Even More Gold for the Schüssinsel!

The judging criteria for the award have shifted in recent years. In addition to high-quality design the three panels – all made up of five judges – are interested in social relevance as the overarching aspect. The Schüssinsel did well in both regards: in an interview with Roderick Hönig in Hochparterre 12/17, one of the judges, landscape gardener Rainer Zulauf, said: ‘The Schüssinsel in Biel for example is the result of town planning and fiscal processes that do not initially have anything to do with landscape design. However, these processes have created a new public space – an island that draws its strength from landscape design. It is a project that does not reduce landscape design to formalism or design elements.’ The judges expressed particular praise for how the design was tailored to its relationship with its users; however, the procedural approach was also lauded: the design incorporates the idea that flooding can and should change the island.