EM2N

Refurbishment Viaduct Arches . Zurich

EM2N . photos: © Roger Frei . + competitionline

The viaduct is more than just a bridge. Like a mountain chain erected by human hand it appears in the town with a scale derived from the landscape and topography. The infrastructure element, originally used as a railway line, had to be formed in a linear park that will be part of a culture, work and leisure mile.

This reprogramming initiated two decisive urban impulses: The viaduct as a spatial barrier becomes a linking structure and the outdoor spaces bordering it are upgraded. We viewed the ambivalence of a large-scale connecting machine and a linear building as a fundamental quality and used it as the architectural leitmotiv to symbiotically connect the new uses with the viaduct structure, including the characteristic Cyclopean masonry as atmospheric element. The new structures are deliberately restrained so as to emphasise the existing arches.

Commission competition
Dates competition 2004 (1st prize), planning 2005–2008, construction 2008–2010
Size 9,008 m2
Costs CHF 35.3 Mio.
Client Foundation PWG