Master’s Thesis HS26
Chair of Architectural Behaviorology, Prof. M. Kaijima
Chair for Architecture and Transformation, Prof. S. Vécsey
Team: Basil Witt, Norma Tollmann, Reto Wasser
The following text is an excerpt from the Master’s thesis brief “Re-Purpose” prepared by Prof. Susanne Vécsey and the Chair for Architecture and Transformation. It is reproduced here as part of our collaborative teaching of the Master’s thesis programme.
To provide lighting for the city of Zurich, the gasworks was built in 1896 in Schlieren, in the Limmat Valley – which was still largely undeveloped at the time – along with a number of imposing industrial buildings.
However, the discovery of electric light in England beginning in 1877 slowly replaced the use of coal gas. Gas holders only gradually became obsolete with the introduction of natural gas.
In Zurich, the switch to natural gas in 1974 led to the closure of the gasworks in Schlieren. After decades of efforts to have it designated as a historical monument, one of the iconic telescopic gasholders – now one of the last of its kind in Switzerland – was listed as a historical monument in 2001 and transferred to the Canton of Zurich free of charge, on condition that the technical monument be restored. In 2001, the Canton entrusted the monument to the Schlieren Gasometer Foundation under a building lease.
The Schlieren Gasometer Foundation took over the listed structure and carried out an initial renovation between 2003 and 2005; however, corrosion damage to the delicate iron shell necessitated further measures. Under the direction of Jürg Conzett, the gasholder has now been fitted with a floating ‘canopy’ that protects the steel construction from snow and rain, thereby preserving this important industrial monument for many years to come.
Now that the monument has been safeguarded from further decay, new life can be breathed into it. The Schlieren gas holder could stand as an example of how postindustrial monuments can be preserved, re-evaluated and also reimagined through contemporary use that allows access and spatial experience for all.
If the monument is not to be reduced to a preserved museum piece but is to be given new life through repurposing, what might that new public use be? What kind of content could revitalise the atmosphere of the site, giving it a signifi cance that might extend far beyond the property line, as it once did? What use would do justice to this landmark? How can the immediate surroundings also support the new use? Which programme elements might it incorporate and which parts of the programme, if any, will be located outside the structure? Can the structure’s original use and its closely associated structural and construction details be reinterpreted in a way that is equally compelling? How can an architectural intervention build upon the ingenuity and beauty of the original design? In a figurative sense, could the former gas holder provide the larger area with a new kind of energy?