Kasernenareal jingxi zhang 2014 interactive

Kasernenareal Z端rich

in a multi-layered urban neighbourhood Jingxi Zhang

Index Z端rich

: i-vi

History

: 1-6

Scope

: 7-11

Method

: 12-14

Commerce

: 15-22

Soft infrastructure

: 23-30

Hard infrastructure

: 31-36

Lessons learnt

: 37-54

Bibliography

: 55

Zürich Zürich has consistently been ranked as one of the top five world’s most livable cities, according to Mercer standards. It boasts high quality of life.

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The city is very compact and its urban development wraps around the surrounding topography. The city developed around the North of Lake Zürich and then grew outwards, warping around its fluctuating mountains and hills. Zürich used to be a mining town prior to the World Wars. Due to deregulations, globalisation and changing world financial climate after the 1950s, it became an economic center.

Zürich’s population remained stable since 1950s at around 370,000 and most of growth is occurring in the suburbs in the Zürich province. Deregulation affected the city of Zürich after the 1950s and it is essential to understand for the purpose of this study.

Post-1950, two schools of thought on the future development of its urban area were formed. One thought favoured developing Zürich as a financial center, the extension of the CBD and its traffic infrastructure. The other group consisted of leftwing parties, various groups and neighbourhood organizations. They favoured making Zürich more livable, promoting low rents and the preservation of its inner-city and culture. This conflict affected the decision-making of the development of innercity Zürich for two decades. Kasernenareal, which occupies a large area alongside one of Zürich’s oldest city center neighbourhoods, and has a long standing history, was affected by the differences of opinion, thus leading to its current form: the same as it was 100 years ago.

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Left | Zürich building footprint

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Neighbourhood studied Downtown New development under construction Future removal Intervention River

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Orientation map 1 : 2 : 3 : 4 : 5 : 6 : 7 : 8 : 9 : 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 16: 17:

Z체rich Hauptbahnhof Bahnhofstrasse Kasernenareal Zeughaushof Lagerstrasse Langstrasse Stauffacherstrasse Badenerstrasse Part of Kreis 4 boundary Sihl river Gessnerallee Helvetiaplatz B채ckeranlage park Europaallee Volkshaus Sigi-Feigel-Terrasse

It has been a heated debate for many years as to what to do with Kasernenareal. Since the end of World War II, Kasernenareal no longer serves its former purpose as military ground, thus leaving a large land area open in the center of Zürich. There has been much attention to this land due to its very high land value as it is centrally located.

“… the city as a multi-layered construct, whether as the ‘layered city’ or ‘many cities in one city’.“ Robert Brown, 2011

In the near future in 2019, the city is moving the police occupation inside Kasernenareal buildings to other locations, once again, leaving the future of this piece of precious land to the hands of designers. Since multiple proposals had been made and rejected to re-purpose this space in the past, it is evident that this space is a very sensitive topic to the people of Zürich and a thorough study needs to be conducted in order to explore its potentials.

This study aims to understand Kasernenareal from an outsider’s point of view, and to make valuable observations that may aid the future design of this space.

In order to understand Kasernenareal, it is explored with part of its surrounding neighbourhood. The whole is studied as a multi-layered urban neighbourhood.

Layers of maps are created, then inter-layered to identify points of observation.

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Above | Afternoon break in Kasernenareal ground History Kasernenareal is an open space that is equivalent to approximately nine Zürich city blocks, in the heart of Zürich. This space occupies an area of 220m X 350m (70 000m2) on the West of the Sihl River and a further 25m X 225m (5 625m2) to the East of the river.

Kaserneareal was a formal barrack. The larger ground to the West of the Sihl River used to be the exercise field and armories. The strip of housing to the East of the river were horse. This compound was constructed between 1864 and 1876. From the First World War until 1987, the arena was closed to the public and used solely for military purposes. Since 1987, part of the exercising fields and Zeughaushof (armory) re-purposed and were opened to the public.

The canton jail and police station still occupies a little less than half of the complex on the western banks. The horse barns on the East bank have been totally re-purposed too. It now houses the Institute for the Performing Arts and Film.

Many re-purposing proposals have been put forward in the past.

