Zollverein School of Management and Design / SANAA
Architects: Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA
Client: Zollverein School
Location: Essen, Germany
Construction start: March 2005
Completed: July 2006
Project architect: Nicole Berganski
Associate architects: Böll & Krabel
Built area: 5.000sqm
Masterplan: Rem Koolhaas, OMA
Landscape: Agence Ter
Photos: Iwan Baan
© Iwan Baan
The Zollverein Design School is located between a historical coalmining factory and a sprawling suburb. The building is a 35 meter cube, which, at the scale of the large neighboring factory buildings, stands in strong contrast to the finer suburban texture. Its intense presence announces the former factory grounds.
© Iwan Baan
Given traditional standards, the building volume might be perceived as too large for its program, an approach which not only has an urban impact, but is also a response to the building’s program. We felt that exceptional ceiling heights were appropriate for the educational spaces, particularly for the studio level that occupies an entire slab of the structure. This undivided production floor is an unusually lofty and fully flexible space, which is enclosed only by external structural walls. These walls, punctured by numerous apertures, filter the light and view from the surrounding factory landscape, softening the transition between exterior and interior.
© Iwan Baan
Section
-
- © Iwan Baan
-
- © Iwan Baan
-
- © Iwan Baan
-
- © Iwan Baan
-
- © Iwan Baan
-
- © Iwan Baan
-
- Level 1 plan
-
- Level 2 plan
-
- Level 3 plan
-
- Roof plan
-
- East elevation
-
- North elevation
-
- South elevation
-
- West elevation
-
- Section
我喜欢这个屋顶的感觉！
use English will ya? specially not SIMPLIFIED Chinese
Sharwe seems to be enjoying feeling of the roof.
r u trying to say “especially”?
and what’s wrong with SIMPLIFIED Chinese in your sick mind
sharwe says:
I like the spatial quality of the roof!
Beautiful building indeed.
Congratulations to SANAA
1. The building is unimaginative, monotous and simplistic. 2. The building refuse to architectually engage it’s surroundings and vitalize the (troubled) area. 3. I’s “top-down” starchitecure and thus is more preoccupied with enforcing the studios image than solving the issues at hand.
It’s not good at all.
I would be interested to see the masterplan document by OMA (referred to in the credits).
Perhaps this site is zoned ‘Iconic Starchitecture’?
How does water get off the roof?
I love the building… but it is completely ruinous to the context… almost as if SANAA saw the typical box with triangle roof vernacular alongside and decided that too, was too complex… hmmm
More than a tad overbearing.
They dare to do the things that we all think are beneath us, and get congratulated for it. The irony.
SANAA’s architecture is very strong and with no compromise, but incompatible with human life. Acoustic, overheating, accessibility are parts of the redundant mis-functional architecture they produced here and for the Glass Pavilion or the Rolex learning center.
It brings a fundamental question regarding today’s architectural poetry and its feasibility…
Whatever, I’ve read something of the heating concept in the Harvard Design Magazine, and it’s green, very contextual and great ! They took the heat from underground old mines and dispatch it within the outer walls, therefore using it both as a water distribution system and as thermal insulation. This is how they were able to build single-piece concrete outer walls.
Forgive me if I sound stupid. But what exactly is the concept/ inspiration for the design? Apart from the factory scale.
i’ve been inside this building (couple yrs ago)
and a lot of people (including myself) couldn’t get out fast enough… bad case of sick-building-syndrome…. something to do with the ventilation i guess…
but the architecture is great and i like the roof…
i don’t like it,cos the windows of no use and regular.
this project is pretty bad.
Good architecture gone bad – beautiful to look at but painful for those who have to use it.
I like the roof – but why? I normally like SANAA, but… this building is arbitrary.
Hey folks!
I have to analyze this building and just heard, that its not used as school anymore? Does anybody know why? Was it the bad building technic or sth else? Sb said the ventilation is awful. true? We couldnt find out up till now how they get rid of the air in the big room.
cheers benjamin
The school, founded in 2003, never managed to get enough students. They are in liquidation now.
3:58 PM Sep 18th
Zollverein School of Management and Design / SANAA | ArchDaily http://t.co/oP7OBSe via @archdaily #architecture
5:50 AM Jan 26th
Zollverein School of Management and Design / SANAA #architecture http://t.co/GdhbdsF @archdaily
1:07 AM Apr 26th
Zollverein School #SANAA #architecture #arquitectura http://www.archdaily.com/54212/zollverein-school-of-management-and-design-sanaa/