Morkramer from Frankfurt, which won prizes in the architecture competition in 2017, came up with different solutions. But the Berlin architect Eike Becker won. For him, the H-shape is ideal. As a result, a “very powerful and flexible floor plan” has become possible, he says. Access is via a single staircase and elevator core in the middle. That is why four wings are grouped on each floor, each of which forms a fire compartment and could therefore also be designed without any partition walls.
Appearance and economy as central criteria
Economic efficiency was an argument that ultimately convinced the majority of the jury, chaired by Frankfurt architect Zvonko Turkali, of Becker’s design. But appearance also played a role. Christian Paulus, managing partner of the Paulus real estate group, which developed the building together with UBM Development and leased it to the FAZ, spoke of a “confident, formative architecture”.
It’s often a long way from draft to reality, and many ideas fall by the wayside. With the FAZ Tower, however, the original concept worked. Despite its 18 floors and 29,000 square meters of gross floor area, the building does not appear massive. This is achieved with two tricks: Firstly, the building mass is distributed over two comparatively narrow, staggered panes. On the other hand, the buildings are turned slightly halfway up.
Becker speaks of “four cubes that are slightly shifted one on top of the other and offset against each other”. This language of form may one day be considered typical of the 1920s. The Omniturm in the financial district, also known as the high-rise with the swinging hips, has shifted elements, as does the ONE high-rise at Skyline Plaza.