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The basic two opposing principles with regards to past proposals come down to a very concise question: “Park oder City?” This stems back to the political history after the 1950s. The right-wing idealists pushed for Zürich to be a financial center, meaning densifying the downtown and further developing its infrastructure. The left-wing idealists pushed for neighbourhood and cultural preservation of inner-

city neighbourhoods and improving the quality of the lives of those living in it. They also voted strongly against densifying downtown Zürich.

Based on strong opposing visions between the two schools of thought, an agreement was never reached.

Alas, another opportunity has risen to re-purpose Kasernenareal.

Kasernenareal is of increasing importance to the city and its surrounding suburbs. As the city expands outwards, it becomes highly inefficient to leave 75’625m2 of land underutilised at the heart of a major European hub. The city now has the task to decide on a good balance between historical preservation and efficient usage of the space that improves the lives of its citizens. The city has initiated dialogue with the citizens and various parties in connection with the future planning.

However, it is not the purpose of this paper to monitor the ongoing of the plans, but rather to independently understand this space. In order to do so, it is important to establish the areas which are relevant to the study.

When it is mentioned previously that Kasernenareal is located at the prime position in the city, here is a basic interpretation of its proximity to other important landmarks. The site is flanked by the Hauptbahnhof towards the North, along the Sihl river on the East, the Langstrasse towards the West and the old town and the Zürich Lake towards the South.

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B채ckeranlage park

Lagerstrasse Langstrasse

Zeughaushof Europaallee complex

Hauptbahnhof

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Above | 3D map of downtown

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Train tracks stemming from Hauptbahnhof

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Above | Panoramic photo from a Europaallee building

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Page 8 Top | Europaallee Bottom | Inner-city building typology

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Scope Kasernenareal is the focus of this study, however, the analysis would be insignificant if it is evaluated in isolation. Kasernenareal is not independent from its surrounding neighbourhoods, which are also going through constant changes. It is evident that a scope of study is needed as a starting point for this study.

The Orientation Map outlines the neighbourhood, including some landmarks mentioned. Studying the neighbourhood more closely has helped the determination of the scope of this study.

It is noted that a wider area of analysis of the neighbourhood around Kasernenareal is more ideal, but that is beyond the scope of this study and a more intimate area has been chosen. This approach falls in line with the left-wing approach of designing the space for the neighbourhood in order to preserve its history, improve standards of living.

To understand Kasernenareal and its surroundings, one can begin at the Hauptbahnhof. This train station is among the biggest in Switzerland, and accommodates more than 1400 train arrivals and departures daily. This is a transport hub not only for trains, but also for trams, buses and cars.

From the Hauptbahnhof, networks of trams, buses, roads and water transport radiate out towards the suburbs. Z端rich boasts a world class public transportation network.

Directly South of the Hauptbahnhof is the famous Bahnhofstrasse. It is a shopping street next to part of the historic part of the city. Rows of top international lables such as Tiffany & Co. and Tommy Hilfiger on Bahnhofstrasse put Z端rich on the international map.

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On the South West of the Hauptbahnhof, there is a new development area that will be known as Europaallee. It was voted in favour by the city and general public to construct a new neighbourhood.

There will be a mix of service, office, residential properties, retirement homes, hotels, catering, retail, leisure and educational institutions.

The project is currently under construction and upon completion, it will further densify the city center. The project will occupy 78000 m2 of land in inner-city Z端rich, 40% of which belongs to the existing Hauptbahnhof. The typology of the architecture is significantly different to the existing neighbourhood that is highlighted in black on the Orientation map. Tenants will occupy more massive and taller buildings with more social space between the buildings, reflecting the contemporary international architectural style.

Europaallee will be contributing to this innercity neighbourhood in the future, thus it forms the first natural boundary for our study.

Kasernenareal is one block South of Europaallee and West of the commercial area surrounding Bahnhofstrasse. The Sihl River splits Kasernenareal.

The former horse barns are on its East bank and the former practice ground and armory (Zeughaushof) are on the West bank, connected by a foot and bicycle bridge.

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Kreis 4 boundary line lies on the East of Bahnhofstrasse. It divides the commercial activities of downtown and its more community-oriented neighbourhood to the West. The characteristics of the two Kreis differ significantly, which makes the position of the Kreis 4 line very convenient to our study. The Kreis 4 line is the second natural boundary for this study.

