studio erde.
office for anthropocene landscapes
In 2023, Zurich's "Wilder Platz" transformed into an urban research project emphasizing innovative urban space creation. This collaborative initiative highlighted participatory approaches, multispecies cohabitation, artistic activations, and sustainable building processes. The project aimed to create a public space using exclusively recycled materials, involving local actors and material sources in a collective planning and construction process, thus blurring traditional authorship boundaries and focusing on economic processes and material flows. Strategically located along the SBB train tracks and near the new bridge to Europa Allee, the project involved ETH students, architects, landscape architects, volunteers, and youth organizations, with Studio erde. and bau.teilen leading the design and production.
The Co-habitations landscape, developed as a platform for new ways of being together, utilized art, architecture, landscape, and design to construct new urban realities and strengthen the community. It facilitated critical citizen encounters through art and activities, exploring resilient habitation and sustainable consumption practices through collaborative processes.
The garden's centerpiece, the "Wild Table," is a versatile long platform made locally from cob clay, serving multiple functions such as a landscape, habitat, platform, and flexible seating. It encouraged active participation and a sense of ownership among users, featuring diverse habitats and sequences for a harmonious ensemble.
The project engaged various private and public actors of different backgrounds and ages through design workshops to involve a diverse public. The garden promoted sustainability by using recycled materials and construction techniques that allowed it to integrate back into the landscape. Participatory methods facilitated critical encounters among citizens through talks, workshops, performances, and cooking activities, focusing on resilient habitation and sustainable consumption practices with circular design strategies.
Subtle design interventions, guided by a unifying color scheme, accentuated new elements, creating a novel communal space. Visitors entered through a vertical garden with bamboo and climbing plants, creating an inviting ambiance. The slopes were enriched with wildflowers and grasses, and a slide added playfulness. A living wall protected the wilderness and provided a habitat for insects and small amphibians. Stones around the central table delineated accessible spaces from nature protection areas, and a reused wooden platform offered a vantage point over the expansive space, including train tracks and public infrastructure.
