Apartment House Steinlig - Blue Rider

The new apartment building is a proposal for urban living in the countryside, where freedom of movement and density go hand in hand. It makes use of its diverse surroundings and transforms them into a building that connects the upper countryside with the lower suburban area. As a pavilion in the garden, the aim is to create a connection between the apartments and the surrounding nature without compromising the newly envisioned urban presence and scale. A Blue Rider is to appear as a symbol of the departure towards a new way of living and a new urbanity in the hub of a peripheral area of the Zurich metropolitan region. The existing green space is seen as one of the main qualities that must be preserved and strengthened. The valuable existing trees represent this quality and characterize the cubature of the proposed building, whose form and position consider the preservation of all trees. In view of the general desire to live in continuity with the outdoor spaces, the extensive verandas are conceived as outdoor spaces. These are areas that can be used either as outdoor or extended indoor spaces, depending on the climatic conditions, and that allow an intense proximity to the existing trees and the garden all around. The proposal for a daily life that is very much connected to the outdoor space is seen as a great quality that is possible in suburban areas such as Brassersdorf, as opposed to very densely populated urban areas.

Competition, 3. Prize