Zeitschrift
werk, bauen + wohnen 4-04
unter Grund
Editorial
We usually move on the surface of our planet. We are pressed onto the creases of the earth's skin by the force of gravity and held there by the firmness of the ground. Anything rising above the surface catches the eye, what is beneath it remains hidden and, perhaps for this very reason, intensely fascinating. The lap of the earth promises protection and treasure, but the imaginary underground is full of dungeons and demons. As the unknown „other“, it is a perfect projection surface for our desires - and our fears. So it is not surprising that underground buildings often have a touch of the utopian. Beneath the earth, in unexplored, newly accessed territory, there is scope for constructions that convention and the complexity of everyday life would normally forbid. Unlimited freedom, where space spreads out in all directions, free from the restrictions of topography, building structure or traditional aesthetics, free from the conditions of the space-volume dichotomy: architecture as pure spatial design. No exterior appearances to be taken into consideration, no environment to be spared. Just perfect control, the possibility of a totally designed interior world. Climate, air and - above all light - are artificially produced, the whole atmosphere is an artificial product. The examples in this issue of Werk, Bauen + Wohnen show how great the range of constructed utopias of this kind can be. On one end of the scale the engineer's world of the alpine power station, at the other the communist dream of the Moscow metro. The attempt to save our cultural assets from the ravages of time, at least in the form of miniaturised likenesses, co-exists with the Christianised ritual of an elemental material connection with the forces of the earth symbolised by the taking of the „milk of the mountain“ in the Grotto di San Michele in Olevano di Tusciano. But although we have it in our power to discover and appropriate underground spaces, the underworld is obedient to its own laws, and architectural conventions often experience unforeseen difficulties. Even when new caves are man-made with the help of heavy machinery and explosives, and despite the promise of freedom from restrictive laws, the implacable logic of the underground always prevails - even when, in a few rare cases such as Christian Kerez's competition project for the Zurich Freudenberg Cantonal School - it is elevated to a principle of design. The Editors
Thema
Ákos Moravánszky
Jenseits des Ereignishorizonts | Höhlenwanderungen der Phantasie
Jürg Ragettli
Verborgene Reiche der Technik | Die unterirdischen Anlagen der Wasserkraftwerke in der Schweiz
Margaret Morton
Wohnen im Tunnel | Die Obdachlosen im Untergrund von New York City
Kazuo Shinohara
Haus mit einem unterirdischen Schlafzimmer| Smith Group
David King
Metropolitan Airport Detroit, Light-Tunnel | Steven Holl: Museum der Menschheitsgeschichte, Burgos
Boris Groys
U-Bahn als U-topie | Über den Mythos und die Symbolik der Moskauer Metro
Heide Klinkhammer
Im Berg der Heiligtümer | Die Grotta di San Michele in Olevano sul Tusciano unter Grund II
Die Magdalenenklause bei Freiburg i.Ue. | Die Grotta di San Michele in Olevano sul Tusciano unter Grund II
Christian Kerez
Erweiterung der Kantonsschule Freudenberg in Zürich
Forum
Kolumne: Yoko Tawada
Bauten: Besucherzentrum Loisium in Langenlois (NO)
Bauten: Sporthallen
EFH: Haus Roth-Cueni, Basel von Galli & Rudolf Architekten
Wettbewerb: Contractworld
Innenarchitektur – VSI..ASAI: Möbelmesse Köln
Bücher: Roland Rohn 1905 –1971
bauen +rechten
Architekturausstellungen
Neuerscheinungen
Vorträge | Veranstaltungen | Messen
Wettbewerbe | Internet | Weiterbildung
Firmennachrichten
Vorschau | Impressum
werk-Material
Meletta Strebel Zangger: Neubau Doppelsporthalle, Rohr AG
Roger Boltshauser: Neubau Sporthalle Waldegg, Münchwilen TG
We usually move on the surface of our planet. We are pressed onto the creases of the earth's skin by the force of gravity and held there by the firmness of the ground. Anything rising above the surface catches the eye, what is beneath it remains hidden and, perhaps for this very reason, intensely fascinating. The lap of the earth promises protection and treasure, but the imaginary underground is full of dungeons and demons. As the unknown „other“, it is a perfect projection surface for our desires - and our fears. So it is not surprising that underground buildings often have a touch of the utopian. Beneath the earth, in unexplored, newly accessed territory, there is scope for constructions that convention and the complexity of everyday life would normally forbid. Unlimited freedom, where space spreads out in all directions, free from the restrictions of topography, building structure or traditional aesthetics, free from the conditions of the space-volume dichotomy: architecture as pure spatial design. No exterior appearances to be taken into consideration, no environment to be spared. Just perfect control, the possibility of a totally designed interior world. Climate, air and - above all light - are artificially produced, the whole atmosphere is an artificial product. The examples in this issue of Werk, Bauen + Wohnen show how great the range of constructed utopias of this kind can be. On one end of the scale the engineer's world of the alpine power station, at the other the communist dream of the Moscow metro. The attempt to save our cultural assets from the ravages of time, at least in the form of miniaturised likenesses, co-exists with the Christianised ritual of an elemental material connection with the forces of the earth symbolised by the taking of the „milk of the mountain“ in the Grotto di San Michele in Olevano di Tusciano. But although we have it in our power to discover and appropriate underground spaces, the underworld is obedient to its own laws, and architectural conventions often experience unforeseen difficulties. Even when new caves are man-made with the help of heavy machinery and explosives, and despite the promise of freedom from restrictive laws, the implacable logic of the underground always prevails - even when, in a few rare cases such as Christian Kerez's competition project for the Zurich Freudenberg Cantonal School - it is elevated to a principle of design. The Editors
Thema
Ákos Moravánszky
Jenseits des Ereignishorizonts | Höhlenwanderungen der Phantasie
Jürg Ragettli
Verborgene Reiche der Technik | Die unterirdischen Anlagen der Wasserkraftwerke in der Schweiz
Margaret Morton
Wohnen im Tunnel | Die Obdachlosen im Untergrund von New York City
Kazuo Shinohara
Haus mit einem unterirdischen Schlafzimmer| Smith Group
David King
Metropolitan Airport Detroit, Light-Tunnel | Steven Holl: Museum der Menschheitsgeschichte, Burgos
Boris Groys
U-Bahn als U-topie | Über den Mythos und die Symbolik der Moskauer Metro
Heide Klinkhammer
Im Berg der Heiligtümer | Die Grotta di San Michele in Olevano sul Tusciano unter Grund II
Die Magdalenenklause bei Freiburg i.Ue. | Die Grotta di San Michele in Olevano sul Tusciano unter Grund II
Christian Kerez
Erweiterung der Kantonsschule Freudenberg in Zürich
Forum
Kolumne: Yoko Tawada
Bauten: Besucherzentrum Loisium in Langenlois (NO)
Bauten: Sporthallen
EFH: Haus Roth-Cueni, Basel von Galli & Rudolf Architekten
Wettbewerb: Contractworld
Innenarchitektur – VSI..ASAI: Möbelmesse Köln
Bücher: Roland Rohn 1905 –1971
bauen +rechten
Architekturausstellungen
Neuerscheinungen
Vorträge | Veranstaltungen | Messen
Wettbewerbe | Internet | Weiterbildung
Firmennachrichten
Vorschau | Impressum
werk-Material
Meletta Strebel Zangger: Neubau Doppelsporthalle, Rohr AG
Roger Boltshauser: Neubau Sporthalle Waldegg, Münchwilen TG
Weiterführende Links:
Verlag Werk AG
