The “Bad Kissingen Lives by the Water” project transforms a previously infrastructure-dominated area in the south of the city into a mixed-use urban district. Despite its location along the Saale River, the site currently lacks qualities of stay, as a strip of industrial and commercial uses interrupts access to the waterfront. Existing structures such as the Lindesmühle, the wastewater treatment plant, and the hydropower station are not displaced but integrated into the new urban fabric and reinterpreted as part of the evolving city structure.

Water serves as the central leitmotif, connecting ecological, functional, and social dimensions. The site is organized into three interconnected islands. The cultural island activates existing buildings and creates public spaces along the water, enabling leisure and social interaction. The productive island combines commercial uses, craft, and housing in mixed structures with active ground floors. The research island further develops water-related infrastructure and makes processes of water treatment spatially tangible.

A continuous pathway along the Saale River and the canal links the islands and forms a shared central spine. Green spaces perform retention functions, improve the microclimate, and mediate between different uses. Water is understood as a circular system—collected, treated, and reused.

In this way, a district emerges in which everyday life, work, and landscape are closely interwoven, and movement naturally follows the water. Infrastructure becomes visible and actively shapes the identity of the urban space as a tangible and experiential element.

“Urban Harvest Bad Kissingen” is conceived as a productive urban district and a spatial extension of the spa town. It links agriculture, housing, education, energy, and supply into an integrated system. Urban space is no longer understood solely as a site of consumption, but as an active field of production and circular processes.

The starting point is the conflict over land use between food production and urban densification. Limited arable land, flood risk, and poor soil quality challenge conventional agriculture. The response lies in vertical, modular, and stacked production systems that generate multi-functional surfaces. Horticulture, aquaponics, and experimental cultivation methods connect production, research, and education, making these processes visible within the urban fabric.

The design focuses on adaptive reuse of existing structures. Buildings are transformed and reconnected: the Ochsenkathedrale becomes a hall of vision, the Lindenmühle a place of education, and the former power plant is repurposed as a gastronomic venue. Additional structures such as villas, greenhouses, and sports facilities are integrated into the overall system.

The Saale River is incorporated as an ecological and functional space. Retention areas, new floodplains, and redesigned riverbanks increase flood resilience and enhance public amenity. Technical infrastructures such as the wastewater treatment plant are made visible as integral components of material cycles.

The development proceeds in three phases: activation, networking, and ultimately a largely self-sufficient system of closed loops. Energy is generated through photovoltaics, biomass, and waste heat recovery, while nutrients are reintegrated into production cycles.

A central element is the “Loop,” which connects the district with the spa town and concentrates public functions. Formally, it reinterprets motifs of spa architecture in a contemporary way.

Urban Harvest is conceived as an open real-world laboratory—adaptable, transferable, and forward-looking for resilient urban development.