Kreis 4 is represented in the Orientation map as all buildings on the buildings to the West of the Kreis 4 boundary line. This neighbourhoods characterised by residential living, mixed with some commercial activities. Kreis 4 is one of the diverse and interesting neighbourhoods in ZĂźrich.

Starting at the Kreis 4 line, to the South of Kasernenareal, some newer buildings house offices such as Swisscom and some of the Kanton Police station occupt a few office blocks. Moving West, the building typology changes, and the architecture comprises houses mostly residence in the upper four or five floors, while the ground floor are open mostly as small businesses, restaurants, coffee shops, strip clubs, bars and small grocery stores. All of which cater for the local neighbourhood.

Further West, one arrives at Langstrasse. Langstrasse and the streets around it has its own identity and its own profile of people. It is a local suburb for alternative activities. Langstrasse is known for its bars, strange fashion stores, strip clubs, adult shops, road side cafes, rooftop parties and the occasional drunken protests. Langstrasse and the its surrounding neighbourhood is a place of culture. It is in much contrast with the city that is on the East side of the Sihl River, where the city is tame, clean, prim and proper.

Much of Langstrasse’s influence Kasernenareal and spreading Eastwards. is the Easterly natural barrier for since it makes such a bold statement identity.

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begins at Langstrasse this study, on its own Top | Lagerstrasse under construction. The older buildings meeting the Europaallee Middle | In Kreis 4, businesses are on the ground floor level, while upper floors are usually residential Bottom | Langstrasse. Riot police stand guard in anticipation of riots. April 2014

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Above | Badenerstrasse traffic hub

Above | Surveying on wheels Method

Kreis 4 is connected by different public transport.

Besides the Hauptbahnhof which lies in the North.

Tram lines run South of the Hauptbahnhof along the Sihl river. Trams lines turn into Badenerstrasse and stops at Stauffacher. This local hub then sees the tras towards the South West or the North West. The last boundary in this study follows the transport route and turns into Badenerstrasse, then towards the North West on Stauffacherstrasse until it intersects with Langstrasse.

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The scope of this study is defined by its natural boundaries. The boundary is between the Hauptbahnhof and Europaallee, then turns South at Kreis 4 boundary line. It then traces the tram line along Badenerstrasse and Stauffacherstrasse until it intersects with the alternative Langstrasse.

This determined area will serve as the base of our study.

The purpose of this study is to explore the multilayered Kasernenareal. All explorations will be within the defined site. The site is mapped in order to understand what the defined site has to offer and what lifestyle people in the suburb live.

The constructs chosen in this study tend to move from city official published data. The data collection is taken on a more hands-on approach. For instance, instead of recording the type of ownership of buildings, this study will look at the occupation of the ground floor store fronts. This is an attempt to explore the characteristics of the neighbourhood.

The data collection process was done on multiple site visits under different circumstances and at different times of the day in order to understand it under different circumstances.

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Since the study sees this neighbourhood as multilayered, the intention is to peel the neighbourhood to reveal its layers and then cross examine different layers to reveal new meanings. The following group of subjects has been chosen to be studied in this region: commercial activities, physical infrastructure, and social infrastructure. Each topic has sub-layers.

Commercial activities appertain to the availability of goods and services. Most of business activities occur on (but not limited to) the ground level of the buildings. Commercial activities reveal evidence of the type of residence that live in the neighbourhood, as well as the profile of people that is attracted to Kasernenareal. In this set of parameters, educational institutions will also be measured.

A city run on the existence of infrastructure and it services the people living in it. Methodical infrastructure makes cities run more efficiently.

Infrastructure has many definitions. Casey (2005) defines it as both hard and soft. Soft infrastructure is infrastructure that enhances the individual and community’s health and well-being through the development of accessibility of services, individual knowledge base and local networks. Hard infrastructure includes the basic utilities such as water, gas, electricity, waste etcetera.

In this exploration, only certain Hard infrastructure will be studied. Specifically, major roads, minor roads, rail and tram links, public transport, public drinking water spots, padestrian walkways.

The condition of the infrastructure will also be detailed to a certain extent.

Soft and social infrastructure are interchangeable.

