#group23

[studiotomemersonfs20]

Horses. Humans. Landscape. City. Vision.

Our design intends to unite these nouns and create a comfortable yet exciting space for the people of Zurich. A new visual link in Zurich is established.

For our last submission we concentrated on the visual representation of the project and on the mass of what we removed to create our space. Collages from each floor of the building showing each view in context culminate on the roof where horse and rider stand alone and enjoy victory. Our wood/ tracing paper model shows the naked structure of our building and represents it somewhat airy and lightweight. That transparency is what defines the building as a viewing device. To achieve that airiness we stripped down the building’s facades and catalogued them. We added up the total mass of the materials and calculated the amount of horses needed to move that mass - 4920 horses. When removing the delicate facade elements it honestly didn’t feel like a big intervention, but looking at the whole picture we see the amount of mass, energy, time and infrastructure needed for the disposal of the removed elements.

By making subtle interventions in the landscape and not clearing up everything we want to generate motion in the building. Eventing shows tend to be rather static with spectators sitting down looking through binoculars to follow the sport. That is something we want to change and our open plan design and the dimension of the building should facilitate that.

Through tools like ramps and wooden railings we want to blend equestrian needs with human architecture

The Albis Arena means more than just equestrian sport to us - it’s a place that should unify human and horse. We imagine horse shows, therapy and many more events.

Welcome to the Albis Arena.

[studiotomemersonfs20]

Landscape: We focused on puctual small-scale interventions in the landscape. We added most of the trees we removed last week and thoroughly planned the circuit based on the landscape.

Building: The existing parking space is basically divided in three parts, automobile section, equestrian section and pedestrian section. A big ramp lead the horses and the trainers after they’ve parked the horse box to enter the building directly in the UG to the stalls. The spectators enter the building on EG. We built a ramp on both sides of the building and connected it to the roof so the building can truly identify as a viewing device. The ramps are supported by stilts.

We designed a wooden crossed railing thats an hommage to the typical equestrian stall architecture. It enhances the concept of our building: the unity or living side-by-side of humans and horses - as do the ramps.

1) plan of the circuit

2) plan of the landscape

3) axonometry of the parking

4) elevation

5) collage from the EG

[studiotomemersonfs20]

This week we concentrated on the landscape and the building. Instead of planning a big intervention in the landscape, we drew various sections through the landscape from the building to better understand its relationship to the site. We made rather small-scale punctual interventions in the landscape to enhance the building as a viewing device. These consist mostly of landforming and the removal of trees. We plan to use these trees - well logs -  as obstacles for the horses as shown in the drawing.

We also established the cross-country circuit and focused on various subjects. Cross-country stems from foxhunting, and old English game sport. We tried to make the circuit as variated as possible and as linear - but still “using up the space” - as possible to emulate the hunting techniques. Surfaces like water and sand enable sharp turns.

The building’s accessibility and circulation have also been discussed and planned. We plan on making the main ramp the entrance for the horses and have the spectators as well as the cars come/park from/on the side. The main ramp theme is echoed througout the project and reappears in the building twice in the form of a wooden spiral extruding on both ends of the building.

Next week we will concentrate more on the structure of the ramp, the railing inside and the general visualisation and representation of our project.

1) ground plan of the interventions

2) sections through the landscape with interventions

3) circuit plan

4) ground plan of obstacles

5) isometry of the entrance with the circulation

6) detail of the ramp for the spectators

[studiotomemersonfs20]

This week we primarily focused on two interventions: the division of the building, the ramps and the landscape.

First of all we abstracted the landscape and defined six main sections within the Albis arena. Due to the topography and their specific use these sections are very distinguishable. We researched these sections, and tried to boost their features. The dog training centre has a pond we decided to expand and make it rather shallow and with stepping stones as obstacles for the horses. The police shooting practice area beside it has a very certain topography that we wanted to accentuate. To get a better view on this section from the building we want to rise the topography and make it a rough terrain with logs, rocks, earth - an alpine experience on the cross-country circuit. To make it even more visible we decided on sinking the big plain in front and form a sort of oversized bowl that really distinguishes itself from the previous terrain. We want the circuit to be exciting and differentiated. The circuit ends through the building using the main ramp.

We decided for the ramp as an architectonic tool suitable for both humans and horses. We want to use oak wood for the floor boards, as they are the ideal underground material for horses, since it is rather soft and warm and on top of that it is sustainable.We have four ramps in mind. Two big ramps that pierce the building through the middle and connect the ground floor with the basement floor where the horse stalls are. Two ramps perpendicular to the main one serve as the main access between the ground floor and the first floor for the spectators.

Next week we want to concentrate more on the representation of our circuit, the whole space in front of the building (the parking lot) and on constructive details of the building, e.g. the parapets, the horse stalls etc.

1. areas of the topography

2. section through the landscape

3. plan of the circuit trail

4. circuit topography

5. section and elevation

6. basement floor

7. ground floor

8. first floor

9. situation

[studiotomemersonfs20]

[studiotomemersonfs20]

This week we decided to focus on two topics we discussed in the interim crit.

Eventing is deeply embedded in the landscape and the former shooting building is repurposed as a viewing device. We researched the site and the views from the building and drew various sections thoughout the landscape to better understand its relationship to the building. By vertically expanding our building we can achieve a wider view of the landscape.

We’ve been searching for a way to bring the horses safely over the parking space to the stadium and still making it equally accessible for humans. We suggest a ramp as an architectonic tool to fusion human and equestrian needs as  the main connection between the stadium and the city.

1) quote about the concept of our stadium

2) map of the sections

3) sections themselves

4) map of eventing

5) plan for the circulation in the building

6) perspective of the entrance situation

[studiotomemersonfs20]

We further developed our idea this week. We’re designing a stadium for horse-centered activites, specifying on eventing.

