News
The Architectural Model – Tool, Fetish, Small Utopia
In a field of tension defined by the model’s function as a tool, fetish or a small utopia around 200 exhibits are paid tribute
in a show that presents them as a medium for illustration and design and includes a Plexiglas concept model of the new Toni Site
in Zurich. The use of this transparent material means that, unlike in a conventional model, both inside and outside are equally visible. The exhibition
runs from 25 May to 16 September 2012 in DAM, Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt am Main.
The arrows at the Hardbrücke
Graphic signs that form part of our everyday lives, such as the newly interpreted arrow symbols used at Hardbrücke station, become part of our
collective memory and make a lasting impact on visual culture. Photographs and selected materials from the design process of upgrading Hardbrücke railway station in
Zurich are on show in the exhibition ‘100 Years of Swiss Graphic Design’ from 10 February to 3 June 2012 in the Museum für
Gestaltung Zürich.
GREENCITY Zürich Süd: EM2N is among the front runners
The forward-looking urban district GREENCITY is to be developed and carried out on the Sihl-Manegg site in Zürich Süd under the guiding theme ‘Industrial
Past – Urban Future’. In the project competition for the first three building sites on which co-operatives plan to erect housing, the EM2N project
‘Guido, Alex & Vic’ was awarded first prize ex aequo for building site A and a third prize for building site B3S.
The new year brings changes
On January 10, 2012, at 10.01 am, the new EM2N website has been released!
EM2N win study commission for a new urban district
Both Monosuisse and the community of Emmen are convinced by the winner of the first prize, the project ‘Paestum’. It shows how an urban
district can be developed on the 90’000 m2 industrial site in Emmenbrücke, Switzerland, where, alongside Monosuisse, space is also provided for businesses, offices, apartments,
education and culture. The industrial character and the green areas of parkland beside the water will give this urban district an interesting and highly
individual note. A series of visualizations of this new district is included in the online article of the Neue Luzerner Zeitung.
Facade finally mounted
The facade of Keystone Office Building in Prague is finally mounted. Completion is scheduled for Spring 2012.
Topping-out ceremony at the Swiss Film Archive
The topping-out ceremony took place on November 24, 2011 at the Swiss Film Archive in Penthaz. The continuous construction progress can be followed on
the website of the Cinémathèque (Swiss Film Archive) all around the clock.
International Summer Academy
The two-week-long International Summer Academy Zurich, from July 22 – August 5, 2012, is directed at students and those embarking upon their professional careers
in the areas of architecture / urban planning and landscape architecture from Switzerland and abroad. The vision ‘Glatt – the City‘ produced by the
Architects Group Krokodil for a new city near Zurich provides the conceptual basis. The application period starts on January 20, 2012.
EM2N in ‘Architecture Dialogues – Positions Concepts Visions’
In ‘Architecture Dialogues’, nine interviewers talk with 30 leading Swiss architects about guiding themes, directions and perspectives in their theoretical explorations and building projects.
Niggli Verlag, 628 pages, CHF 78.-, ISBN 978-3-7212-0801-6 (German edition), ISBN 978-3-7212-0801-3 (English edition).
Symposium at the TU Munich
Daniel Niggli takes part in the symposium ‘Im Herzen der Stadt’ (‘In the Heart of the City’) on November 18, 2011, at 3.50 pm,
TU Munich, Germany. What is the city in which we live today and wish to live in the future, and what could it be?
What must urban spaces and urban architecture provide so that they are perceived as contributions that reflect the culture of their times and benefit
everyday life? (Chair for Integrated Construction, TU Munich)
Sofia Architecture Week 2011
Mathias Müller gives a lecture during Sofia Architecture Week 2011 on November 5, 2011, 6.30 – 7.30 pm at Perform Business Center Sofia, Bulgaria.
This year’s theme is ‘Architecture Unlimited?’. Sometimes architecture alone is not enough and the solutions needed are beyond its capabilities. The festival investigates the
transformative power of architecture and analyses its abilities to extend boundaries.
