Election Park

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View from above of the playground. On the far right of the picture you can see the massive light mast.
The water basin with the eye-catching shade roof.
The illuminated blue bar at night.

The Wahlenpark is a 12,000 square meter public park in the Oerlikon district in the north of Zurich . The last of the four new parks built by Grün Stadt Zürich in the Zurich North development area at the beginning of the 21st century is located on the site of the former Oerlikon battery factory and adjoins the Im Birch school building. It was designated as a sports field and park in the special building regulations for the development area Zentrum Zürich Nord and serves both the residents of the neighborhood and the pupils in the adjacent school building.

history

The election park was opened to the population in June 2005 with an opening ceremony. In 2001, previously was the Oerliker Park , in 2002, the MFO-Park and in 2003, the Louis-Häfliger Park opened. The Wahlenpark is named after Friedrich Traugott Wahlen , who committed himself to the cultivation battle, which was also named Plan Wahlen after him , during the Second World War . Due to this cultivation battle, for which public parks were converted into arable land in the cities, the self-sufficiency rate of the Swiss population could be increased from 52 percent in 1939 to 72 percent.

In the international competition announced in 2001, the planning association dipol Landschaftsarchitekten, Basel and Christopher T. Hunziker , artist and architect from Zurich, prevailed against 31 competitors with their project "RGB". The project name stands for the colors red, green and blue, which give the park a clear structure.

location

With its linear design principle, the project created clear urban spatial relationships. It is characterized by its simple cross-section solution with the following “building blocks”: full (building / school Im Birch) - empty (break area / school Im Birch) - full (tree field) - empty (playground). A row of trees planted with linden trees concludes the park in the east. The park is divided into three areas: tree body (red), playing field (green) and promenade (blue).

The tree field was planted as an avenue with 70 red-leaved copper beeches from seven different beech species and is intended to evoke associations with an English landscape park . Play equipment and seating expand the offer for the children from the neighborhood and the neighboring school complex.

On the promenade framed by linden trees , the 160-meter-long and three-meter-wide seating beam made of 7,000 blue glass blocks, developed by the artist Christopher T. Hunziker , extends . The bar glows at night through fluorescent light tubes inside. The creation of the seating beam and the basement room below is due to the remediation of contaminated sites, for which the contaminated soil had to be excavated and disposed of before construction of the election park began.

The field's hard-wearing lawn is 7,500 square meters. A large water basin with a diameter of 11 meters and a striking shade roof invites you to cool off. A ball catch closes the playing field. Its double mesh covering leads to a so-called moiré effect when viewed from an angle . A sculpturally designed, massive light pole makes it possible to use the play area even in the dark.

Since it opened, the park has been well received and gladly used by both the students at the Im Birch school building and the local population.

The Oerliker Park is located in the immediate vicinity of the Wahlenpark .

Web links

Commons : Wahlenpark  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Suzanne Kappeler: Two other parks in Oerlikon: one to play and one to dream. The election park for sports and games. Grünzeit, 2005 (13), p. 7
  2. ^ A b c Yvonne Aellen, Ella Kienast: Parks in Neu-Oerlikon. Oerliker Park, MFO Park, Louis-Häfliger-Park, Wahlenpark, Gustav-Ammann-Park. 2nd edition Zurich: Green City of Zurich, 2005. 22 pp.
  3. ↑ a b Instructions from the city council to the municipal council (GR No. 2003/413). Green City of Zurich, Wahlenpark, Zurich North Center, property loan. January 21, 2004
  4. ↑ Florian Riesen: The Odyssey for a blue seat beam. Nordstadt, December 10, 2003. p. 3
  5. ↑ Erica Kunz: Parks - the trendy way to enjoy leisure time. the labor market, 2005.

Coordinates: 47 ° 24 '56.5 "  N , 8 ° 32' 28.2"  E ; CH1903:  683,203  /  252239