Eventing consists of three disciplines: dressage, stadium jumping and cross-country.

The 50m shooting space will serve as the main area for dressage and stadium jumping. This space is enclosed by the arena’s topography and the building’s south-western facade on its length.

The rest of the shooting range up to the forest (including the dog training centre and police shooting area) will serve as a big space reserved for cross-country due to a variety of obstacles embedded in the landscape.

The existing shooting range building will be reused and serve as our viewing device. Every floor will have a different relationship to the arena and wider landscape.

Ground floor: strong static relationship to the 50m shooting space. This long space was solely used for 50m shooting purposes and will now be transformed into a terraced tribune referenced from theater design. We want to reuse the gesture of the cables on the 50m shooting space and the hardwood floor and design a tribune which hangs from cables that are anchored to the buildings main structural beams. It serves as a static and concentrated viewing device for the dressage and stadium jumping events. On the other side of the building the underground spaces will be repurposed as storage room for various horse-riding utilities.

First floor: The south-western part of this floor  was used for 300m shooting purposes and will be reused as a viewing device for the extended landscape. It will serve as the buffer zone between the ground floor and the second floor. The north-eastern part of this floor serves as the main representative entry of the building. The existing glass bricks and spacious spiral staircase give the building an airy feeling.

Second floor: This floor will serve as a viewing device of the landscape and city in its whole. It connects the sport with the city. We will take out the horizontal brick wall and create a big open space.  We want to achieve a dynamic grading within the building: from the static ground floor which solely focuses on the 50m space and has a very exact seating arrangement, to the first floor which feels a bit looser and has an entirely different connection to the landscape, to the buzzing second floor which is dynamic and open-plan. We will take out the horizontal brick wall to achieve that big open space. On the lower two floors that horizontal wall works as a divider between the spectators and the more administrative parts of the building.

Basically each floor will work as a sphere or its own environment and relationship to the landscape. The ground floor’s “sphere” incorporates the 50m shooting space, the first floor the 300 m strip and much of the landscape and the second floor the Albis arena and the city per se.

Structurally speaking we want to strip down the building to its naked structure and really profit of the views the building has to offer. The three floors all have a very diefferent feeling to them.

Short notes for every interrim crit submission:

*1:5000 drawing: location of the shooting range within the city. Also highlight various horse-riding facilities (forum) (especially all the specific trails and paths for horse riding). The shooting range is located on the Albisguetli since the 60’s. It was located close to Hauptbahnhof and Sihlhölzli previously.

*1:500 drawing: different views from each tribune - each floor of the building. Our building works as a viewing device and we want to accentuate and compare the views to better understand their relationship to the landscape

*1:50 drawing: axonometric drawing of the stadium

*1:5 drawing: construction details of our structure

*Collages: Photoshopped riders in the Albis Arena using the landscape’s natural obstacles

*Energy drawing: We want to show the cycle of our materials. From the raw ressource to its usage in the building to our repurposing.

[studiotomemersonfs20]

Last week we tried to combine our ideas from the first and the second week: We remained with animals but chose to switch from pets to horses. We keep the animal theme because there are many animals in Friesenberg and we believe, that the loud noises from shooting are very disturbing in a place like Friesenberg, especially for the animals. At the same time there are two riding schools in Friesenberg, which only provide a limited amount of facilities for horse riding.

We also reintegrated the idea of the first week, where we wanted to try to connect the fragmented landscapes and combined it with our idea from last week which was about using the building of the shooting range and making a tribune out of it. 

Our main interest lies in the tribunes and the views they provide since this is from our point of view the crucial point of a stadium.

Use:

The sport we chose is eventing. This olympic sport consists of 3 parts and takes place over a 3 day period. The first day concentrates on dressage - the exact sequence of moments ridden in an enclosed arena (20*60m). ELEGANCE

The second day focuses on cross country. The riders and horses have to complete a long outdoor circuit full of obstacles in a certain amount of time. ENDURANCE

The last part of eventing is stadium jumping. It tests the technical jumping skills of the horse and rider. ATHLETICISM

Structure:

Eventing is a sport which is heavily embedded in the landscape and Albisguetli has several interesting views due to its topography and location. As for the spectators we want to have 3 different types of tribunes for the 3 different parts of the sport but we want to create visual bonds between the 3 different types of tribunes and thus connect the fragmented landscapes.

The dressage is supposed to happen on the 50 meters shooting space with the old shooting range as the tribune.

The cross country takes up most of the space and extends further into the woods. In order to save materials and energy and because it has this elongated structure that provides various view points, the tribune for this part would be the structure of the 300 meters targets. We would add some kind of structure on top of it, so that it is accessible and safe for the spectators.

The stadium jumping requires more space than the dressage, which is why we put it a level lower than the shooting range, where the landscape is relatively flat and provides more space. As for the tribunes in this part, we would use timber scaffolding for for our structures, to facilitate construction speed and enforce our concept which relies on sustainable materials. It is also supposed to be higher than the other tribunes, since it is the lowest part of our topography.

Furthermore we are interested in the various obstacles built for equestrian purposes. Their bricolage-crafty nature is something we want to work on by developing and designing our own obstacles - relative to topography and context as well as on-site materials.

1) Atlas Piazza del Campo

2) Situation

3) exploded axonometry of the shooting range building

4) Sketch of the dressage part

5) view from the 2nd floor of the shooting range building

6) sketch of the cross country part

7) sketch of the stadium jumping part

8) sketch of the connection of the timber scaffolding

9) example of an obstacle

10) example of an obstacle