Angélil/Graham/Pfenninger/Scholl Architecture, Zürich

Verfasser
Marc Angélil, Prof.Dr. Dipl Arch ETH/SIA

Mitarbeiter
Anna Klingmann, Dipl. Ing. M.Arch.; Thomas Hildebrand, Dipl. AA Arch. HTL; Mark Burkhard, Dipl. Arch ETH/SIA; Marco Ganz, Artist, forms of adidas buildings, ® 1999 by Pro Litteris; Michèle Rüegg Dipl. Arch ETH; Cary Siress Dipl. Arch. B.A. M.S.B.D; Jan H. Ipach M.Arch; Mathew Davis B.S., M.Arch, M.L.A.; Kaspar Gessner (student); Mathias Reichel (student); Christoph Reinhardt (student);
Fachplaner

Mathis Füssler, Grafik-Designer, layout of the competition boards

Erläuterungstext
CONTEXT Herzogenaurach is surrounded by a series of forests. Lines of trees extend along waterways into the landscape. A wooded area within this context identifies the site of adidas.

ECOLOGY AS ECONOMIC CATALYST The open landscape - being the essential feature of the site and its surroundings - is considered an economic resource of regional significance to be coupled with adidas' capital investment. This ecological setting is maintained and further accentuated by the proposed scheme. At the core of the project is a Y-shaped open territory of green space provides the connecting field for diverse future uses of the site. It is around this space that the three primary components of the program are organized: the adidas campus, the housing development and the commercial area.

URBAN TERRITORY AS OPEN STRUCTURE Instability, acceleration, and unforeseen conditions are to be incorporated as essential factors in the formation of contemporary urban environments. The proposed scheme delineates sets of frameworks that are both open and adaptable in their structure. Strategies are put forth allowing shifts, modifications, and substitutions to occur. A field is orchestrated via the dynamic coexistence of heterogeneous programmatic components such as the interactions provoked by housing, commerce, and the World of Sports. The programmatic ingredients outlined within the scheme suggest a provisional enumeration of desirable conditions that are open for interpretation. The proposed strategies attempt to combine both architectural specificity with programmatic indeterminacy.

RECONFIGURED GROUND The most significant aspect of the site is the continuous landscape with ist rolling hills and manmade incisions. Within the proposed scheme, the topography establishes the common ground for disparate programmatic components. It aims for cohesion of a heterogeneous assemblage of parts. The land is reconfigured so as to create lines of sight directing movement and establishing moments of rest. Occasionally, the land accommodates specific functions transforming the ground into bleachers, access ramps, and raised platforms, At other moments, the land becomes architecture incorporating parking facilities, locker rooms, and technical spaces. The land rises and slopes to embrace physical structures, integrating buildings within a choreographed landscape, hereby blurring the categorical distinction between the so-called natural and artificial.

INFRASTRUCTURE The infrastructure is comprised of a network of interacting systems: Access to the site is provided by three primary streets that branch off the existing county roads establishing three points of entry. Secondary roads are introduced in accordance with the specific requirements of the World of Sports, the residential area, and the commercial district. A network of footpaths combined with the adidas running track intersect the site while establishing connections to Herzogenaurach and the surrounding countryside. Additionally, provisions are made for the anticipated train line with stations centrally located within the public realm.

ORGANIZATION AS OLYMPIC VILLAGE The adidas company is an entity made up of people of diverse cultures and backgrounds. This condition of a cohesive heterogeneity needs to be reflected in the organization of the corporation, ist buildings, and campus. Here the model of the Olympic village is appropriated. An organization is suggested based on a network of relations capable of accommodating change, while maintaining internal coherence. Rather than promoting the definition of a fixed entity, a logic of vectors and flows, fluid hierarchies and flexible connections, as well as multiple pathways and permeable boundaries is pursued.

CORPORATE IMAGE AS FORM The brand adidas stands for Sports. This image must be projected by the company's products - including its architecture. The project coveys corporate identity through architectural vocabularies were investigated. Aerodynamic forms derived from experiments with advanced materials and technologies were explored as to promote movement, activity, and velocity. The forms are comprised of curves, lines, bulges, and absolutely smooth reflecting surfaces. Like runners, these shapes organize the air, they bend, twist and cut the space they traverse. Frozen in a condition of taut readiness, the forms bear witness to the fleeting temporality of progress and acceleration.

