Legacy and innovation. Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects
20/05/2021.
[Zürich] Switzerland
metalocus, RAMIRO ISAURRALDE
metalocus, RAMIRO ISAURRALDE
Manuel Herz Architects studio has designed a striking complex of five houses in the city of Zurich, Switzerland.
The work is located in the central area of the Seefeld neighbourhood, a few blocks from Lake Zurich, and surrounded by the free-standing single-family homes that characterize that area of the city.
Ballet Mécanique, the name by which this work is known and a clear reference to the historic film by Fernand Léger, is the product of a competition held in 2013, which had the studio led by Manuel Herz as the winner.
The work is located in the central area of the Seefeld neighbourhood, a few blocks from Lake Zurich, and surrounded by the free-standing single-family homes that characterize that area of the city.
Ballet Mécanique, the name by which this work is known and a clear reference to the historic film by Fernand Léger, is the product of a competition held in 2013, which had the studio led by Manuel Herz as the winner.
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects. Photograph by Yuri Palmin
Site plan. Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects
Ground floor plan. Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects
First floor plan. Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects
First floor plan. Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects
Section. Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects
Section. Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects
Facade diagram. Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects
Colour diagram. Ballet Mécanique by Manuel Herz Architects
The housing complex designed by Manuel Herz Architects is made up of a pure, cubic volume with pearlescent finishes, which mainly respond to the urban preexistence of the Seefeld neighbourhood.
The urban situation of the work is privileged. Not only is it a few blocks from the lake, but it is surrounded by important public and cultural spaces, including the Heidi Weber Museum (Maison de l’Homme) designed and posthumously built by Le Corbusier. As if it were a contemporary reinterpretation, almost as a tribute, we can see, precisely, formal and aesthetic references to the work, both in the geometric play of the volumes and in the chosen colours, or in the decision to use noble structural materials already on sight.
The latter is due to the folding brise-soleil system (a term coined and popularized by Le Corbusier), which when required, completely open the facades and fill it with blue and reddish tones, which stand out against the green surrounding the volume. These interventions are distributed in different sizes throughout the building's façade, thus creating cantilevered windows and balconies that open and close as the hours go by.
The urban situation of the work is privileged. Not only is it a few blocks from the lake, but it is surrounded by important public and cultural spaces, including the Heidi Weber Museum (Maison de l’Homme) designed and posthumously built by Le Corbusier. As if it were a contemporary reinterpretation, almost as a tribute, we can see, precisely, formal and aesthetic references to the work, both in the geometric play of the volumes and in the chosen colours, or in the decision to use noble structural materials already on sight.
The latter is due to the folding brise-soleil system (a term coined and popularized by Le Corbusier), which when required, completely open the facades and fill it with blue and reddish tones, which stand out against the green surrounding the volume. These interventions are distributed in different sizes throughout the building's façade, thus creating cantilevered windows and balconies that open and close as the hours go by.
Description of project by Manuel Herz Architects
The site is located in one of the residential quarters in the heart of Zurich, close to the lake and just meters away from Le Corbusier’s Heidi Weber Museum. One of the greatest qualities of the site is its garden, which is marked by a wild and primeval quality. Walking through it, we encounter surprises, wild plants, installations, objects that seem like the remains of forgotten cul- tures, trees with sculptural qualities and footpaths that disappear into nowhere. At the same time the construction of the house is only possible with the felling of the most impressive tree. This tree that dominates the center of the garden, with its peculiar twisted trunk and its thick, crooked, knotty branches. The wild garden, but also the loss of the central tree becomes one of the themes of the project design.
Very close to the site sits the Heidi Weber Museum by Le Corbusier. This buildings, with its pavilion-like character, its colorful metal panels and striking geometry becomes the second reference for the new housing project. Its relationship to the ground, as well as the combination of seemingly industrial modules and artistic and hand-crafted building elements are inspired by Le Corbusier's last work.
