Life on the rooftops:
«We imagine coming home in the evening on our bikes via Überlandpark. We park the bike on the roof, climb the stairs in the late sunlight and collect our children who are playing there. Maybe the lettuce in the raised bed is ready to harvest? A quick chat as we walk past the laundry room, then we reach our stairwell and the flat.»
The city of Zurich is becoming denser and hotter, and nowhere will this be more noticeable than on the edges of the settlement area, i.e., where the major densification is still to come. At first glance, it seems contradictory that densification does not have to mean «density stress», «less air to breathe» or «spilling concrete over our living spaces», but can be an opportunity for a greener, cooler, more liveable city. But it is possible. In order for Überlandpark to fulfil the promise it contains – to be a connecting, communicative, attractive element in the urban space – it must be given the greatest possible significance: It must be declared a unique opportunity for those who will live here. The new houses bow down towards Überlandpark, as it were. They lean down so that they are at the same height and similarly wide, so that the bridge crossing is as effortless and inviting as possible. Instead of extending the second urban level of the park into the interior of the houses (where its vitalisation and appropriation is doubtful), it is transferred to the rising roof level of the houses. Or are the houses nothing more than plinths (like the enclosure itself) that rise to a lofty height? The shape of the buildings, which develops from a broad base to a towering disc, already provides for a wide variety of residential «characters». Where the buildings are at their lowest point, the flats are arranged around wide living halls in which the living and dining areas are combined. In the central areas, living and dining are related to each other by a spatial waist, and at the narrow ends of the buildings facing Überlandstrasse, the flats achieve a spectacular longitudinal extension of 20 metres, giving them a loft-like character.
