Eduard Neuenschwander

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Eduard Neuenschwander (born May 6, 1924 in Zurich ; † October 1, 2013 in Gockhausen ) was a Swiss architect . He described himself as an environmental designer. Influenced by Scandinavian modernism, he designed his most famous building, the Rämibühl canton school .

life and career

Neuenschwander grew up as the son of the publisher couple Eduard and Irma Neuenschwander in an upper-class family in Zurich. Already in his childhood he was enthusiastic about reptiles and amphibians, but above all moths ( Sphingidae ), after graduating from the Rämibühl canton school, Neuenschwander took his first degree in biology and history at the University of Zurich , while he also earned money by making drawings of histological preparations for the Institute of Pathology. Well stimulated by his friendship with the son of the art historian Sigfried Giedion , he then studied architecture at the ETH Zurich from 1946 , where he graduated from Hans Hofmann in 1949 . During his studies he already wrote the TEAM publication series together with the Norwegian Christian Norberg-Schulz, who is also studying at ETH . Cooperation between young architects and artists founded, in which he subsequently demanded a reorganization of the course towards better methodology and the establishment of junior groups of the international architecture organization CIAM . In 1949, on Giedion's recommendation, he went to Finland in the office of the innovator of Scandinavian modernism, Alvar Aalto , where he worked until 1952 - he published a highly regarded monograph on his office and work together with his wife Claudia. After his return to Switzerland, most of his buildings were built in the canton of Zurich. From 1953 together with Rudolf Brennenstuhl with his own office in Zurich, from 1963 he worked in his studio in Gockhausen .

Neuenschwander was a member of the Zurich working group for urban development . His first major construction project was the redesign of the outdoor pool in Laufenburg. After several apartment buildings and single-family houses - for the Curti residential building in Zurich he received the city's prize for good buildings - in 1960 he won the competition for the new building of the Rämibühl canton school, the buildings of which he integrated into the existing gardens of the villas previously located there that the trees and the park character could largely be preserved. In the course of time, the city of Zurich had actually bought the villa plots for an expansion of the university; after a change in planning, these were now vacated. The use of the inner-city area and the demolition of eight stately villas, however, also provoked sharp protests from the population and from the preservation authorities.

During this project, which was the largest school in Switzerland in 1969 and lasted ten years from the competition to the opening, Neuenschwander, who as a child of entrepreneurial parents probably had noticed during his studies with business acumen, founded or took over a total of four construction and planning companies , with which he then implemented large-scale developments, such as a good dozen single-family houses at Im Hettler in Weiningen ZH , the Sonnenrain residential complex in Küsnacht, the Friedau estate in Aadorf and Sonnenberg in Uster . It is noteworthy that Neuenschwander, who wanted to carefully fit the settlements into an - often somewhat idealized - landscape environment, suggested that various ecological compensation measures be taken in the planning with e.g. B. higher utilization rates should be rewarded under building law.

Parallel to the canton school, however, he had been pursuing his dream of an artists' colony, a new, contemporary Neubühl in Gockhausen , since the mid-1950s . In this hamlet, located behind the Zürichberg and at that time considered to be remote and unattractive, Neuenschwander pursued a whole series of construction projects for private clients, but also for his own account, including two homes, together with his friend Gottfried Honegger and later alone and with various partners and the quite large office for yourself. This is where Neuenschwander realized his ideas most directly.

