In 2009 Hamburg’s Otto Linne Award was presented for the first time since 1997. On the occasion of the 140^th birthday of Otto Linne, Hamburg’s first garden director and visionary developer of the city’s urban parks and open space system, the new edition of this award is intended to give a new impetus to the debate about challenges and sustainable solutions in urban landscape architecture. 

The Neumühlen Water Terraces competition site is one of Hamburg’s characteristic areas along the Elbhang (an escarpment along the bank of the River Elbe) and has been the subject of urban planning and open space planning discourse for years. The forty entries submitted clearly illustrate the need to deal with complex sites located in areas of tension between urban areas and the landscape. In their entire spectrum these designs show how important and multifaceted the search for new contents, forms, and images in open space design can be.

The jury presented the first prize to an outstanding entry submitted by students in Berlin, who successfully illustrated that it is possible to use a few simple measures to lend a site a meaningful aesthetic and a high level of quality for users.

Second prize went to an entry from Århus, Denmark, while third prize was presented to an entry from Kirschau. Two entries were also awarded honourable mentions. 

1st prize: Mania Lohrengel, Sophie Holz und Luca Gilic

2nd prize: Signe Rabölle Nielsen und Palle Feldborg Olesen

3rd prize: Alexander Roscher, Katharina Lembcke

purchase: Verena Linhart, Johanna Aufner; Sonja Luise Kupgisch