Nicolai Dinkel & Beda Sievi

The ML conglomerate in the centre of Zurich‘s university district primarily accommodates the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems as well as several other departments. The hidden machine hall by Otto Rudolf Salvisberg at the heart of the complex is completely unknown to many Zurich residents, as it is mainly used for research. As the Robotics department is constantly growing and the hall has great potential, we are rethinking the machine hall and trying to make it accessible to all ETH students. With the guiding idea of Aldo Rossi, who compared the life of a university room with a bazaar or an ancient thermal bath, we are trying to bring new life back into the hall. The Maschienenhalle should now also be a social and cultural meeting place. 

In order to better link the hall with the urban fabric of the university quarter, the entrance situations will be specified and strengthened. Thanks to the improved connection to the public space, the Maschienenhalle can now be seen as part of the cultural mile. 

Due to the sharp rise in Terrain and the narrow streets, there is a lack of public outdoor space around the conglomerate. To compensate this, we are activating the roofs to define a surrounding roofscape as a place for recreation. 

The connections between the individual neighbouring buildings are not optimal due to the different architects and years of construction. A new access system in the hall connects all the wings via shortcuts on the one hand and the urban space at street level with the roofscape on the other.