IDOL

It all started with the fascination for Nordstrasse 9. Cut into the old. Late 19th century ornaments next to 80’s curtain wall. Strangeness. Brutal, but with surprising precision. The architect Heinz Schweizer sees in it a visualisation of change, the press calls it ein Blitzeinschlag.

NEVER ENOUGH

Densification, densification, densification. In the Bau- und Zonenordnung of Zürich (BZO) one of the many tools for densification is the Gebiet mit erhöhter Ausnützung. Along important urban axes buildings are allowed to be higher and closer to each other. What if we take this instrument not to promote Ersatzneubauten with much higher Ausnützung? What if we take this instrument for other reasons? If we say we have LUST AUF DICHTE, we find joy in thinking about Zurich as a Grossstadt? Taking upon the urban vision of highly densified street axes, I found potential in the in between spaces.

LUST AUF DICHTE

The architecture of the IDOL and the politics of NEVER ENOUGH inform the design of LUST AUF DICHTE. Two strange interventions in the Gebiet mit erhöhter Ausnützung along Winterthurerstrasse. The existing and the new merge into one large structure framing the street, yet the interventions are also buildings by themselves. New forms of living connect old and new: In minimal studios, people live in narrow spaces between existing and newly added walls; in the very large flats, the existing flats with all their chambers get an additional light-flooded kitchen. Public programs such as a café, a sauna and a cooking school take place under the roofs, high above the busy and noisy street.

After all, LUST AUF DICHTE is a project which expresses one main belief: densification can be joyful!