/// Colossus - WS 2004/2005
/// Hybrid in Zurich Letzigrund
/// Prof. A. Meyer (ETH)

Subject

Next to the stadium of Letzigrund in Zurich, a large building with hybrid use was to be designed. The idea was to spatially anchor the very horizontal new stadium in the city using a large-scale structure, a colossus. Questions such as how the building develops from ground level to the top and how the urban environment nearby is defined played an important role.

Influences

The environment of the site is characterized by strong heterogeneity and is on a main road. Another big influence is Letzigrund stadium which will soon be replaced by a new one for the European Soccer Championships in 2008.

Concept

The heterogeneity mentioned above is the starting point of considerations. The Colossus should embrace this heterogeneity of the environment and provide a meaningful structure which draws its qualities from multiple uses. This way, it not only adapts to context and provides complementary spaces but also gives impulses for further development of this part of town.

Form and Character

The basic idea was that the Colossus would look at the environment as starting conditions and take its place with respect to all these impressions influencing the site. Thus, a complex and dynamic form with its own character is generated. Its ‘movement’ builds specific relations. The whole structure appears to have grown on this site and denies the impression of a final or completed state.

Structure

The building consists of a kind of base volume and two rings stacked on top of it. In the middle, there is a square that opens to the sky. The volumes rest on each other, but there are also several spaces in between because of their respective movements. The rings appear to have been stuck on top of the staircase-towers.

Concerning the use, there is a hierarchy from the bottom to the top, from public to private.
The base is partly sunk in the ground and contains a parking garage, technical equipment and a large triple gym. The parts of the building above ground level contain shops. The topography on top of the base volume is shaped to open the square to the stadium and the Badenerstrasse.
The first ring contains a hotel directed at  the stadium, a fitness center looking on Badenerstrasse and offices and studios facing both other sides.
The upper ring contains different types of flats. For example, there are flats which provide direct access to the studios underneath or flats with garden roofs.

Space and Development

The development of the shopping area and the offices and studios is mainly managed by the topography of the base. The hotel and the fitness centre are provided with their own development cores. The upper ring can be reached only by the inhabitants via the development towers. The horizontal development passes along the upper surfaces of the rings and along covered access paths. The rings can be walked around continuously.

In the spaces in between, which arise from the different movements of the base and the rings, there are interesting spaces which occasionally widen the ways of development and provide both the look out of the building and to the central inner square. There you can also find facilities commonly used like a playground. On the surface of the residential ring, there are gardens which belong to the single flats and further common areas and uses, such as a pool with a large area of lawn giving a privelidged view into Letzigrund Stadium.