Studio MA2 (Baumgartner et Camponovo)

SITE

Zurich Gleisfeld - €“several hundred meters wide and around a kilometer long - forms a heavily frequented railway line through the city. It is a space, a room, a field whose edges have been heavily densified in recent years. The railway was and is an engine of urbanization. The impressive history of industrial development was also written where the railway tracks snake through. It has left visible traces to this day. The focus is no longer so much on production - the land has long been too expensive for that - but rather on the distribution and transport of goods. These buildings on the outskirts are dependent on their immediate proximity to the city, the railway and the consumers.

We are interested in the building typologies of distribution centers, depots and waste disposal yards. We want to examine 6-8 of these buildings in detail and decipher their links with the city. We ask ourselves the following questions in relation to the buildings as well as in relation to the track field: How do these building typologies function? What connections do they have with the city? What structures and architectures do we find here (urban fabric, construction period, structure, architectural character)? What spatial relationship do they have to the track field and the city? What qualities does the track field have as a habitat (habitat for amphibians, birds and plants, dry and warm locations)? What role do the edges of the track field play and how can they be developed? How can connectivity across the track field be improved? What buildings are located directly on the track field?

PROGRAMM

Creation of living space. In the second part of the semester, we will focus on 6-8 selected buildings on the Gleisfeld. The task is to determine how these important systems can be preserved in the long term and at the same time remodeled, extended and densified. The aim is to create a special, new living space for new arrivals and people living in Zurich for a short time, in combination with the existing utilization.

WORKING METHOD

In line with the autumn semester, the spring semester is also structured according to the colours black, yellow and red. Black stands for the existing building. Yellow for the demolition. Red for the new. The analysis (black) is developed collectively - a horizontal exchange of knowledge should take place, in the sense of a collective intelligence. The subsequent design projects (yellow, red) are carried out in groups of two.

SEMINAR TRIP

The seminar trip will take us to Zurich. We want to visit as many of these forwarding and distribution centres as possible, but we will also look at various supplementary projects on the subject of residential construction and conversion.