Landschaftstadt Zürich: Exhibition on the tension between city and countryside

On June 8 of this year, the exhibition “LANDSCHAFTSTADT ZÜRICH: Überlappen. Connect. Open – a search for images” opened at the ZAZ BELLERIVE Center for Architecture Zurich.

Back in 2015, ETH Studio Basel described Switzerland’s urban topography in the highly acclaimed publication “Switzerland – A Portrait of Urban Development”. It dissected a country that stands between nature and the city and, according to the authors’ analysis, is a bit of both, but neither is perfect.

Around eight years later, “LANDSCHAFTSTADT ZÜRICH: Überlappen. Connect. Öffnen – eine Bildersuche” (Overlapping. Connecting.Opening up – a search for images), an exhibition that once again questions the distinction between city and countryside. Curated by Zurich architects Meritxell Vaquer and Daniel Bosshard and in collaboration with Spanish artist Lluc MayolIm, the show focuses on the capital city of Zurich.

The exhibition looks for forms of urban coexistence in a time and in a city that finds itself caught between population growth and sustainability goals. The demand for ecological and socially responsible urban development is currently on everyone’s lips. For numerous metropolises around the world, green and intermediate spaces, as well as the open space qualities of the built environment and their use, are becoming key design priorities. “LANDSCHAFTSTADT ZÜRICH” portrays such places and juxtaposes them with the work of people and the manufacturing industry. In doing so, the curators create an interdisciplinary picture. A total of 13 positions from research, practice and art provide a diverse view of regenerative urban design.

In this way, the exhibition aims to break out of a small circle of experts and reach a broad section of the population. In addition to the debates of everyday architectural practice, impulses from outside are to be introduced. “Space is thus intentionally designed together. Repair and patchwork become embroidery, our places are reinterpreted by overlapping, connecting and opening up. A new balance is found, and the many actors and ways of life have a positive effect on each other,” emphasize Meritxell Vaquer and Daniel Bosshard. What the architects propagate in the exhibition, they also integrate into their everyday office life. Many of their projects promote the continuation of existing buildings, regardless of whether the context is deemed worthy of preservation at first glance. By seeking out potential for persistence and quality in any location, they aim to generate added value for the community. They see their architecture and spaces as “more or less natural landscapes”.

In addition to their practical work, Meritxell Vaquer and Daniel Bosshard also teach at various universities. The exhibition therefore also includes many student designs. They are an element with which the curators want to awaken a critical understanding of the future development of the city of Zurich and Switzerland: “The exhibition aims to be a source of inspiration: Are the ideals of the garden city – the will to combine the best of life in the city and in the countryside – still valid? Should they be considered and developed further with the current urgency of Zurich’s existing urban fabric and looking beyond the plot?”

Since June 8, 2023, visitors have been able to see the state and planning status of the city for themselves. ZAZ BELLERIVE Zentrum Architektur Zürich is showing the “LANDSCHAFTSTADT ZÜRICH” exhibition every Wednesday to Sunday from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm until September 24 this year. The exhibition is also accompanied by various public events, workshops and guided tours. One of the highlights is likely to be the “LANDSCHAFTSTADT ZÜRICH” summer workshop from July 17 to 21. As part of this, schoolchildren will build “their” landscape city in the outdoor space. Both through the events and in the course of the exhibition, the examination of city and landscape and their complex interrelationship could reach a broad public. In view of the pressing design and transformation issues of our time, Meritxell Vaquer and Daniel Bosshard are thus providing an important impetus.

Fancy more exhibitions? KLIMA_X can be seen at the Museum of Communication in Frankfurt am Main until August 27, 2023.