Stähelimatt Housing, Zurich-Seebach
Two new apartment buildings lie at anchor like cruise liners on the furthest periphery of Zurich. The lengthy, elongated building-forms extend the patchwork of the district’s housing pattern without adopting the smallness of its scale, anticipating instead the expansive crescendo of the nearby landscape. The facade is structured by wrap-around strips of aluminium sheeting. The artist Jürg Stäuble has inscribed these ribbons with a pattern of perforations based on the overlapping of two waves that spread orthogonally over the facade. «The effect is versatile. From a distance the vibrating ornament gives an uniqueness on the city’s outskirts. The pattern of perforations on the facade stands out black in the reflecting aluminium, as small islands of brightness seen against the light. In a multitude of daylight reflections from the window panes, unending variations wander inwards across the floors and walls, fleetingly taking on the forms of Moorish motifs, Jean Arp, mercury, clouds, egg yolks.» (Annina Zimmermann in Infoblatt Kunst und Bau der Stadt Zürich)
Execution: 2004 – 07
Address: Riedenholzstrasse 12 – 30, 8052 Zurich
Program: 76 family apartments (3,5 – 5,5 rooms)
Client: Baugenossenschaften Linth-Escher und Schönau, Zurich
Construction sum: CHF 24.8 Mio. (BKP 2)
Contributors competition: Regula Zwicky
Contributors realization: Regula Arpagaus, Stefanie Frömmcke, Manuel Joss, Britta Küest, Pia Lanter, Claudia Mühlebach, Andrea Ringli
Construction management: GMS Partner AG, Zurich
Landscape architecture: Hager Landschaftsarchitekten AG, Zurich
Civil engineering: Ernst Basler + Partner AG, Zurich
Art in construction: Jürg Stäuble, Basel
Images: Walter Mair