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Immergrün

archvideo

Turning a sport facility into landscape.


Designed by Dürig AG in Zürich and Topotek 1 in Berlin, the Heerenschürli Sports Facility is the protagonist of "Immergrün", a short film by Dom Bastianello, founder of archvideo. With a background in architecture and visual art and interested in exploring and documenting the built environment throught the medium of the fim, in "Immergrün" Bastianello portrays a sport complex both in its architectural features and in its everyday life.

Located in the peripheral Schwamindingen district of Zürich, the complex comprises soccer fields, a baseball field, changing rooms and a restaurant: from dawn to sunset the sport facility is populated by children, young boys and girls and their parents, but we only have little glimpses on the life that everyday crosses its hallways.

There's a man walking by the facility, people riding their bikes or having lunch in the restaurant and cars are parked in front of the soccer fields: the film covers the facilities over the course of an entire day and the scenes reflects the variations in population of the spaces. In the morning only a few people take a walk in the park and the lockers appear to be empty. From the afternoon onwards the place gets busy with players, people having lunch and walking in the nearby pedestrian path. Bastianello follows closely the life in the Heerenschürli Sports Facility and even though he is clearly interested in the role of the sport complex as a public space, is the peculiar architecture of the complex that has struck his attention the most.

The reason behind this decision lies in Bastianello's fascination towards the distinctive appearance of the sport facility. Here everything is green: from the façades to the light poles, the complex is distinguished by its unique color concept, as if the structures were supposed to match the soccer fields; and, what's more, the main building is hill-shaped, as if the architects wanted to turn landscape into architecture and vice versa.

The video explores its spaces, the geometric essentiality, the way lines crosses and form specific perspectives, the repetition of vertical and horizontal elements; then, the way the complex interacts with its surroundings. The shot film is accompanied by the sounds of Andres Bosshard's on-site sonic installation, accentuating the spatial and atmospheric quality of this facility and create a one-of-a-kind rhythm, mixing with the everyday noises of people and nature.

(Story by Sara Marzullo, The Architecture Player)

Credits

Authors: Dom Bastianello, Angelo Sansone
Architect: Dürig AG
Landscape Architect: Topotek 1
Mentioned project: Heerenschürli Sports Facility (2010)
Project location: Zürich, Switzerland
On-Site Sound Sculpture: Andres Bosshard

Switzerland 2015
Duration: 5'18"