The competition for MFO Park, named after the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon (Machine Factory Oerlikon), was the second competition after the one for Oerliker Park. It took place between 1998 and 1999 and was won by Burckhardt+Partner AG Zurich together with Raderschallpartner AG.
The general agreement with the private land owners at Zurich North Centre was established to set aside five hectares of land for four new parks. The idea was that the city would lay out different parks as preliminary investments in order to ensure a high-quality living and working environment for the 5,000 new residents and the 12,000 people who were going to work in the neighbourhood.
This essential urban principle has been later adopted in other urban developments and areas of Zurich.
Description of project by Burckhardt+Partner AG Zurich
The large "park house" is a double-walled construction covered with wire mesh, a "latticework" in the old ornamental gardening style, enveloped by sumptuously sprawling plants and open on three sides.
The spacious hall is interrupted by four wire chalices at the rear, a copse in a forest of climbing plants. Four pools of water embedded in the moss carpet reflect the incident light. The double walls' intermediate spaces are traversed by flights of steps, covered walkways and projecting balconies. At the very top, on the roof, is the sun deck. A precise architectural body emerges, formed by delicate foliage, filled with green light-play and fleeting fragrances, free of purpose and open to all senses.
The residential and service buildings in the centre of northern Zurich are enhanced by the numerous possible uses of the plaza and "park house". The facility is suitable for sports and games, meetings of all kinds, or events such as film screenings, concerts and theatrical performances – all with a baroque backdrop of hedges. The MFO Park, measuring 100 meters long, 34 meters wide and 18 meters high, is the largest pergola in the world.
Burckhardt+Partner AG Zurich is a Swiss architectural and general planning practice with sites in Basel, Berne, Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich. The company was founded in 1951 in Basel. In 1981, it was converted into a stock corporation. Around 50 members of the management staff, partners, associate partners and associates hold responsibility and share in the commercial success as shareholders. The partners constitute the company management.
Samuel Schultze is current CEO of the company, Delegate of the Board of Directors and responsible for the Basel Site since 2010. He studied architecture and urban development at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and obtained his diploma in 1983 from Professor Dolf Schneebeli. In 1996/97, he completed the General Management course at the WWZ Centre for Economics of the University of Basel. In 1985, he joined the Muttenz branch of Burckhardt+Partner AG as a young design architect. He is member of the company management since 1993.
Landscape Architects Raderschallpartner AG is led by Sibylle Aubort, Roland Raderschall and Markus Fierz. The office looks for innovative solutions for a new garden culture that takes into account the changing living conditions in our cities, their work and their living environment. The research-based development of contemporary landscape architecture is characterized by both the knowledge and exploration of the history of urban design and the art of gardening and by the testing and application of new materials, techniques and high-quality, cost-conscious and sustainable designs.
Among the office's work, we can find the grounds for Sunnemätteli Bäretswil, the school scope for HPS Langenthal and the schoolhouse Nägelimoos in Kloten, the centre Leue in Männedorf and the South Garden for Weiherschloss Bottmingen, the townhouse M1 in Freiburg and the Kongresshaus garden in Biel.
