The sight of something Absurd in itself. In the sand quarry in Eschenbach SG, a twelve meters long, a Meter wide Trough, is. A wonderful piece, silky smooth surface, is engraved in the side walls, an almost Oriental-sounding pattern of star-shaped arrangement of diamonds. Around the walls of the quarry extend 25 meters almost vertically into the sky, at one point, the water trickles from the top down, there is moss, algae, and minerals have stained the stone of green-yellow-black. In a column a tiny pig sits.
It’s Wednesday, two more days, then the fountain will float contrary to, finally, his determination. Then a crane picks up the 24-tonne trough of the tray, a truck to him, so the Plan is to transport it to Zurich, to the Mythenquai. And Thomas Müller is able to sleep peacefully again. The strong man with short, gray hair is a stonemason, and the head of the quarry, which belongs to the natural stone work of Müller. “The trough has cost me many a sleepless night,” he says. And then adds, laughing: “But I’d rather have sleepless nights for such a beautiful job as due to a lack of work.”
because of the Riesentrogs for Zurich sleepless nights: Steinmetz, Thomas Müller. Photo: Samuel Schalch
The fountain, its author, the office of Vogt landscape architects, will one day adorn one of the three publicly-accessible courtyards of the renovated headquarters of the Zurich insurance at Mythenquai. It is to be planted with water plants; for events you can cover it with boards, then he is to the table. The engraving on the edge makes reference to it. It represents the stylized edge of a tablecloth.
“tribute to Zurich,”
That the Miller’s nature stone works LTD has received the order for its production, is no accident. The fountain, says Thomas Grossenbacher, project Quai Zurich insurance, was “a Highlight for our headquarters and a tribute to Zurich”. A significant part of the historic buildings in the city of Zurich consists of Sandstone from the upper lake, also in Bollinger Sandstone called. It is recognizable in the uniform grey coloring.
at the headquarters of the insurance of this stone dominates. The facade of the almost 120-year-old main building, an impressive art Nouveau building, which is currently being renovated, has been created from it. Around a new building, which is clad with glass and the same stone is currently being built. The ground stations in the interior is also occupied with Bollinger sand stone, the pattern will be the same as that of the fountain itself. These stones are from Miller’s quarry.
“What, please, this is Inscribed here?” Photo: Samuel Schalch
Until the trough – probably the largest sand stone fountains, the one which is made from a piece of his destination is, he will have some people a lot of nerve cost. Thomas Müller tells of his 91-year-old uncle, who once directed himself to the sand quarry: “He said I was crazy, accept such a mission. The flap never.” He smiles, shrugs his shoulders. It will be fine. It has to work. 400 hours of work in the fountain. He was going broke, would be 100’000 Swiss francs destroyed.
so Far, everything went well. But it was a challenge to cut such a large Cube out of the Rock and later a transport structure made of steel girders around it can be built. The Problem with the crane lifting a long, narrow piece of sand-stone not, it would break by its weight. Müller solved the Problem by first of all, a Block from the Rock cut, which hung like a horizontal fifty centimeters above the ground, hanging locker on the quarry wall. Including he built Support, before he separated the fountain from the wall.
patience and Moderation
Then, Müller has trimmed the stone block using stonemasons from the factory or on site, sanded and decorated. A job that required a lot of feeling and eyes mass, because the machines he has here at the bottom of the shaft are intended for rough Work, they can not be set with millimeter accuracy. In the company’s own production hall, this would have been easier, are designed merely neither the hall nor the cranes there on such a large and heavy piece. And so, Müller has worked with the chisel and the angle grinder, the fountain is still in the shaft. Alone for the ornaments he needed six days.
Since may, the fountain is finished and is now in the quarry in the way, and Müller robs the nerves, because the stonemason and his staff have to maneuver all of the other blocks that get you out of the Bay, around the fountain. Once that would have been almost wrong as a huge chunks against the trough slammed, luckily, without causing damage. However, the removal was delayed again and again. Now it should finally be so far.
a Lot in the quarry is made by hand. Photo: Samuel Schalch
While Müller in the tiny residence barracks, the fountain speaks, ringing his cell phone. He picks it up, listens, says, “what?” and “why?” goes, leads to more conversations, then he comes back shaking his head. There is a Problem with the Transport the last meters, from the Mythenquai in the courtyard, he explains. It was planned to lift the fountain in the transportation construction from the truck, put on four wheels and maneuver to its location. A work for which several hours were scheduled. The access is narrow, twice the huge trough would have to be Curling around the corner.
But now, after a recalculation of the structural analysis, the engineer has concerns. The transport construction offers enough Grip to hang around the fountain in ropes on a crane, perhaps it is stiff enough to put the long Block on four wheels. Müller rejects the short hands: The fountain out must.
Suddenly, the giant acts in the fountain is quite small: The quarry from above. Photo: Samuel Schalch
After a further interview the all-clear comes. And the fountain was removed on Friday from the quarry. Until March, he will be in Winterthur stored. As he enters the yard, is still unclear. It is clear, however: To him, the Public can admire, it will take anyway. The renovation of the headquarters will be sometime between the end of 2020, and at the beginning of 2021 ready.
Created: 27.10.2019, 14:10 PM
