This multifunctional building (housing, offices and retail trading) is currently being built in the Escher-Wyss district of the city of Zürich. The project seeks to promote and renovate the area, which at the moment is still marked by the presence of industrial activity. Completion of construction is scheduled for this upcoming year of 2016.

The Swiss practice Wiel Arets Architects protects the interior space from the rough reality of the area through applying relief to the metallic facade and a buffer space between interior/exterior through terrace in all the apartments. The five upper floors are reserved for apartments while the ground and first floors are equipped with high spatial flexibility to accommodate all future offices and businesses that want to establish their headquarters in the building.
 

Description of the project by WAA

Blumenhaus is located in the Escher-Wyss district of Zürich–a 'rough' area of the city and one of the most urban spaces in Switzerland. When juxtaposed against the backdrop of Zürich's center, relics from the city’s industrial past characterize this neighborhood. Steps away from the Hardbrücke transit station; the area is currently being redeveloped to incorporate extensive residential units, alongside more commercial spaces, such as restaurants and cafés. Reflecting the project's immediate surrounding, its raw matte-aluminum façade is accentuated by cutouts and reliefs, shielding the interior from this ‘rough’ exterior condition. The silhouettes of this ornamentation playfully recalls those of poppy flowers. The ground floor façade has been kept free on three sides, which maximizes street-facing frontage, and ensures the ground and first floors remain flexible–anticipating accommodation needs of future offices and retail. The building is thus approached from numerous angles: through its parking garage and its gated north and south entries, for residents, and through its retail spaces. Numerous cloverleaf columns are found throughout the interior, echoing exterior ornament, while a concrete staircase spirals throughout the lobby. The top five floors all contain apartments, all of which are oriented in at least two directions; with either a north-south orientation, or with an exposed corner–with most living spaces situated along the southern façade. Loggias wrap the three free façades, functioning as balconies, while floor to ceiling glazing with oversized opening elements prelude exterior spaces, to allow for 'loggia living'.

CREDITS. DATA SHEET.-

Architecture.- WAA.
Project team.- Wiel Arets, Alexis Bikos, Tieme Zwartbol.
Collaborators.- Dunja Nedjar, Aline Amore, Boris Wolf, Felix Thies, Marcos Romero, Jelle Homburg.
Consultants.- Eichenberger AG, Gruenberg+Partner AG, BB & A Buri Bauphysik & Akustik AG, Gutknecht Elektroplanung AG, Hager Partner AG

Location.- Schiffbaustrasse 7, 8005 Zürich, Switzerland.
Dates.- 2011-2014 (design), 2014-2016 (construction).
Surface.- 4.500 sqm.

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Wiel Arets was born in 1955. In 1984 he established Wiel Arets Architect & Associates in his hometown of Heerlen, the Netherlands, after graduating from the Technical University of Eindhoven. From 1984-1989 he extensively travelled throughout North America, Russia and Japan. 1986 he co-founded the architectural journal Wiederhall. In 1988 he began teaching at the AA in London, paving the way for a future in worldwide academic and research-based teaching. In 1993 construction commenced on his design for the Academy of Art & Architecture, in Maastricht, the Netherlands, propelling him into the world of internationally recognized architectural prestige.

Wiel Arets' teaching curriculum vitae includes the world's most important and influential architecture schools and universities, including: the Architectural Academies of Amsterdam and Rotterdam from 1986-1989; the AA of London from 1988-1992; from 1991-1994 he was a visiting professor at The Copper Union and Columbia University in New York, USA, the Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen; from 1995-1998 he was Dean of the Berlage Institute, Postgraduate Laboratory of Architecture in Amsterdam, and held the Berlage Institute Professorship at the Technical University Delft until 2009; in 2004 he accepted tenure professorship at the UdK in Berlin; in 2010 he was the Ruth and Norman Moore Visiting Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Since 2003 he has served on the advisory board of Princeton University.

Wiel Arets' projects have been bestowed and honored with some of the highest achievements in architecture and product design: the 2010 "Amsterdam Architecture Prize", the 2010 "Good Design Award" for the Alessi products Salt.it, Pepper.it, Screw.it and Il Bagno dOt, the "BNA Kubus Award" for the entire oeuvre in 2005, the "UIA Nomination" as one of "the world’s one thousandth best buildings of the 20th century" for the Academy of Art & Architecture, Maastricht, the "Rietveld Prize" in 2005 for the University Library Utrecht, the "Mies van der Rohe Pavilion Award for European Architecture" with special mention "Emerging Architect" in 1994 for the Academy of Art & Architecture in Maastricht, the "Rotterdam Maaskant Award" in 1989 for the oeuvre, the "Charlotte Köhler Award" in 1988.




 

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Published on: December 16, 2015
Cite: "Work in progress. Blumenhaus por Wiel Arets" METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/work-progress-blumenhaus-por-wiel-arets> ISSN 1139-6415
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