Overview
On 6 June 2023, the academic publication entitled "Mansfeld revisited" was officially presented by the City of Luxembourg's public administrators and representatives from the University of Luxembourg's Institute of History. The ceremony also included the presentation of the five projects that were selected to advance to the second phase of the European ideas competition for the restoration of the Mansfeld site and its remains, and the announcement of the two final projects selected as part of the competition.
Ideas Competition
Restoration of the Mansfeld site and its remains in Clausen
In November 2022, the City of Luxembourg launched a European Ideas Competition as part of its efforts to promote and rehabilitate the Mansfeld site in Clausen. More specifically, the competition was launched with the aim of promoting this unique historical site, enhancing the Clausen district in general – including its green spaces and buildings – and implementing a programme of inclusive public events.
Competition objectives and areas of focus
The symposium held in 2022 served as the basis for establishing the objectives of the ideas competition and its areas of focus. An analysis of the outcome of the symposium revealed seven areas of focus, which formed the framework for the ideas competition:
- Landscape heritage
- Protection of the remains
- Lime tree avenue
- Mansfeld Circuit
- Urban orchard
- Mansfeld-les-Bains
- Dynamic district
Additionally, emphasis was placed on the importance of adopting an urban-planning approach (architecture, landscape, programming, etc.) to ensure that aspects such as mobility, the environment, and the complementary relationship with other Luxembourg City districts are taken into account when the project is implemented.
Selected projects
Members of the panel of judges
The panel of judges is composed of members of the City's College of the Mayor and Aldermen, representatives from the City's Direction Architecte (Architecture Directorate) and Service Urbanisme (Urban Planning Department), the National Institute for Cultural Heritage (Institut national pour le patrimoine architectural – INPA), the National Institute of Archaeological Research (Institut national de recherches archéologiques – INRA), the Order of Architects and Consulting Engineers (Ordre des Architectes et des Ingénieurs-Conseils – OAI), and the Public Buildings Authority (Administration des Bâtiments publics, and five national and international experts in the history of gardens, heritage preservation and archaeology.
Phase II of the ideas competition
In accordance with the rules of the competition, five national and international multidisciplinary teams were selected to advance to the second round of the competition, after careful examination of all of the projects by the members of the jury.
- Becker Architecture & Urbanisme (L)
- Fabeck Architectes (L)
- Kaell Architecte (L) + Elmēs Agency (B)
- Temperaturas extremas Arquitectos (ES)
- Urban Agency + Binario Architectes (DK / B)
Exhibition of the five projects and civic consultation on the two selected projects
At the jury's last meeting in May 2023, two projected were selected from among the five shortlisted projects, as specified in the rules of the competition: the team Kaell Architecte – Elmēs Agency – AREAL – Jean Reitz, which impressed the panel of judges with their project "Logis Mansfeld", and the Agency + Binario Architectes – IN SITU Paysages & Urbanisme – The Impact Lab, which also got the panel's vote with its project "Renaissance de Mansfeld".
As part of the exhibition, residents of Clausen – as well as anyone who is interested – are invited to view the five projects and express their opinion on the two selected projects, "Logis Mansfeld" and "Renaissance de Mansfeld". The views expressed during the consultation process will then be summarised and taken into account for the implementation of the projects selected in this phase of the competition.
Logis Mansfeld
Renaissance de Mansfeld
Heritage preservation and UNESCO zone
In 1991, the City of Luxembourg's municipal council confirmed its temporary approval of the so-called Joly General Development Plan, which was finally approved in 1994. That decision also paved the way for the City's first heritage-preservation undertaking to protect the land and remains at the Mansfeld site, which the City had begun acquiring in the 1980s, and which are now included on the list of protected monuments and sites under the designation "remains of the castle and site known as Mansfeld Park" (les vestiges du château et le domaine dit parc Mansfeld). In Luxembourg City, provisions governing heritage preservation were incorporated into the existing municipal regulations in 2017.
Also in 1994, as part of the City's policy on heritage preservation and in collaboration with the National Institute for Cultural Heritage – formerly the Service des Sites et Monuments nationaux (National Monuments Service) – the City decided to include the Mansfeld site and the Clausen district in the buffer zone adjoining Luxembourg City's "Old Town and fortifications", which was approved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 1994.
The City has been undertaking extensive heritage-preservation studies of its properties since 2015. Mansfeld Park was inaugurated in 2017, and in 2018, part of the site was listed as a cultural heritage site by the Luxembourg government. Today, archaeological digs at the site are still ongoing, and the ruins that are found are fully protected. And, as part of the ideas competition programme, the site will eventually be opened to the public.
