Duplex Architekten Zurich, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Housing community, 2015. Location: Hunziker Areal, Zurich. Installation view at Palazzo Bembo, 2016.

In the summer of 2015, about 1,200 residents moved into the thirteen
houses of «Project N°1», which had been developed by the building cooperative
«Mehr als Wohnen» («More than Living»). The film «With Others’ Eyes» is
the lively portrait of two houses within the Hunziker Areal located in Zurich,
which was filmed from the viewpoint of its occupants.
In addition to 450 apartments, shops, restaurants, workshops, artist’s
studios, day care centres, and a guesthouse have been constructed at the
Hunziker Areal. Besides the urban master plan, Duplex Architekten was
responsible for the design of two buildings on the site, the Cluster House
(«House A») and the Housing Community («House M»). The vision was to
create a part of the city rather than an estate.
Each prototype, each innovation needs confirmation of its usability. Over
time and through appropriation by the residents, the ideas conceived while
designing the spaces will start to emerge. Only through the interaction of
people and space, as well as the gradual process of discovering new traces
and leaving old ones behind, a group of houses can become a socially
vibrant quarter, a piece of home for somebody.
The film «With Others’ Eyes» was initiated to mark this historic moment;
from close proximity, we watch the young neighbourhood grow. Shortly
after moving in, the architects, as silent directors, communicated in writing
with the residents of the houses over a period of six weeks. In the form of
stage directions the occupants were asked to explore the different places
of their new homes by filming them. The residents assumed the role of the
actors in this film: protagonists and cameramen at once.
The individual contributions were sorted, compressed, and professionally
cut. Innumerable gigabytes of raw data were turned into a concentrated
15-minute «mood clip». It was a unique team effort that was both an
observation of and catalyst for life in this youthful quarter of the city, and
it attempted to portray the existence of people living in this place for what
it really is. Authenticity is the actual treasure of this project. The vision is
becoming reality: a group of strangers and a neighbourhood are evolving
together over the course of time. The houses not only serve as shells or
backdrops for the events of the film, they also bring people together. Therefore
the people are the centre stage of this film. However, the architecture
is more than just scenery. It plays the silent leading role.

ARCHITECTURE
House A: Dialogweg 6, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
House M: Genossenschaftsstrasse 16, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
Architecture: Duplex Architekten Zurich, Düsseldorf, Hamburg
Building cooperative: Baugenossenschaft «Mehr als Wohnen»
Urban master plan Hunziker Areal: Duplex Architekten AG
in cooperation with Futurafrosch GmbH
Landscape architecture: Müller Illien Landschaftsarchitekten
Category: housing, commerce, services
Floor area: 77,500 m2
Plot size: 40,200 m2
Project period: 2009–2015
FILM
Title: “With Others’ Eyes”
A film by Anne Kaestle, Dan Schürch and Levente Paal
Premiere: 3 September 2015, Berlin
Associated exhibition: 4 Sept.–17 Oct. 2015, Architektur Galerie Berlin
Link: www.mitdenaugenderanderen.com
BOOK
Title: “innen nah am fenster tag”
Subtitle: Mit den Augen der Anderen
Editors: Anne Kaestle, Dan Schürch (Black Edition: Zurich, 2015)
Authors: Anne Kaestle, Dan Schürch, Philippe Cabane
Graphic design, printing: Ludovic Balland, Basel
Photography: Johannes Marburg, Geneva