On an urban dimension, the new building references the predominant pattern of Zurich’s neighborhood of Seefeld, with its typical villas of square shape. It has the same orientation, a same size of footprint and a similar internal organization. Nevertheless, it is a building with a very different character. The building has a cubic volume with a simple geometry. Its core is located in the center of the building and accesses five apartments with different typologies and layouts, each suited for a different family form and way of life.
The geometrically simple basic form is contrasted by its facade. This facade consists of horizontal and vertical louvers with a rounded triangular shape. The louvers unfold to become accessible balconies with a corresponding shading roof element. The vertical louvers darken the rooms when closed, or provide privacy and intimacy when open. In the morning one can open the louvers in order to have breakfast on the balcony that is thus unfolded. By and by the building opens and unfolds itself, embracing the lush garden, and eventually closing itself again. Over the course of a day, a week or a year the building is constantly moving, changing and transforming, living with its inhabitants.
More information
Architects
Manuel Herz Architects, Basel and Cologne.
Project team
Manuel Herz. Project lead.- Stefan Schöch. Penny Alevizou. Panagiota Alevizou.
Collaborators
Costing, site supervision, construction management and project Management.- Bühler & Oettli AG, Zürich. Structural engineering and facade planning.- Dr. Lüchinger + Meyer AG, Zürich. Services, HVAC and sanitation planning.- MAS Engineering. Building physics and acoustics.- Gartenmann Engineering. Raw construction.- Jenny & Co. Balcony facade.- SFL Technologies. Carpenter.- Johann Rasshofer Schreinerei. Metal construction.- Schneebeli Metallbau. Flooring.- a1 Industrieböden.
Client
Private.
Client Representative
Odinga Picenoni Hagen AG, Zürich.
Area
600 sqm.
Dates
Competition.- 2013. Completion.- July 2017.
Location
Seefeld, district 8, Zürich, Switzerland.
Photography
Yuri Palmin.
Manuel Herz Architects
Manuel Herz Architects is an office for architecture and urban planning, based in Basel, Switzerland and Cologne, Germany. Amongst the recently constructed buildings is the Jewish Community Center of Mainz, the mixed-use building ‘Legal / Illegal’ in Cologne, and a museum extension (with Eyal Weizman and Rafi Segal) in Ashdod, Israel. Current projects include housing projects in Cologne, Zürich and Lyon. The projects have received several prizes such as the German Facade Prize 2011, the Cologne Architecture Prize 2003, the German Architecture Prize for Concrete in 2004 and a nomination for the Mies van der Rohe Prize for European Architecture, 2011.
Manuel Herz studied at the RWTH Aachen, and the Architectural Association in London. After teaching at the Bartlett School of Architecture, London, the Berlage Institute, Rotterdam and Harvard Graduate School of Design he was head of the teaching and research at ETH Studio Basel - Institute of the Contemporary City. After a visiting professorship at the ETH Zürich 2012-2014, he has been appointed professor of architecural and urban design at the University of Basel. Besides his work as a practicing architect he researches and publishes on the relationship between architecture and nation building, and on refugee camps. His books include 'From Camp to City - The Refugee Camps of the Western Sahara' (Lars Müller Publishers) and 'African Modernism - Architecture of Independence' (Park Books Publishers).
Manuel Herz studied at the RWTH Aachen, and the Architectural Association in London. After teaching at the Bartlett School of Architecture, London, the Berlage Institute, Rotterdam and Harvard Graduate School of Design he was head of the teaching and research at ETH Studio Basel - Institute of the Contemporary City. After a visiting professorship at the ETH Zürich 2012-2014, he has been appointed professor of architecural and urban design at the University of Basel. Besides his work as a practicing architect he researches and publishes on the relationship between architecture and nation building, and on refugee camps. His books include 'From Camp to City - The Refugee Camps of the Western Sahara' (Lars Müller Publishers) and 'African Modernism - Architecture of Independence' (Park Books Publishers).
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