Manuel Herz Architects

Ballet Mechanique

BALLET MECHANIQUE

Manuel Herz Architects

Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin

PHOTOGRAPHS
Yuri Palmin

AREA
600.0 m2

YEAR
2017

LOCATION
Zürich, Switzerland

CATEGORY
Performing Arts Center

Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin

Text description provided by architect.

The site is located in one of the residential quarters in the heart of Zurich, close to the lake and just meters away from Le Corbusier’s Heidi Weber Museum.

One of the greatest qualities of the site is its garden, which is marked by a wild and primeval quality. 

Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin

Walking through it, we encounter surprises, wild plants, installations, objects that seem like the remains of forgotten cul- tures, trees with sculptural qualities and footpaths that disappear into nowhere.

At the same time the construction of the house is only possible with the felling of the most impressive tree. 

Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin

This tree that dominates the center of the garden, with its peculiar twisted trunk and its thick, crooked, knotty branches. The wild garden, but also the loss of the central tree becomes one of the themes of the project design.

Very close to the site sits the Heidi Weber Museum by Le Corbusier. This buildings, with its pavilion-like character, its colorful metal panels and striking geometry becomes the second reference for the new housing project.

Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin

Its relationship to the ground, as well as the combination of seemingly industrial modules and artistic and hand-crafted building elements are inspired by Le Corbusier's last work.

On an urban dimension, the new building references the predominant pattern of Zurich’s neighborhood of Seefeld, with its typical villas of square shape.

Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin

It has the same orientation, a same size of footprint and a similar internal organization. Nevertheless, it is a building with a very different character. The building has a cubic volume with a simple geometry.

Its core is located in the center of the building and accesses five apartments with different typologies and layouts, each suited for a different family form and way of life.

The geometrically simple basic form is contrasted by its facade. This facade consists of horizontal and vertical louvers with a rounded triangular shape. The louvers unfold to become accessible balconies with a corresponding shading roof element.

Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin

The vertical louvers darken the rooms when closed, or provide privacy and intimacy when open. In the morning one can open the louvers in order to have breakfast on the balcony that is thus unfolded.

By and by the building opens and unfolds itself, embracing the lush garden, and eventually closing itself again.

Over the course of a day, a week or a year the building is constantly moving, changing and transforming, living with its inhabitants.

Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin
Ballet Mechanique
© Yuri Palmin


Ballet Mechanique
Ground floor plan
Ballet Mechanique
First floor plan
Ballet Mechanique
Section / North-South
Ballet Mechanique
Second floor plan


Ballet Mechanique
Ground floor plan + Context
Ballet Mechanique
Siteplan


Ballet Mechanique
Facade Typologies / English
Ballet Mechanique
Facade Typologies / German


Ballet Mechanique
Elevation / West Closed
Ballet Mechanique
Elevation / West Open
Ballet Mechanique
Elevation / North Open
Ballet Mechanique
Diagram / Colors

Manuel Herz Architects
T +41 61 2620172 F +41 61 2620174
Manuel Herz Architects
Schützenmattstrasse 11, 4051 Basel, Switzerland