Enrico Santifaller

This carpet is neither knotted nor woven. This carpet will be moved - into an elastic bed that can bear heavy loads. This carpet will be made of stone and, according to the Frankfurt CDU, will be laid out on the square in front of the Fahrtor. Or rather: the fragmented area between Eiserner Steg and Haus Wertheym, between Saalhof and Leonhardskirche is to be unified into a recognizable square with its own identity. With a pavement - to be understood in a double sense - made of small-format granite, which is applied over all the competing particular interests that manifest themselves in bollards, markings and changes of material. Not to conceal or trivialize them, but to achieve a balance between them. And in a prominent location. Until well into the 19th century, visitors and guests to the free imperial city of Frankfurt were received and bid farewell here. This place is anchored in Frankfurt's collective memory in hundreds of paintings, engravings and postcards.

Frankfurt's relationship with the river that bears its name is a difficult one. As recently as the 1970s, it was one of the most polluted rivers in Europe. And its banks were reserved for car traffic and industry. It was in the 1970s that the first concepts were developed to bring the river closer to the city. The Museum Embankment, which was realized across all party lines in a joint effort by politicians, administrators and planners, even made international headlines. It is not only in Frankfurt that the wishes and plans have always been more comprehensive, more far-reaching and more ambitious than their realization. With residential developments such as Deutschherrenufer, Weseler Werft, the mixed-use Westhafen or the Hafenpark near the ECB, potentials of the Main area that were previously not thought possible have been developed. And the many restaurants that have sprung up have turned the banks of the Main into a natural urban living space. There is no question that this could be further enhanced - for example with a water cab integrated into the city's transport concept.

Marie-Theres Deutsch is an architect who has been involved in these discussions about the Main many times and has presented and realized attractive concepts. She also came up with the vision of a half-hourly boat connection between Niederräder and Deutschherrnbrücke at peak times. And she developed the plan that the CDU has now presented for the Fahrtor. She is aware that she is treading on highly sensitive ground. Due to a unique situation in Frankfurt's city center - the leveling of Tiefkai and Hochufer on the Main - east-west vehicle traffic suddenly meets north-south pedestrian traffic. What can be equalized on other bridges collides in a very confined space between the Eiserner Steg and the Fahrtor. In addition, there are the legitimate interests of local residents, the port railroad and the two shipping companies, each of which flank the jetty with a landing stage and pavilion. If a reasonably satisfactory balance of interests can be achieved at this location and a place can be created that offers a high quality of stay despite all the traffic flows, this would be the crown jewel of the Main riverbank revitalization, so to speak.

The plan is certainly ambitious. After all, simply closing the Mainkai to car traffic without any further structural measures led to a polarizing debate and a significant increase in traffic on the southern bank of the Main. The supposedly autonomous minibus, which for almost 13 months drove along the 700 meters of riverbank mostly without passengers, only illustrated the stale compromise of the Römer coalition, which still cannot agree on a convincing overall traffic concept. Car traffic now plays a role in the CDU's proposal. But not a preferred one. This is because the material, i.e. the granite, which is spread over an area of 4,500 square meters in a pattern emphasizing light and dark contrasts, acts as a levelling element. The geometry puts the individual interests in their place. Car and bicycle traffic are each given a lane, which can be felt tactilely through the different roughness of the stone. The slight turn to the north and massive bumps also act as a brake.

And it is highly likely that the many additional people who do not want to flow in any direction at all, but want to spend time in the newly created square, will have a delaying effect on traffic. They are offered a lot. Deutsch was inspired by the multi-award-winning Berta-Kröger-Platz in Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg and proposed very elegant seating strips that combine a leaning and bollard function and at the same time provide a noble setting for trees. Deutsch also wants to fill in and plant the flood walls of the residential development. The architect reserved the highlight for the riverside promenade: Numerous seating steps lead directly into the water. Just looking at the plans makes you want to cool your feet in the Main on a summer's day.

A traffic turnaround doesn't just involve new rules. The coronavirus pandemic shows once again that regulations are ineffective without the involvement of citizens. You have to inspire citizens. The vision of a very attractive square at the Fahrtor could fulfill this task. Attention must be paid to the overall concept as well as the details. So the city would have to jump over its shadow and finally use good materials - something that rarely happens enough in Frankfurt. The square impresses as an attempt to respect different interests and not to suppress one at the expense of another. This also happens far too rarely in Frankfurt.