The city of Zurich commissioned BS+EMI Architektenpartner to conduct this test-planning to revise the high-rise building guides of 2001. The following experts supported us in the process: Arno Schlüter, Professor of Architecture and Building Systems; Sascha Roesler, Associate Professor for Theory of Urbanisation and Urban Environments at AA USI; Maurus Schifferli, Landscape Architect; Shirana Shahbazi, Artist, David Belart and Gabriela Bruno from Wüest Partner. Our proposal was not adopted. The new high-rise guidelines were developped by E2A and KCAP. See: https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/hbd/de/index/projekte-themen/planung/hochhaus.html. The final report of the test-planning can be downloaded: https://data.stadt-zuerich.ch/dataset/geo_hochhaeuser.

Stadt Zürich, Hochbaudepartement, Amt für Städtebau (AfS), ed., Kommunaler Richtplan (2018).

Stadt Zürich, Hochbaudepartement, Amt für Städtebau (AfS), ed., Zürich 2040 (2018).

Currently, 447,082 people live in the city of Zurich. https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/portal/de/index/portraet_der_stadt_zuerich/zuerich_in_zahlen.html, accessed on 31 May 2024.

On 3 March 2013, the Swiss electorate voted in favour of the revision of the Spatial Planning Act. The aim is to curb urban sprawl in the countryside. In accordance with this act, new building zones must be defined moderately.

I conducted the design studio in fall 2019 in cooperation with Joseph Schwartz, Professor of Structural Design, and artist Shirana Shahbazi.

In Zurich, a house over 25m is considered a high-rise building for fire safety reasons. The zoning plan distinguishes between 80m-high buildings in non-sensitive areas and 40m-high buildings in more sensitive areas. Heights over 80m are possible within the framework of special building regulations.The current guidelines were last revised in 2001. Stadt Zürich, Hochbaudepartement, Amt für Städtebau (AfS), ed., Hochhäuser in Zürich (2001).

The digital map of Zurich’s high-rise buildings provides an informative overview of the city’s development. See: https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/de/planen-und-bauen/stadtplanung/bau-zonenordnung/hochhaus/testplanung-und-dialog.html.