For the future development of the city of Zurich, the “Richtplan 2040” specifies to densify within the city borders. Due to this strategy post-war modernist sites are facing demolition, to be replace by new ‘dense’ buildings.

Today post-war modernist planning is seen as something that can be easily replaced and erased, often ignoring its qualities, being the case also in the Langgrüt-area facing future transformations by demolishing the existing.

In the year 2021, for the first time in human history, the dead mass outweighs the living mass on the planet and therefore the question must be raised as whether the demolition and construction of new buildings is the right solution on an ecological and cultural level.

This diploma project would like to question the “Ersatzneubau”-method and offer a strategy to provoke a more inclusive discussion regarding future developments.

Exploring the possibility of transformation on the site by adding to the existing and introducing a relation to the human scale the project offers a different trajectory for a future development.

The functions scattered around the city by modernist planning principles are being reintroduced in the Langgrüt-area and the already existing functions are strengthened.

Small scale objects serve as the mediator between the existing and the resident. The added objects create awareness of the surroundings suggesting new functions, with the goal to inspire the residents and offer them a sense of belonging.

To explore the area and the objects please visit http://playintriemli.animaapp....
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