Gastronomic Pavilion ETH, Zurich , 2013, 2nd prize
SBB agrees to transfer a station building / freight shed to the ETHZ for the symbolic price of one Swiss franc for use as a restaurant pavilion. The costs for dismantling, transport, and reassembly are included in the bidding consortium’s quotation. The transferred building is a representative of its time and demonstrates the changes in Switzerland as a technology location: In many places, route optimization, automation, and logistical progress deprive the former station buildings of their original purpose. The goods shed symbolises the networking of ETH, not only with regard to the reference to its original location but above all to the motif of the railway station as a place of arrival and departure. The question of sustainability is almost incidentally answered on a completely different level beyond the label: a second life cycle is given to an inconspicuous functional building that “has already lived a life before”.