As a future, urban (development) hinge between Biel and Nidau, a new piece of the city is growing on the shore/shoreline/bank of Lake Biel. Embedded between the harbor of Biel and the Zihl channel in the north as well as the Nidau-Büren channel in the south, the new lake district responds to various spatial urban and landscape needs.
The new city district is characterized by an interplay between natural and urban areas along the lakeshore. Generous open spaces on the one hand and urban densification on the other shape the look of the new lakefront district as interdependent antipodes. The spirit of the Expo, the desire for spaces that can be experienced collectively, for publicness and complexity finds an analogy in the conceptual and creative realization of the new city district by the lake.
The theme of water – in the form of the lake and the canals; as well as differentiated city – and open space typologies intermesh to create a self-confident overall picture. Nature and recreational areas enter into dialogue with open urban spaces and form “Open Lac” as a whole.