Gunz & Künzle

Description

The extension of the institute’s building on Plattenstrasse is located on a cutting edge in urban planning. Here, the buildings move from the large-scale structures of the University of Zurich to small-scale neighbourhood accommodation. At this fracture point, a new accent was not needed, but rather a tailor-made structure that quietly develops the area. By simply developing an independent character in its external appearance, the extension responds to the contemporary architectural language of the existing building from the eighties. Stacked frame elements made of concrete form a fabric that, despite the relatively small amount of glass, appears airy and light. The expression oscillates between the delicacy of its individual parts and the massive plasticity of the whole. In this way, the architecture can significantly shape the area and give the economic science institute and its library on campus and in the city its own identity. Scientific innovation and research no longer form just in the minds of individual scholars, but in the creative exchange of diverse teams. Therefore, an open communication zone exists at the centre of the new office wing. It combines all office cells in one room, without losing the acoustic and visual isolation of the individual offices.