11th Brunel Awards 2011 – commendation for the Viaduct Arches
The prestigious Brunel Awards are presented to a number of the best projects in railway architecture, graphics, industrial design and art, technical infrastructure and
environmental integration, rolling stock, as well as examples of overall design quality across the world’s railways. Following the 2008 Award for the upgrading of
Hardbrücke Railway Station, this year EM2N receives a second commendation for its Viaduct Arches project.
EM2N takes part in Architecture Week Prague 2011
The model of Keystone Office Building can be seen at the exhibition Arch Cities from October 10 – 23, which is shown in the
Royal Summer Palace of Queen Anne in Prague Castle in Czech Republic. The exhibition is accompanied by lectures in Balling's hall in the National
Technical Library. The lectures given include one by Gerry Schwyter, associate of EM2N, on October 19 at 8 pm.
IM VIADUKT – City of Zurich award for good buildings and public’s prize
This year the City of Zurich awards its prize for good buildings for the 16th time. The Viaduct Arches are one of the 11
winning projects. The citizens of Zurich also found this project, known as IM VIADUKT, the most convincing project – and so this year the
prize determined by the public went to EM2N’s conversion of the railway arches. In assessing the entries the jury applied the following criteria: level
of integration in the urban plan, quality of architecture and construction and level of innovation. The projects are being shown in the Museum für
Gestaltung Zürich from September 30 to October 9, 2011.
Panel discussion on the Glattalstadt
Panel discussion with Mathias Müller and Raphael Frei from the Architects Group ‘Krokodil’ about the Glattal city and premiere of the film ‘Glatt die
Stadt’ at 7.30 pm, September 23, 2011, in the Mehrzweckhalle Schwerzenbach, Switzerland.
Glatt – the City
The Architects Group ‘Krokodil’ and Chris Niemeyer from Plan B celebrate their first film. In the framework of the event ‘Alles muss weg! 9
Tage urbaner Ausverkauf’ (Everything must go! Nine-day-long urban sale) in Schiffbau Zurich. Lecture and film presentation by Daniel Niggli and Frank Zierau. At 2
pm on September 24, 2011.
Exhibition ‘Hochhaus – Wunsch und Wirklichkeit’
A model of the Toni Site at a scale of 1:100 is on display in the exhibition ‘Hochhaus – Wunsch und Wirklichkeit’ from August 31, 2011 to January 2, 2012 in the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich.
Start of construction on Neufrankengasse in Zurich
The five-storey new building that stands directly beside the railway tracks contains 29 condominiums ranging in size from 2.5 to 5.5 rooms, each one
has a special geometry and, in some cases, extra-high rooms. Scheduled completion: end of 2012.
Keystone Office Building Prague
Completion of the concrete shell. Completion is scheduled for the beginning of next year. This office building has shops and showrooms on the ground
floor with office spaces on the 1st–7st floors. It forms a kind of gateway situation at a prominent location in Karlín, a district of
Prague, Czech Republic, currently undergoing rapid change, at the corner of Pobrežni Street and Saldova Street.
Start of construction in Hammergut
The excavators have started work on the Hammer farmstead in Cham, Switzerland. This marks a new chapter in the history of this 150-year old
farmstead that was previously used for agricultural purposes. The aim is to create an ensemble with a dense atmosphere, in which old and new
buildings can coexist – the typology of the buildings reinterprets the existing fabric and develops it further. The intention is that a lively mix
of space for living and working will remain the trademark of the Hammergut.
Successful defence of title
EM2N wins the Zurich Architects Football Tournament once again. “Since the holding of the first Zurich Architects Football Tournament no other team has successfully
defended the title in the following year …” (Architekturforum Zürich)
Musée Cantonale de Beaux-Arts in Lausanne
EM2N wins 4th place in the competition for the new Musée Cantonale de Beaux-Arts (MCBA) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Competition project for University Campus in Muttenz
Honorable mention for the project ‘Albert’ by EM2N in the competition for the new building at the Campus in Muttenz, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, FHNW.
CANactions 2011
EM2N present their work at an exhibition of the CANactions International Youth Architecture Festival in Kiev, Ukraine, from 28 April to 30 May 2011.
CANactions provides young architects and architecture students with a platform for communication and sharing their ideas.
