TANZHAUS
(*)In 2012, the previous-existing municipal building at Wasserwerkstrasse 127a in Zürich- Wipkingen, accommodating the Tanzhaus and the Swiss Textile School, was destroyed by a fire.
In 2014 Barozzi/Veiga won the international competition carried out by the Amt für Hochbauten Zürich, for the construction of a new building and the transformation of the entire bank of the river Limmat.
The project seeks to reactivate the promenade along the Limmat River, transforming and redefining the current residential conditions of its location.
In this way, the building is defined as a simple and tiered volume. An element that enables a new public space to be generated on its roof and that connects the existing itineraries at different levels that intertwine along its bank.
The building resolves the relationship with its surroundings through the definition of its main façade. Composed through the repetition of a singular element, that enables the building to be integrated into the Limmat’s urban environment, the triangular openings characterize the main interior spaces of the building, and singularize its visual impact through the vegetation along the riverside, providing the Tanzhauswith a distinctive identity.
The programme is clearly organized across two levels, separating private uses on the upper level from public uses on the lower one. This division permits, firstly, different accesses, which activate the circulation around the building, and secondly, work with different scales on the two levels, reinforcing the building’s public nature at the level in direct contact with the Limmat.