Main building of the University of Zurich

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The new main building of the University of Zurich around 1914

The main building of the University of Zurich is a central building of the University of Zurich , which was planned by the architects Robert Curjel and Karl Moser .

prehistory

Towards the end of the 19th century, considerable growth at both the University of Zurich and the Eidgenössisches Polytechnic meant that the building originally built for both institutions in 1864 at Rämistrasse 101 became too small. A separate university building should remedy this.

In 1906 the academic senate set up a commission under the presidency of the zoologist Arnold Lang , which was dedicated to the construction project. After a draft developed by Friedrich Bluntschli for a new university building did not find a majority, a corresponding competition was announced in 1907. The first prize went to a project by the Curjel & Moser architectural office. In March and April 1908, the Zurich voters approved the loan for the new university building. The overall management of the building project was entrusted to Karl Moser.

Description and architecture

The university building stands between Rämistrasse and Künstlergasse on a terrace that rises northeast above the old town. The overall location consists of two four-wing complexes with covered inner courtyards, the three-story college building and the two-story biology building with the zoological museum . The college building is oriented towards the east with a stilted, semicircular central projection (entrance Rämistrasse). The portal of the biology building takes up the north-south axis of the opposite polytechnic. Due to the sloping terrain, the college building is offset from the city-side escape to Rämistrasse. A 65 meter high tower with a square floor plan rises at the intersection of the two structures. There is another main entrance to the Künstlergasse.

The load-bearing parts of the building are made of reinforced concrete . Hewn natural stone ( granite , sandstone , tuff ) and artificial stone were used for facades and plastic jewelry .

The center of the college building is the glass-covered atrium surrounded by walkways. Part of the archaeological cast collection was placed here until 1956 . Today the atrium serves primarily as a lounge, meeting and dining room for students.

The whole building is covered with reliefs of varying depth. Sculpture works include Wilhelm Schwerzmann and Otto Kappeler. There are also paintings in the interior by Paul Bodmer , Heinrich Altherr and Reinhold Kündig, as well as a mosaic by Augusto Giacometti .

Karl Moser designed the main building of the university as a total work of art , in which architecture, sculpture, painting and furnishings are inextricably linked. Accordingly, he designed lighting fixtures and other furniture for the building himself.

  • Historical views from 1914 and 1918 respectively

  • View from Künstlergasse to the new building

  • View from the east

  • Entrance Künstlergasse (tower entrance)

  • Entrance hall at Künstlergasse

  • "Garden of the Gods" in the atrium of the college building

  • Archaeological collection in the West Foyer

  • Main entrance biology building / zoological museum

  • Male figure by Hermann Haller

  • Side stairwell

  • Former faculty room (as it was in 1918)

Later extensions

In 1968/69 the main building was expanded to include a cafeteria . Executed in exposed concrete , the building by Werner Frey was fitted into the steeply sloping slope between the college building and the Rechberggarten.

Since 1991, a large lecture hall with 400 seats, a book magazine and reading rooms with daylight have been suspended in the originally glass-covered atrium of the historic biology building. The solution developed by Ernst Gisel made it possible to expand the usable area while maintaining the old building in its entirety without removing the core from the building.

In 2001/02 an underground large lecture hall with 500 seats was built on the city side. In place of the former green space in front of the college building, an elongated water basin was built. The architects Gigon / Guyer worked together with the artist Adrian Schiess .

literature

  • University of Zurich. Commemorative publication of the government council on the inauguration of the new buildings April 18, 1914 . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1914.
  • Art history seminar at the University of Zurich: University of Zurich . Society for Swiss Art History, Basel 1979, ISBN 978-3-85782-270-4 .
  • Martino Stierli (Ed.): Art and architecture on the threshold of an era. The main building of the University of Zurich from 1914 . Schwabe, Basel 2016, ISBN 978-3-7965-3446-1 .
  • Stanislaus von Moos , Sonja Hildebrand (Ed.): Art - Construction - Time: The Zurich University Building by Karl Moser 1914–2014 . Scheidegger & Spiess, Zurich 2014, ISBN 978-3-85881-422-7 .

Web links

Commons : University of Zurich (main building)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Friedrich Bluntschli: Sketch for the new buildings of the University of Zurich . In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung . tape 50 , no. 8 , 1907, pp. 96–100 ( e-periodica.ch [accessed October 5, 2019]).
  2. ↑ The construction project for the new university in Zurich. Architects Curjel & Moser . In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung . tape  56 , no. 7 , 1910, pp. 90–93 ( e-periodica.ch [accessed October 5, 2019]).
  3. ↑ Today «Kollegiengebäude II».
  4. ↑ History of the collection. In: UZH - Archaeological Collection. Retrieved October 5, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Senate room chair. In: eMuseum. Retrieved October 5, 2019 .
  6. ↑ architecture. In: UZH - Zoological Museum. Retrieved October 5, 2019 .

Coordinates: 47 ° 22 '29 "  N , 8 ° 32' 54"  E ; CH1903:  683808  /  247691