Symposium: ‘Europa wohnt’. May 21, 2011
In the context of the Architektursommer (Architecture Summer) Rhein-Main 2011 EM2N speak in the Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Germany about their projects and about current tendencies
in the area of new housing. The symposium is intended to show “how diverse and innovative the everyday building commission ‘housing’ can actually be,
how ambitiously it is carried out and the impact it has on the culture of building in Europe” (Architektursommer Rhein-Main).
Symposium: ‘Ground Floor Interface’. May 20, 2011
Daniel Niggli and Mathias Müller take part at Symposium ‘Ground Floor Interface’ at the Technische Universität, Munich. The conference addresses the threshold of public
and private at ground level, where the ‘parterre’ adjoins the public, semi-public and private spheres. The hypothesis is that the conflicts between public and
private interests, apparent within the ground floor zone, could generate processes that might lead to innovative solutions for individual spatial requirements.
Mock-up of Keystone Office Building in Prague
Completion of the housing project ‘Im Forster’
Open day at ‘Im Forster’ in Zurich-Fluntern, Switzerland, on May 7, 2011 from 2 to 5 pm. The residential building ‘Gärnterei’ is one of
three new buildings in this former park and is the result of a study carried out by EM2N for the redesign of the site.
The outcome is an ensemble of buildings that are differentiated in both typological and morphological terms, and are oriented on the scale of the
landscape and the moods of the park.
Open day at the Culture and Congress Centre in Thun
On Saturday, April 2, 2011 from 10 am to 17 pm on Seestrasse 68 in Thun, Switzerland.
Laying of the foundation stone for the Swiss Film Archive
The foundation stone for the extension to the Cinémathèque Suisse in Penthaz has been laid. This represents the first construction phase. The 2nd phase
starts in 2013; the official opening is planned for 2015. On the website of the Cinémathèque you can follow what is happening on the
building site all around the clock.
Site visit to Riedpark in Zug
The first phase of the Riedpark housing development in Zug, Switzerland, has been completed. Visit on Thursday, March 24, 2011 from 5 to 7
pm. A project in collaboration with Müller Sigrist Architects.
Focus, DRS 3
Mathias Müller and Daniel Niggli are guests in the programme ‘Focus’ on Monday, March 21, 2011 from 8 to 9 pm on Radio DRS3.
Umsicht – Regards – Sguardi 2011
National award of the SIA (Swiss Association of Engineers and Architects) ‘Umsicht – Regards – Sguardi 2011’: EM2N’s IM VIADUKT project, the conversion of
a railway viaduct in an industrial district of Zurich, receives an honorable mention.
Planning application for the International Centre for Competitive and Popular Sports
Former tennis champion Pete Sampras presents the planning application for the ‘International Centre for Competitive and Popular Sports IZLB’ to the City of Winterthur.
Study ‘Dukta’ in collaboration with the ZHdK. Mock-Up 1:1
Support for the IZLB in Winterthur
The Swiss Ice Hockey Association has spoken out in favour of a training centre in the ‘International Centre for Competitive and Popular Sports IZLB’ in Winterthur, Switzerland.
The Architects Group Krokodil at Facebook
Become our friend on Facebook and stay informed about our activities, our work and our progress.
Riedpark housing development – the final spurt of the 1st phase
Plan for the ‘City in the Glattal in 2060’
Where is Zurich growing most rapidly? Probably in the Glattal! Is the result of this growth a ‘Glatttal city’? Hardly, if one simply allows
things to happen. There must be an expressed desire for a city – and it must be designed. The Architects Group Krokodil postulates a
change of paradigms in the Glattal and draws up the plan for the ‘City in Glattal in the year 2060’ (intermediate state).
Radical vision of a large city
The Architects Group ‘Krokodil’ shows the ‘radical vision’ of a large city in the Glattal. Contribution to the programme ‘Schweiz Aktuell’, shown on Swiss television on January 20, 2011.
Glattal study published in ‘Hochparterre’
The Glatttal study by the Architects Group Krokodil is published in the January / February 2011 issue of ‘Hochparterre’.
Glattal study at an urban planning discussion
Large city in the Glattal: Hochparterre and the Architects Group Krokodil issue an invitation to an urban planning discussion on January 31, 2011 from 6 to 8 pm in the Glatt shopping centre.
Construction site of residential project Rue Rebière, Paris