Social infrastructure serves the residence of the city and affect the economic, health, culture and social issues. They pertain to parks, education, healthcare or other public goods.

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Top | People relaxing in Zeughaushof Bottom | Bridge that connects Kasernenareal and the previous horse barn over the Sihl River.

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Commerce

This page Top | Small restaurant next to Theater Hochschule. People also like to sit along the fence and hang their feet out onto the river.

Middle | Bars and restaurants occupy the ground floor of residential buildings in the neighbourhood Bottom | New buildings are sporadic in the neighbourhood, but it is business as usual on the ground floor Page19 | Harley Davidson store and businesses occupying ground floor and residential above.

Page 20 | Strip club in the residential neighbourhood.

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The neighbourhood surrounding Kasernenareal is vibrant. This is contributed by its busy commercial activities. There is a variety of commercial profiles. The evident is clear in the ground floor shop fronts as one moves from East to West of the studied area.

Starting in the East at the Kreis 4 boundary line, are the Theater Hochschule and indoor performance spaces. A few restaurants attract young hipster crowds. Moving across the river to Kasernenareal, bigger entities such as the Kanton police station and Swisscom (telecommunication) set up their headquarters. Moving further West towards Langstrasse, small businesses, cafes and restaurant culture become more populated, and foot traffic increases significantly. It is also worthy to mention the future expansion of commercial activities that are under construction at Europaallee. Some boutique shops on the ground of new Europaallee buildings are already open for business. The new development brings some important questions for the neighbourhood.

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It is not clear yet in what way Europaallee will affect the neighbourhood. Will people be crossing over into the neighbourhood from Europaallee? At what rate and volume? How will they move about? How will Europaallee interact with the neighbourhood?

How could Kasernenareal reprogram accordingly to improve and preserve the inner-city neighbourhood?

The following observations try to understand the types of commercial activities in order to make informed decisions on the future.

The majority of small businesses exist on the ground floor due to its ease of access and appeal to foot traffic. The majority of upper floors are residential, with the exception of bigger business establishments that are also occupying the upper floors. This study identifies businesses that are established, however it does not measure the informal business activities that might exist behind the walls of the streets.

What makes this suburb special is the mix of small business and a variety of social activities. It is a multi-functioning neighbourhood and it has a variety of businesses, activities and profiles of people.

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The commercial activities that are surveyed in this study are the following: Grocery stores (all sizes) Business or offices Residential entry Bars Fashion or commercial store fronts Restaurants and takeaways The data are of the ground buildings.

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Downtown Intervention Grocery store Businesses or offices Residential entry Bars Fashion outlet or commercial store fronts Restaurants

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Soft infrastructure

Kasernenareal is, at present, a container of a whole lot of life and action. At the heart of it, there is the former training center, now a big open green space that are used as a park and even space.

To its West is Zeughaushof, now taken over by small businesses and organisations. In the Zeughaushof, there is a community garden labyrinth and park that turns into an outdoor restaurant during the summer.

Kasernenareal’s wealth of open spaces accommodates events such as concerts. There is a considerable amount of people passing through the site constantly, but a relatively low number stays for a long period of time, which makes Kasernenareal seem under-utilized. Since Kasernenareal is used by the neighbourhood as a park, it is studied with other parks in and around the neighbourhood.

The definition of a park varies throughout history.

In this context, “parks” are semi-natural spaces of leisure. No longer do the weeds grow freely and the rabbits run fearlessly. No longer are they all connected, but rather, they are pockets throughout the city. They hold the value as spaces for relaxation and escape, or a shortcut to the other hard surface. These are not parks for wildlife to roam around but for the entertainment and therapy of the neighbourhood residents.

These pockets of parks are where construction of architecture did not occur. The people of the city has decided to manicure it so that they can make an escape from the artificial city to a more natural setting. Kasernenareal was made for military purposes. The rows of trees along the boarder of Kasernenareal reflect the discipline of the military. They line up perfectly to each other, all at the same height and equal distances. The few trees that were previously planted to mark the grounds for its military activities now provide shading for this large, open park. In Zeughaushof, people have already taken over to create their own gardens, but this serves only a small community and not the whole city.

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Outside of Kasernenareal, there are other pockets of greenery, scattered around the city. They contribute to the city, but they are also trapped in by the city’s footprints.

