OERLIKER PARK

Zurich, Switzerland
Studio Vulkan

Oerliker Park is the largest of four parks that were developed in the industrial area of Neu-Oerlikon in Zurich in the late 1990s through a series of design competitions. The park's concept was meant to remain flexible on the site of an old industrial facility so the space would mature alongside the development of the zone. The flexibility of the space is maintained through a 4 meter by 4 meter grid of trees that were planted coincidentally with a maintenance strategy in which the trees would not be replaced if they died. The programming of the park is flexible, and takes place under the canopy, or roof, of vegetation that has reforested the previously developed industrial area. The park includes five species of trees which were chosen for their varying height, color, flower, bark, leaf shape and density, with over 1,000 individual trees planted. The trees are somewhat stunted, actively reflecting the contaminated industrial soils that the park was built on, which were deemed too toxic to rehabilitate, and instead were capped with asphalt, upon which new soil was added and the trees were planted. Additionally, the park is slanted, draining water across the site. The park committed to a stewardship and maintenance regime of thinning specific species of trees when the canopies began to touch, made possible by Zurich's large municipal budget. The project addresses the urban heat island effect in Zurich, while also offering a demonstration of the challenges in remediating industrial soils in urban environments.

2001
4.3 acres
1339 feet above sea level

References:

Links: