Fiona Wiesner
Most Buildings are Other Buildings
Situated on a sloped terrain in Zürich-Seebach stands a building complex with a variety of functions. It was constructed in several stages, resulting today in a volumetric conglomerate. The extensions, removals and replacements are visible in the built structure. The grid of concrete columns shows pragmatic additions of structure, where extension was needed. This results today in a structure that is both rigid and adaptive.
To provide dwellings on the site, three volumes take reference in the grid-system found within the existing structure. The two plots are read as one, where the structural memory of the existing is tapped into for the function of dwelling.
Homes are made from six to nine columns. They are inhabited from one facade to the other. Interior windows, as found in the existing building, connect the private area to the common area. The rigidity provides simple floorplans, which are expanded by balconies and private, or at times shared, wintergartens.
The three volumes connect to the pathway and leave a generous outside green empty. A split-level arrangement makes the slope present inside the building. It changes shape where it comes close to the second volume. It is the place where the two buildings meet at an angle.
The second volume is terraced along the slope, dividing one volume into several. Towards south, also this building is angled to provide a sight down the slope and to create a narrow passageway that connects the street to the entrance gallery.
Different roof shapes divide the volume into distinct parts. On the urban scale they join the variety of roof shapes found on site, some flat, some pitched, some complex with roof caps. Some are inhabited as roof terraces.
The windows of the volumes take reference in the garage, in their repetition along facades and division into small panes. The circulation areas and the gable fronts is where simple repetition is disturbed.
The existing building provides a logic between structural rigidity and pragmatic adaption. This is referenced in the new dwellings. Whereas the structural grid is rigid, the edges mediate between the buildings. They step back to create a covered entryway or step back to create an exposed south-facing gallery, that invites to be inhabited.