Im Birch School
Peter Märkli demonstrates that 'big' does not necessarily mean 'anonymous' but can also stand for 'dense'. With a length of 250 metres, this school in Zurich is quite a hunk. Even so, it fits into the scale of the former industrial district and can be taken in at a glance. Two four-storey volumes, slightly staggered, face each other. The third volume contains the gym, one of the biggest in town. Despite the stateliness and severity, there is never a feeling of monumentality. This comes from the scale of the building's volumes, for Märkli is a master of proportion; the vertical texture of the concrete articulates all of the façades, and the uppermost strip, forming the edge of the roof, recedes slightly. This prevents the corners of the building from appearing apart from the top. Märkli applies this knowledge completely naturally, even though it is no longer familiar today. The slight shifts that distinguish his work therefore keep being seen as a lack of precision.
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