PROGRAMMATIC HYBRIDS To generate density, exploit proximity, provoke tension, maximize friction, and stimulate blurring each adidas building incorporates two programmatic components, one of which being a sports activity. The Conferenze Center incorporates the gym. The Central Administration connects to the golf course. The Innovation Center is traversed by a ramp for inline skating. The Multifunctional Hall combines with tennis. The stadium houses a visitor's center with shops and refreshment areas. These programmatic hybrids provide each building with a unique identity, while simultaneously expanding their potential.

HOUSING AS FIELD STRUCTURE The residential area - configured as a series of plateaus - follows the south-facing slope of the existing hill and is organized as a field structure. A distinctive pattern is formed through the reconfiguration of prototypical suburban land use and subdivision models. The rearranged elements comprise zones for gardens, yards, driveways, playgrounds, and housing units. The pattern is overlaid with a parcel geometry incorporating and intersecting the various surfaces. This reshuffling provides an interaction of both the individual domain and the shared realm of community activities.

COMMERCIAL AS LINEAR STRANDS The commercial area is organized - in juxtaposition to the open landscape - as a dense spatial fabric. A series of programmatically delineated strands provide a primary framework within which a heterogeneous conglomaerate of uses can evolve. Zones for open spaces and built structures are incorporated within the organizational framework. The linear structure combined with cuts and undulations in the ground move up the hill and culminate in a series of civic buildings establishing the connection between one of the points of access to the site and the elevated public platform overlooking the World of Sports.

Beurteilung des Preisgerichts

Die Arbeit besticht in ihrem Gesamtkonzept aus Offenheit und Konzentration. Innerhalb des weiträumigen Landschaftscharakters entstehen drei clusterförmige Areale von eigenwilliger und dennoch korrespondierender Sprache. Die Dynamik, die in den landschaftlichen Elementen bislang verborgen liegt wird verwandelt in dynamische Baustrukturen für Sport, Gewerbe und Wohnen.

Auf diese Weise entsteht eine interne Logik, die Vorhandenes aufgreift und für die spezifischen Nutzungen artikuliert: Das Wohnen auf polygonalen Feldern widmet die Topografie des Geländes um. So entsteht eine größtmögliche Vielfalt von Parzellengrößen und Qualitäten. Diese müssen im Falle einer Realisierung präzisiert werden World of Sports veranschaulicht ein Experimentierfeld aus skulpturalen Einzelbaukörpern. Im lichten Baumhain können sie ihre eigene Welt entfalten. Das Preisgericht versteht die Baukörper stellvertretend für all die Gebäude, die es in späteren Bauabschnitten zu definieren gilt. Dafür wird die Idee der Verfasser, der räumlichen Kombination von Arbeit und Sport, wie beispielsweise Konferenzräume und Fitness-Center, begrüßt.

Scheinbar im Kontrast dazu und dennoch aus dem Gesamtkontext überzeugend und logisch steht die starke Tektonik der langen, schmalen Gewerbebauten, die das Gelände von Nord nach Süd durchfließen und eine heterogene, schrittweise Entwicklung erlaubten. Der Vorschlag für die internationale Schule, als nördlichstem Bauabschnitt in diesem Bereich zeugt von der Plausibilität der Anordnung. Alle drei Themen gemeinsam definieren das Wettbewerbsgebiet so, dass ein übergeordnetes Beziehungsgeflecht entsteht, aus dem amorphen Charakter eines scheinbar banalen Zwischenraums mit durchlässigen Grenzen und den neuartigen städtebaulichen Positionen.

Faszinierend ist es dabei festzustellen, dass nahezu alle Randbedingungen souverän gelöst und berücksichtigt worden sind. Die geforderte Flächenzuweisung kann sogar vollständig innerhalb des Geländes der Herzo Base erfüllt werden. Die scheinbare Willkür der Siedlungsformen zeugt von einem hohen Grad an Realismus und Raumgefühl. Wie selbstverständlich wird die Idee des Städtebaus auf die Erschließungswege übertragen. Hiermit wird eine unabhängige Erschließung der drei Bereiche ermöglicht, die zugleich verbindet und Orientierung bietet. Ganz im Sinne der adidas-Salomon AG wird trotz oder sogar mittels der auffällig flexiblen Strukturen ein hoher Grad an Dichte und Prägnanz erzeugt: to make a difference.