Kasernenareal is surrounded by many more pockets and bands of green network, and some of them double as event spaces too. Organised activities occur among clusters of people. Clusters of people need open spaces. Open spaces are void spaces of the city footprint. The size of these voids constraints the size of the gathering. Kasernenareal provides space for bigger events, but there is also a variety of smaller spaces within the neighbourhood network, which will be evident in the maps.

From observation during site visits, one can say that although Kasernenareal has the advantage of large open fields for larger events, those events are not everyday. A replacement of the open grounds with more trees strengthens the value of the site and livability of the city.

Bicycle commuters are also common in Zurich. The city provides little official bicycle-only routes, as they overlap with the motor ways and pedestrian sidewalks. The city does embrace the bicycle culture by providing numerous bicycle parking stalls around the main sites such as Kasernenareal, main squares and in the inner-city residential neighbourhood.

Bike users also store their bicycles informally against sign posts on the side of the roads. During larger events, bicycle parking demand increases, however, it does not seem to over crowd the surrounding streets. Part of the reason is because public transport is so efficient in the city.

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Opposite page: Top | Summertime restaurant in Zeughaushof Bottom left | Water fountain in Zeughaushof Bottom right | Music concert in Kasernenareal. This event had several venues in parks in the city center area. April 2014.

This page: Top | Kasernenareal. Half of it is currently occupied by the Canton Police department. In 2019 it will be open for re-purposing.

Bottom | Open park of Kasernenareal

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The following items were surveyed. The neighbourhood is mapped, but certain green networks in close proximity to the neighbourhood are also identified.

Green network Canopy Main event spaces Bicycle parking Water fountains Rivers

Key Neighbourhood studied Downtown Intervention Green network Canopy

Main event spaces Bicycle parking Water fountains Rivers

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Hard infrastructure

Zurich is a well connected city. The inner-city neighbourhoods has a fairly gridded road pattern, that is connected by many public transport system.

These include rail, trams, buses and boats.

The public transport system is operated by several government entities. The Verkehrsbetriebe Z端rich (VBZ) operates the trams, trolleybuses, buses and other smaller barns. Tickets are sold by the public transport authority Z端rcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV), which also sells tickets for the rail network in the city. The Rail network is operated by the Swiss Federal Railway (SBB CFF FFS). The public network is a progressive and growing network that connects not only Zurich, but all other Cantons in Switzerland. There had been an emphasis since the beginning of 1990s to develop its public transport system and it was decided that all buildings in the city need to have access to a bus stop within 300 meters or a train station within 750 meters. There should also be at least one connection every hour between 06:00-24:00 from any connection point.

Since public transport tickets are sold by one company (ZVV), it makes public transport very easy.

Kasernenareal enjoys its close approximation to multiple transport hubs. The Hauptbahnhof is the largest train hub in Switzerland and it is less than five minutes walk away. It is also surrounded by bus, tram and railway connections, which makes the site one of the most accessible destinations in the city.

Alternative to its efficient public transport system, the streets around Kasernenareal are also part of a bicycle and padestrian friendly neighbourhood. Other than the public transport, bicycles are another mode of transport in this city.

The city recognises bicycle traffic by marking even the smaller roads within the neighbourhood. The wide sidewalks in the neighbourhood make it very walkable and people oriented, and this definitely contributes to the vibrant neighbourhood.

Top | Sihlpost transport hub for trams, buses, cars, bicycles and pedestrians.

Bottom | Bicycle parking in the neighbourhood

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Hard infrastructure do not only consist of roads and transport, but also communication, water management, electricity provision and so on. The majority of those are not measured in this study.

Zurich is one of the most efficient cities in the world, and those will not be barriers to new development in the Kasernenareal neighbourhood in the future.

In order to understand the potential of Kasernenareal, only the accessibility and its influence on local activities will be accessed.

This construct measures the following: Major roads Minor roads Rail and tram lines Transport hubs Car parking

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Major roads Minor roads Rail and tram lines Transport hubs Street car parking Park house Rivers

Neighbourhood studied Downtown Intervention

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Lessons learnt

Above | Proposed plan

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Integrating Kasernenareal into the neighbourhood to its West. The new program should contribute back to the community to a certain extent.

