Nagelhaus

In collaboration with Thomas Demand Zurich, Switzerland 2007–2010

Client: Stadt Zurich Competition, first prize

This project, in collaboration with the artist Thomas Demand, was the winner of a competition for a major public art commission in the City of Zurich. The site is located at Escher Wyss Platz, an important and unusually messy part of the city’s transport infrastructure. The project coincided with the restoration of the 1960s Hardbrücke road viaduct and the construction of a new tram line. Escher Wyss Platz is a former industrial area undergoing dramatic transformation, with substantial new commercial developments, cultural institutions, and residential buildings.

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Drawings

Drawings 1

Site plan

Drawings 2

Elevations of Escher Wyss Platz

Drawings 3

South east elevation

Drawings 4

South west elevation

Drawings 5

North west elevation

Drawings 6

Ground floor plan

Drawings 7

Gallery floor plan

References

References 1

Chongqing, China, 2007

References 2
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Annie Hall, Woody Allen, 1977

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Posters for and against the Nagelhaus project

Related news

Exhibition

What if?
Unbuilt Architecture in Switzerland

SAM Basel

25th November 2023 – 7th April 2024

sam-basel.org

Two competition-winning projects by Caruso St John feature in What if? Unbuilt Architecture in Switzerland. The exhibition at Schweizerisches Architekturmuseum Basel offers a glimpse of an alternative Switzerland with a showcase of significant unbuilt projects from across the country.

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Matthew Blunderfield interviewed Thomas Demand in his Berlin Studio for Scaffold Podcast. Alongside discussing his practice in reference to trauma, fiction and chance, they explore his relationship with architecture. When talking about his collaborations with Caruso St John on Nagelhaus and The Triple Folly, Demand explains his position as both close to and separate from the role of architects.

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Exhibition

Namely, Words: part 2

London, United Kingdom

9th April - 21st May 2022

bettsproject.com

Caruso St John and Thomas Demand's Nagelhaus features in Betts Project's group exhibition Namely, words - Part 2. The show invited artists and architects to present a drawn or sculpted work alongside a piece of writing they admire. Prints of Nagelhaus feature in conversation with the lyrics of Talking Heads' Heaven.

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Exhibition

Thomas Demand: House of Card

Museum Leuven

19 October 2020 – 18 April 2021

mleuven.be

M Leuven presents a major retrospective of the work of the artist Thomas Demand, featuring two works made by the artist in collaboration with Caruso St John: The unrealised Nagelhaus and the soon to be built pavilion at the headquarters of fabric manufacturers Kvadrat in Ebeltoft, Denmark.

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Credits

Location
Zurich, Switzerland

Date
2007–2010

Client
Stadt Zurich

Area
250 m²

Status
Competition, first prize; cancelled following a referendum

Collaborating artist
Thomas Demand

Caruso St John Architects
Adam Caruso, Peter St John

Project architect
Neslihan Aydogan

Project team
Pablo Donet, Adam Gielniak, Emily Keyte, Michael Schneider