Two Buildings in Zurich

Klaus-Peter Gast

Description

A former allotment among housing dating from the first half of the 20th century and situated on a steep slope provided the site for two not quite identical apartment houses by the architects Annette Gigon and Mike Guyer. The dimensions and type of the new buildings correspond with the old ones to some extent. Like these, they do not develop highly individualized ground plans relating to specific users, but offer timeless, generally valid spatial dispositions. Occupants who live in all kinds of different ways are intended to feel at home here, and are also given the option of making small alterations to the interior. The special feature of the Gigon and Guyer buildings here is that they do not make originality an end in itself, but strive for a form of spatial neutrality. At the time of writing there are two apartments per building, but it would be possible to develop them into spacious detached houses, even with separate apartments in them. The entrance floor on the upper street level contains the garage and the main living room, which extends across the full width of the building with a panoramic view of the city. The attic storey is available as a sleeping area and a large studio; the first basement floor contains bedrooms. At the very bottom, both buildings have living areas again, extending across their full width. The simple cubature of the buildings matches spatial uses, but the façade figures are individualized. The large windows, resisting any grid pattern, are a striking feature, with wide, dark, asymmetrical frames, punched out almost randomly as ‘holes’ in the wall. This reveals the architects’ wish to play with the classical window type without subjecting it to strict geometrical order. They call their mobile groups of windows ‘sight instruments’, though they always remain independent units. They allude to the interior flexibility, crowding together on the façade in the direction of the city view. The doors and gates are painted in strong colours against a neutral grey background, which creates a cheering signal effect. Nut and fruit trees were chosen as a reminder of the plot’s former use, and they are planted among colourful meadow grasses.