A current TV advertisement for a Swiss telecommunications provider shows the following: A cheerful, smart young woman and an equally cheerful, attractive young man are talking to one another on the mobile all day long. Eventually, the two of them meet in a lavishly illuminated room with a bar. This room, which presents the architectural backdrop for the appropriately captured zeitgeist, is the foyer of the Congress Hall in Zurich. Change of scene: In the introduction to the program for the contest regarding a new congress centre in Zurich there is mention of the chance to „point the way to the future with regard to urban development through top-notch architecture“ at a prime location in Zurich, which could serve as a „figurehead“ conveying a positive image of the economic centre and would offer the populace „new, attractive public spaces“. What remains unmentioned: At this location we already find the architecturally eminent Congress Hall by Haefeli Moser Steiger built in 1939, which is equally under a preservation order as the adjacent Music Hall, itself naturally to be preserved due to its acoustic properties. Of course there are differing opinions regarding the value of a building as a „figurehead“. Yet it is blatantly obvious, with which secure intuition the authors of the TV-advertisement have recognized the atmospheric qualities of the Congress Hall as well as its modern character, which appears in its playful yet functional treatment of ornamentation. All the more astonished one is to discover, with which insolence the organisers of the contest - among them the administration of the City of Zurich - are ignoring and degrading the existing Congress Hall. After all, not only (in inverted commas) the atmospheric qualities and the object's topicality for the current architectural debate distinguish the Congress Hall. Its worthiness of preservation is also beyond dispute with regard to architectural history and its eminence as a monument. In addition, it owns social and political significance, as it was built in connection with the Swiss National Exhibition, the legendary Landi of 39. Hence, the Congress Hall is one of the last architectural witnesses of this exhibition, which plays such an important role in the collective memory of the Swiss nation. It is exactly because the „Landi spirit“ has been mystified for decades that it is necessary to preserve an artefact, which allows for a sober assessment of such a point of view for present and coming generations, a privilege one should not carelessly sacrifice. It also seems as if the compulsive ignorance of the manifold qualities of the existing Congress Hall as well as the refusal to openly discuss the location is resulting in the exact opposite of what the organisers of the contest intended with these tactics - all the better! The editors

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Forum
Kolumne: Christina von Braun
EFH: Wohnhaus am Zürichsee, von Baumann Roserens Architekten, Zürich
Innenarchitektur: Neue Arbeitswelten
Wettbewerb: Weiterbauen in Winterthur. Erneuerung und Erweiterung der Siedlung Stadtrain
Bauten:
Feuerwehrdepot in Bürglen TG, von Keller Schulthess Architekten
Maag Recycling-Halle in Winterthur ZH, von oos ag

bauen + rechten

Bücher:
Bleiben wir sachlich! von Dieter Schnell
Städte bauen von Angelus Eisinger

Austellungen | Veranstaltungen | Wettbewerbe

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Vorschau | Impressum

werk-Material
Keller Schulthess Architekten, Amriswil:
Feuerwehrdepot in Bürglen TG
oos ag, Zürich:
Maag Recycling-Halle in Winterthur ZH