Architectural Design III: Knowledge Keepers – A New gta Archive in the Hat Factory Welti (A. Spiro)

Abstract

The ever-growing built fabric exerts high pressure on land reserves. Reframing existing structures will therefore be one of the major tasks of the architect in the future. Especially as many surprising innovations are rooted on the foundations of other structures or have occurred through a change of use, we want to engage in the topics of extension, alteration and refurbishment.

Objective

During fall semester 2020, you will develop the abilities to… - analyse an existing structure and redevelop it according to specific strategies - develop a structural idea, considering the existing building - design a movement concept as a central theme of your design - interpret a given room programme of a public building We will focus on representation of your projects in CAD plans (1:200), a comprehensive façade and sectional model (1:50) and perspective hand drawings and sketches.

Content

Even if we reinvent the world, we are lasting on the shoulders of innumerable predecessors. Our ideas and our knowledge rest on the thousand year old built fabric and root in our memory. The ‘tabula rasa’ exists only in theory, our memory is not an empty sheet. Every building, every city, even a new city in the middle of the desert, is based on our memory of other buildings and other cities. The architectural history as such is both our library and our experimental laboratory at the same time. Each building is a note for its beholder an offers an opportunity to tie in with. As every completed building is preceded by a long succession of drawings and plans, the infinite architectural archive consist of the built as much as of witnesses on paper. They illustrate both the intentions of the architect and the development of the final solution – they show how the building is actually made. We dedicate our semester to the home of these paper witnesses, where everything is sheltered: the Archive, the materialized memory. Based on a former hat factory in Zurich, you are going to design a new house for the gta Archive of ETH. The gta Archive is one of the largest and most significant architectural archives in the world. Its current spaces are in no way adequate: neither do they offer appropriate conditions for the documents nor acceptable working conditions for researchers. The archive has a long history in architecture. Nevertheless, its manifold contents have prevented it to be restricted to a specific typology. This opens up a wide scope of possible solutions and sparks inventions. The collision of the open interpretation of the programme with the narrow guidelines the existing building sets are challenging and alluring at once. During the course of the semester, you will be supported by external experts with lectures, excursions and in critiques. In line with the topic, our common archive of ideas and insights will be displayed in the design studio as a basis and inspiration for your projects. Our site is tucked away, but right in the city center of Zurich in proximity to the central ETH building. Initial object is a backyard building, built in 1907. You will alter the former Welti Hat Factory at Weinbergstrasse mainly by adding additional storeys and changing its structure. As in the archive, medium, furnishing, and space are inseperable, you will deal with various scales during the whole design process, ranging from containers for archival documents and materials to workspaces for researchers and appropriate exhibition spaces. On the content level, we will be discussing elementary architectural topics such as space, light, movement and time. A walk through an archive resembles a journey through time: as in the built city, documents from many different eras can be found just next to each other. Lookout Spring Semester 2021 Our topic will be urban housing. You will be jumping into the topic immediately, developing your personal living concept as a collage. We will be dealing with living spaces and façades, material, atmosphere, and detail in a parallel process. Throughout the whole second year, we are drawing the arch from scale 1:500 to 1:10, from structural idea to meticulous detail, from public use to dwelling, and we are going to deal with drawing techniques, graphic representation, model building in various scales and model photography. The tools and techniques we apply have an influence on the design process and are the foundation for you to develop your personal signature.

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