El Croquis 209. Roger Boltshauser 2002-2021

Title: El Croquis 209. Roger Boltshauser 2002-2021 Authors: Fernando Márquez Cecilia and Richard Levene Language: Spanish and English On the days after a storm or heavy rainfall, the Sihl River comes into the city with a violent rudeness that attracts the attention of passers-by. The crystalline mirror of its waters becomes turbulent, tossing branches and trunks downstream, forming whirlpools of foam on each of the slopes that form miniature waterfalls. It is autumn. The day is cool and the air smells of the mountains. As it passes through Selnau, in the heart of Zurich, the river Sihl is flanked by groves of horse chestnut trees on both banks. A deep yellow, with a freshness that still reminds us of summer, covers both the vault of the sky and the ground, spreading a soft, damp carpet at our feet. A group of crows of intimidating size peck, scavenge, hop and peck again at something on the ground covered by the fallen leaves of the trees. As I move towards them, they observe me coolly before taking flight over the roar of waters, a roar that in its rush to find calm muffles the noise of the traffic around us. To my right there is a clearing that houses an athletics track and a small basketball court in front of a sports pavilion with a serious and ancient, almost martial presence. The shouting of children training brightens up this space on mild summer mornings, but its absence now underlines with a certain melancholy the grey sadness of these days. Around the oval of the track, three buildings define with their presence the character of these sports facilities. With their simple, prismatic volumetry, rough feel and deep shadows, they have a primitive robustness that expresses a certain timelessness. Its flat concrete roof and, above all, the proportions of its openings are evidence of its modern heritage and recent construction.