Local audience should be attracted to the new program too.

Embrace Europaallee and making it easier for people to cross over from the Hauptbahnhof and Europaallee to Kasernenareal.

Breaking down barriers to entry into Kasernenareal. The fences restrict entry and movement through the space, which divides the neighbourhood.

Keys and explanations Landscaping giant field and make it a destination, a place where people can visit and remain.

Providing a variety of path options to encourage the circulation of people and cyclists. Encourage circulation through the site towards all directions.

Plant more trees in the park to provide a feeling of intimacy, which is lacking in Kasernenareal.

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There should be places of rest where people can come to relax during all seasons.

Public goods such as drinking fountains, and street lights should be installed.

Bicycle parking should be available around Kasernenareal.

A few parking spaces should be available and made public for park users and also for those that will occupy the buildings.

Open space for children to play safely.

Use the existing buildings to preserve history and save on building costs.

This could be a destination for people to gather informally and take part in recreational sports, such as volleyball, table tennis, soccer.

Indoor Outdoor spaces should accommodate a variety of activities during all seasons.

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Events, such as yoga in the park, could be organised by the city to take place in the park to bring more people to the easily accessible park.

Continuing with the programs of theatre in Gessnerallee. Bring in other media

It is better to have a mixture of programs that support and complement the cultural programs. These may include small cafeterias or places to eat, library, post office. The place becomes multi-use.

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Above | Kasernenareal park space transformed. Featured are new landscape, pedestrian paths, small outdoor performance spaces, seating and for all.

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Above | Kasernenareal buildings. Removing doors and opening the interior to the exterior parks and roads.

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Above | Kasernenareal park grounds. The public spaces are used by people of the city. v

The Roads Small commercial activities are associated with more foot traffic. The roads that mark the gridded inner-city neighbourhood are all minor roads. These roads also have the most smaller scale commercial activities on the ground floors of the buildings.

These streets are the most walkable for pedestrians.

Even Langstrasse traffic is closed when there are events, which allow people’s activities to spill over onto the streets.

In the future, after Europaallee has finished construction, Lagerstrasse will become a more prominent road for through traffic. It would connect the Hauptbahnhof to Langstrasse and Limmatplatz more efficiently. With Lagerstrasse potentially becoming a prominent route, it might be a harder job to get people to cross the road towards Kasernenareal. This places greater importance for a strong concept, one that is not in competition with Europaallee or the neighbourhood commercial activities.

The disjointed neighbourhood The East of the studied area has a different feel to the West. The buildings East of the Sihl river feels somewhat disjointed from the whole studied neighbourhood and has established its own identity and purpose. Across the river, the typology of the buildings begin with newer and larger office buildings that are associated with far less foot traffic. Moving towards the west, smaller ground floor businesses start to become more populated, thus foot traffic also increases.

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Kasernenareal ground is currently a barrier for movement in the neighbourhood. Kasernenareal complex to the West of Sihl River feels almost like an isolated island, with pedestrians passing through it occasionally. Besides the few events see people gathering, the large park is underutilised.

It feels like a barrier between the East and West, as well as North to South. Canton Police occupation is the reason. Half of the green open park is off bounds to public, which makes crossing over to all directions rather tedious. In order for Kasernenareal to be more integrated to the neighbourhood, it needs to be more accessible.

This means breaking down all barriers of entry and adding routes to guide people through the park.

Landscape The experience of the entire Kasernenareal complex feels different. Studying only the portion in the West of the Sihl River, Zeughaushof feels more intimate than the open fields of Kasernenareal. The ground at Zeughaushof is divided into two portions.

One is the labyrinth garden and the other is a grassy playground for adults and children. Kasernenareal is a giant open field, with no landscaping. The route most traveled by users is to walk around the accessible portion of the park and relax under the trees that line the boundary, or one can walk diagonally across it towards the exit. It offers little activities or reason for longer pauses.

Some things can be learnt from the Zeughaushof and so many other pockets of green spaces around the inner-city neighbourhood. Their sizes are much smaller, and they are flexible in that they serve either a local audience, or for specific smaller event. For example, Helvetiaplatz receives a local crowd, and every weekend, there is a flee market that attracts people from other parts of the city.

All the parks around the neighbourhood are more populated with trees and provide the feeling of intimacy and protection, which is not offered by Kasernenareal. One can not say that Kasernenareal complex has failed as a park, since it was built for military purposes, but if it were to be a functioning park, it needs a lot of work. If a park is the best outcome of the analysis, a lot of landscaping would be needed.

Planning the future Referring back to the question posed earlier by other designers: “Park oder City?� There are many arguments against the city. Many would say that there is no need for more commercial activities and buildings in inner-city neighbourhood, since Europaallee is already filling that role. Adding more density to the inner-city neighbourhood brings other problems such as congestion. There will also be many disagreements on the topic of whether to integrate the current historic architecture into the new commercial development, or to tear down the historic buildings and start new footprints in its place. The latter plan would probably not hold under the democratic culture of Zurich.

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There is also a counter argument against the whole site to be re-purposed as a park. There are smaller bands of park and event spaces dotted across the city. Zurich has relatively low population density compared to other cities such as Paris or Barcelona.

There is no need for large pieces of land for people to escape from their day to day urban lives.

There are other venues across the city for large, controlled events such as concerts. Perhaps a large park can be reduced and other social functions could also occupy the space to offer relief and add to people’s social wealth. Kasernenareal should be a place where people do not just pass through, but a retainer of visitors.

Extension of Gessnerallee Perhaps the former stables can offer some insight.

The former stables became a cultural island. It is currently known as Gessnerallee. The architecture houses the theater and dance scenes: the institute for the performing arts and film, as well as a Theaterhaus Gessnerallee. These programs have been highly successful and have sustained the growth of the performance arts and film scene in Switzerland.

These spaces will continue to occupy the former stables, but they could also grow and connect more to their Westerly neighbours. Kasernenareal could be an extension of Gessnerallee.

fitting, since this is a residential neighbourhood, having sporting facilities may encourage people to come out of their homes and participate in the community culture.

With the increase of pedestrians expected, there would also need to be more bike parking, trash bins, seating, water fountains, features such as water features for the old and young to enjoy.

Utilising existing architecture The existing buildings hold value for the programs of the future. It would be much too inefficient to tear down these historic buildings. Not only do they hold cultural and historical value, but they have also been here for more than a hundred years, which means that they are very strong. Alternative to the original architecture on site, there are also a number of other smaller and more contemporary buildings that could be of value.

Performance spaces are already currently occupying some rooms in Zeughaushof - this could continue.

Not only will it contribute to the social infrastructure of the neighbourhood and the city, it will help the neighbourhood on the West banks of Sihl River to connect better with the inner city. The whole complex could be a cultural center for theatre, dance, music, performing arts and so on. The large grounds have the capacity to support these programs.

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The large open space could also facilitate sports.

Open-field sports are not common in the area, since this is one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in the city, having large open grounds for sports is rare. Since the site was originally designed for training and physical activity, this purpose could return. The sporting facility could be varied, but also flexible. It might also be

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Casey, S. 2005. Establishing Standards for Social Infrastructure. The University of Queensland.

Europaallee. Projekt. [http://www.europaallee.ch/de/europaallee/ projekt.html] Hoch Parterre, 2012. Visionen fur die kaserne Zurich. [www. hochparterre.ch/nachrichten/bildergalerien/blog/post/galerie/visionen-fuer-die-kaserne-zuerich/1336993281/?L=1] Last updated 13 June 2012.

Mercer, 2014. 2014 Quality of Living worldwide city rankings – Mercer survey [http://m.mercer.com/press-releases/1173105?detail=D] Last updated 19 February 2014.

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In: INURA. The contested metropolis, six cities at the beginning of the 21st century. Birkhäuser.

Stadt Zürich, 2014. Zukunft Kasernenareal Zürich. [http://www. kasernenareal-zuerich.ch] The Noun project. [www.thenounproject.com] Unknown author and date. “Case study: city of Zurich” [http:// www.cardiff.ac.uk/archi/programmes/cost8/case/transport/zurich. html] Welch School of Architecture.

VBZ. [https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/vbz] Jingxi Zhang jingxime@gmail.com Course ACTION! Chair: Brillembourg and Klumpner visiting student of ETH Zurich Spring 2014

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