ATMOSPHERIC BALLOON

MARKET HALL EXTENSION, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, 2002.

project phase, obtained building permission.

the collision of two completely different work surroundings is the point of departure for this project, the warehouse workers and the administration of this fruit and vegetable import company. as a company, these two worlds have to act in concert optimally in order to generate profit. as work surroundings they are not really attracted to one another, because each of them considers themselves part of a different stratum of society. one world is rough, storing and reloading heavy products, the other one is light and digital, organizing the flows of goods.

the insertion of a second level as an atmospheric balloon - as if from a different universe - into the warehouse space of the company converts the mutual differences into acceptance and attraction. the new level is not just another floor, but representing a completely different world. the new floor as well as walls and ceiling of the bubble space create an atmosphere and unity on its own, unique and floating as a lucid attraction above the world of the repository. it is a constantly unexpected, pleasant surprise to enter the bubble from within the tough world of the warehouse; smoothness and roughness side by side. seen from the ground floor of the warehouse, luminous gaps along the joints between the new ceiling and the walls of the warehouse express the bubble's dimension and existence above and generate the light necessary to work with the goods properly.

the use of the new level along the inner wall is conceived for both the warehouse workers and the administration team. both groups have facilities to store and/or change clothes, use bathrooms, to cook, meet, talk and become friends. this zone can be partly opened or closed towards the office space in order to facilitate all levels of concentration needed for the administration.