EM2N—City Factory

How do our cities evolve, what forces drive their evolution, and how exactly do they change as a result? Zurich-based architecture firm EM2N has been working on urban transformation processes ever since its establishment in 1997. Initially, the firms main focus was on the greater Zurich area, yet in recent years they have also developed and realized projects in Berlin, Brussels, and Hamburg. Over time, a diverse body of work has grown, more than half of which consists of conversions of existing buildings, resulting in numerous successes and a few failures, small structures and large-scale complexes, quick decisions and slow processes. What unites the designs, projects, and texts featured in this first monograph on EM2N is a profound interest in the concept of the city as an exciting, contradictory, and above all productive space of human life that the founding partners Mathias Müller and Daniel Niggli have maintained throughout their twenty-five years of collaboration. In EM2NCity Factory they offer a self-critical review of their achievements and also speak about learning processes, personal interests, and conceptual approaches to future tasks in ever-changing cities. This is supplemented with contributions from fellow architects and friends as well as with a wealth of photographs, plans, drawings, and other illustrations.

Medine Altiok ist Architektin und führte ihr eigenes Büro in Zürich und Aachen. Sie unterrichtet an der ETH Zürich, der BILGI Universität in Istanbul und der Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. Mathias Müller und Daniel Niggli gründeten 1997 das Architekturbüro EM2N mit Sitz in Zürich und Berlin. Beide unterrichteten als Gastprfessoren an der EPFL Lausanne und der ETH Zürich. Zurzeit arbeitet das Büro an Projekten in der Schweiz, Deutschland und Belgien. Bei rund der Hälfte der Projekte handelt es sich um Umbauten. Zu ihren bekanntesten Bauten zählen das Toni-Areal und die Viaduktbögen in Zürich. Caspar Schärer ist Architekt und Publizist. Seit 2013 lehrt er als Dozent für Architekturkritik an der ETH Zürich, seit 2017 ist er zudem Generalsekretär des BSA. 2008-2013 war er Redaktor bei werk, bauen + wohnen.