Tanzhaus Zürich, ZH
The five-storey building contains new and remodelled spaces of the “Tanzhaus Zürich”, a renowned and internationally committed institution for contemporary dance. The centerpiece of the conversion is the 400 m², 11-metre-high dance hall, located on the 2nd floor. A system of folding shutters allows this hall to be used both as a bright rehearsal space with daylight and as a black box for performances staged with artificial light. The hall is spanned by concrete girders and braced with two concrete half shells. Typical of the early days of concrete construction, they were modelled on the shape of wooden girders and bear witness to the first experiments with concrete support structures in the city of Zurich. All interventions in the conversion were aimed at expressing the existing quality of the building and making it directly tangible. The spaces were uncovered and selectively refined where it was appropriate or structurally necessary. Wherever possible, generous windows were used to create an intensive relationship with the outside space and to allow daylight into the interior of the building.