Works

Rämibühl Cantonal School
  • Swimming pool , Laufenburg, 1953–54
  • Im Koller , double single-family home, Feldmeilen, 1954–56
  • Im Steinrad , single-family houses, Herrliberg, 1956
  • Holiday home Giedieon , Amden, 1956
  • Im Baumgarten , residential development, Wädenswil, 1955–57
  • Olsen House , single-family home, Zurich, 1957–59
  • Bechtler house , conversion of a farmhouse, Toggwil, 1958–61
  • Curti apartment building , Zurich, 1959–61
  • Atelier Neuenschwander , architect's office, Gockhausen, 1962–64
  • Single-family house and studio Schmid , Gockhausen, 1963–64; 1965; 1977
  • Im Hettler , housing development, Weiningen, 1962–66
  • In Binzen , the architect's house, Gockhausen, 1964–68
  • Schönegg , residential development, Wädenswil, 1967–69
  • Sonnenrain , housing development, Küsnacht, 1968–70
  • Rämibühl Cantonal School , Zurich, 1960–70
  • Hofacker House , single-family house, Gockhausen, 1970–71
  • Fähnlibrunnenstrasse , residential and commercial building, Küsnacht, 1969–72
  • Zumbühl house , single-family house, Gockhausen, 1971–72
  • Im Rohr , apartment building, Schlieren, 1969–72
  • Stauffer House , single-family house, Gockhausen, 1971–73
  • Atelier Center , Gockhausen, 1970–73
  • Klausstrasse residential and commercial building , Zurich, 1972–73
  • Im Buck I , residential development, Gockhausen, 1972–74
  • House Wütherich , single-family house, Gockhausen, 1974–75
  • Reishauer Vocational School , Zurich, 1984
  • Zurich-Irchel park , campus of the University of Zurich , 1986–89 (with Stern und Partner)
  • Gehrenholz , Housing Development, Zurich, 1990–91

literature

  • Isabelle Rucki and Dorothee Huber (eds.): Architectural Lexicon of Switzerland - 19./20. Century. Birkhäuser, Basel 1998, ISBN 3-7643-5261-2 .
  • Claudia Moll and Axel Simon: Eduard Neuenschwander, architect and environmental designer. gta Verlag, Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-85676-235-3 .
  • "Eduard Neuenschwander". In: Susanna Schwager. The full life: men over eighty tell stories. Wörterseh Verlag, Gockhausen b. Zurich, 2008. pp. 83–111, ISBN 978-3-03763-001-3 .
  • Eduard Neuenschwander: Architecture as Environment. A plea. gta Verlag, Zurich, 2013, ISBN 978-3-85676-320-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christa Zeller: Swiss Architecture Guide - Volume 1: Northeast and Central Switzerland. Werk Verlag, Zurich 1996, ISBN 3-909145-11-6 , p. 200, no.760.
  2. ↑ Books . In: The work . tape 41 , no. 12 , 1954, pp. * 294 * ( online ).
  3. ^ NN: Swimming pool in Laufenburg, Aargau . In: The work . tape 44 , no. 9 , 1957, pp. 312 ( online ).
  4. ↑ Decision of the jury in: Das Werk. Vol. 49 (1962), p. 7 ( online ).
  5. ↑ Appreciation of the competition result in: Das Werk. Vol. 48 (1961), p. 5 ( online ).
  6. ^ Georg Risch: On the new «Rämibühl» canton school complex in Zurich. In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung , No. 19/1965, p. 309 f ( online )
  7. ↑ Hanspeter Rebsamen: The “Rämibühl” canton school project in Zurich - missed opportunities for urban development? In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung , No. 19/1965, p. 309 ( online )
  8. ↑ Claudia Moll and Axel Simon: Eduard Neuenschwander, architect and environmental designer. Gta, Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-85676-235-3 . P. 96 ff
  9. ↑ Claudia Moll and Axel Simon: Eduard Neuenschwander, architect and environmental designer. Gta, Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-85676-235-3 . P. 106 ff
  10. ^ Eduard Neuenschwander, Rudolf Brennenstuhl: Building regulations as an instrument of planning. In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung , No. 39/1963, p. 677 ff ( online )
  11. ↑ Claudia Moll and Axel Simon: Eduard Neuenschwander, architect and environmental designer. Gta, Zurich 2009, ISBN 978-3-85676-235-3 . P. 57 ff.
personal data
SURNAME Neuenschwander, Eduard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss architect
DATE OF BIRTH May 6, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH October 1, 2013
Place of death Gockhausen