Studio Gang and four other firms from Chicago (Hamburg’s sister city) were asked to contribute to the design of the HafenCity urban development project—currently the largest inner-city development in Europe—by creating master plans exploring the potentials of a former container yard at Hamburg’s southern entry point. Studio Gang’s concept of Grüner Elbe Bogen (“the Green Elbe Elbow”) links the Hafen site with a much larger green ring already planned by the city. The completion of such a ring, in combination with the site’s water access, would put Hamburg on par with more famous cities such as Paris and Vienna.

In the Studio Gang plan, a bike path and riverside promenade at the Elbe work to increase connectivity through the site. The Square is designed to be an active place, faced by a variety of of building types and uses whose lower heights maintain good sunlight and views for the rest of the site. A low, horizontal podium building that functions as a landscape and a bridge (and also muffles traffic noise from the roadways beneath) connects the heart of Chicago Square to a series of carefully-positioned high rise towers in the southeast. Meant to stand as landmarks identifying a new gateway into Hamburg, the towers’ visual and structural references to the cranes of the industrial dockland emphasize Hamburg’s unique, port city identity.