Zellweger Park is a symbiosis of nature, art and architecture. In 2005, Ruedi and Thomas Bechtler decided to convert the disused industrial quarter into a lively and open urban district. For this purpose, a private design plan was established and an architectural competition was held. The winning project came from a project team consisting of the Zurich architectural firm EM2N and Schweingruber Zulauf Landscape Architects (now Studio Vulkan).
Divided into five construction sites, over 300 apartments were built between 2012 and 2020, executed by the architectural firms Herzog & de Meuron, Gigon/Guyer, Morger + Dettli and EM2N Architekten. Pfister Schiess Tropeano & Partner Architekten were responsible for the conversion of the old spinning mill. The administration building built in the 1960s by Roland Rohn with the pavilion in the Herterweiher was retained.
On behalf of the Walter A. Bechtler-Stiftung, prominent works of international and Swiss contemporary art are made accessible to the public in Zellweger Park. The foundation owns, among others, the sculpture Helvetia und Merkur by Richard Kissling from 1899, Sol LeWitt's Cube (1984/2011) and four murals by the French Op-Art artist Victor Vasarely (1971). Tadashi Kawamata designed a floating bridge for the Zellweger Weiher, the Drift Structure (2010), which is reminiscent of a beaver's lodge, and not far from the pond, the Moosfelsen (2010) by Fischli/Weiss is hidden in a small wood. Lutz & Guggisberg realized the work Werkhof (2013), consisting of about 20 pieces, which is located on hilly lawns between two Gigon/Guyer residential buildings.
Would you like to experience the architecture and art on the Zellweger site in person? Then sign up now for a guided tour with our mediation team.
