newitalianblood

The almost 80 hectare industrial site at Oberwinterthur is undergoing development that sharply contrasts the fate of most abandoned industrial arenas. Industrial uses are still being phased out yet the site has already become a focus and favored location for high-tech enterprises, new apartments, the preservation of traditional crafts and a variety of novel temporary use projects. Diverse usage clusters and spatial typologies in immediate proximity to one another are hence emerging. studio uc’s contribution to urban development strategies for Oberwinterthur was the design of a promenade that winds throughout the whole site, connecting various leisure and sporting facilities. Carefully targeted interventions are intended to increase access to the site and assure it a new profile in the public eye. The Pioneers’ Promenade is the spark plug for a wider vision, the “Oberwinterthur Model,” based on experiments with extreme mixtures of usage.