Editorial

This, the second „et cetera“- issue of Werk, Bauen+Wohnen, introduces and comments on four buildings in four individual articles, and a fifth contribution discusses ways of presenting and commenting on works of architecture - as it were as criticism of criticism. Although the buildings under discussion are very different from one another as regards both site and function, their common aspects are their topicality and relevance, aspects that also provide the selection criteria for the „et cetera“ contributions, whereby topicality does not necessarily refer to the time of construction, for it can also mean topicality of our state of knowledge and point of view. As far as relevance is concerned, we are aware that our faculty of judgement is necessarily limited. There was much talk of „a colourful bouquet“ of contributions during work on the conception of the „et cetera“ series. What we aim to do is to assemble some particularly fine - and fresh - flowers, each bloom with its own individual impact and its own particular contribution to the overall effect of the bouquet. The precondition for this is the availability of sufficient space for each contribution, especially since each article of a thematic publication must be capable of standing on its own irrespective of the connecting context. This is all the more important when the photographic material represents independent artistic intentions, such as is the case in Walter Niedermayr's photographic essay on the University of Bolzano. In the editorial of the first „et cetera“ issue, we spoke about the thematic affinity between the individual contributions, and about the fact that we regarded this affinity in a positive light. The affinity between the buildings under discussion in this issue is even more pronounced: the new buildings in Bolzano and Zurich are both high schools, and they are both conforming structures within a dense, central urban district. In Bolzano, three building volumes, all of them bound up with the others, translate the dimensions of the programme on the scale of the surrounding town, whereas in Zurich - where the use density is even higher - the opposite procedure maximally exploits the available building volume in order to provide the luxury of space in the tightly packed interior. The Basel trade fair tower is also located in the city centre: Switzerland's highest building rises from its simultaneously compliant and autonomously voluminous base, giving from afar the impression of a solitaire towering above the city roofs. The Basel Schaulager is also a solitaire - and this is where the common characteristics end. In the facelessness of a suburban industrial area, Herzog & de Meuron have effectively exploited the unsuspected possibilities of the „decorated shed“. Four portraits of new buildings, four architectural criticisms. In the fifth contribution, Ulrich Conrads, an impassioned and experienced architectural critic, formulates what criticism can and should achieve. The standards are high.
The editors

Thema

Jacques Lucan
Eine Werkstatt des Schauens | Das Schaulager in Münchenstein/Basel, Herzog & de Meuron

Andres Janser
In der Stadt, über der Stadt | Messeturm Basel, Morger & Degelo, Daniele Marques

Matthias Ackermann
Konturen | Neubau der Fachhochschule Zürich Sihlhof, giuliani.hönger

Heinrich Helfenstein
Universität, Urbanität | Freie Universität Bozen, Azzola & Bischoff

Ulrich Conrads
Sieben Tugenden | Einsichten zur Architekturkritik

Forum

Kolumne: Ruth Schweikert
Architekturbiennale Rotterdam: „Mobility – A Room with a view“
Ausstellung/Buch: 100 Jahre Eternit AG
Ausstellung/Buch: Herzog & de Meuron, Naturgeschichte
Ausstellung/Buch: Gottfried Semper
Kommentar werk-Material
bauen + rechten
Bauten: Maison Blanche, La Chaux-de-Fonds
Architekturausstellungen | Veranstaltungen
Wettbewerbe | Hinweise | Neuerscheinungen | Firmennachrichten
Vorschau |Impressum

werk-material

Theo Hotz: Wohnüberbauung Eichrain ZH-Seebach
v.Ballmoos Krucker: Wohnüberbauung Stöckenacker ZH-Affoltern