Pyramide am See (Ferro-Haus)
- Klausstrasse 10, Zurich
- Health & Care
- Object of Local Significance
- Object No 17 of Carte Brute Zurich
What if the Mayans built a space station on Mars and precision-dropped a pyramid-shaped monolith within walking distance to Pavillon Le Corbusier and Lake Zurich in leafy Seefeld neighbourhood?
It may well be mistaken for a futurist temple dedicated to an ancient deity, but this pyramid’s extraterrestrial looks are really all down to the art of making a virtue out of necessity. The commercial building commissioned by the Swedish metal company “Ferrolegeringar AG” had to adhere to strict building regulations, which stipulated that the upper floors had to be built set back. Thus Architect Justus Dahinden came up with the now iconic pyramid shape. The Cor-Ten steel cladding is a nod to his client’s line of business. And what has Pyramide am See got to do with brutalism? Technically speaking, not very much. But picture it in concrete – it would tick all the boxes. So we declare it a brute in spirit.
Never the go-to choice for designing a functional building, Justus Dahinden was an “urbanotopian” architect who floated above the restrictive dogmas of postwar modernism. Both a man of faith and an avid believer in ’function follows form’, Dahinden was on a mission to reconnect architecture with the spiritual and social essence of humans. His designs seek to strike an ideal balance between radical design and sound method. The Federal Institute of Technology Zurich graduate’s early output was informed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Antonio Gaudi and sacral architecture. In the 60s, he was one of the first to embrace and promote the theories and works of his avant-garde contemporaries Archigram and the Japanese metabolists. Notable works include “Schwabylon” leisure-city in Munich, Rigi Haus in Weggis and Trigon village in Zurich Hottingen. Justus Dahinden passed away in spring 2020.
© Karin Bürki/Heartbrut
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