Promenade und Flussbad Lettenareal

LETTENAREAL, ZÜRICH

With the vicissitudes of history in the former railway zone, the Lettenareal along the waterworks
canal had turned into an urban habitat for local residents, lizards and ruderal vegetation.
Using a cooperative process involving all stakeholders and potentially affected parties, we determined
the degree of change that the riverbank could handle and developed the project approach accordingly.
The aim was to join together the intensive recreational uses along the river and the importance
of the area as an extensive habitat for a dense population of lizards. What both «user groups» have in
common is that they love warmth and are sun-starved. Chunky railway track ballast covers the
elements allocated to the lizards. Smoothly sanded paving was used in the bathing areas.
No walls or fences separate the two different areas. Crossing borders is encouraged and actually
happens when the weather is nice.
To underscore the site’s spatial identity, the design elements conform to a longitudinal alignment.
For example, the elongated steps used as seating are made of rhythmically distributed stair elements
wedged between the existing trees. In addition, closely planted strips of birches with multiple
trunks form a transparent screen and provide welcome shade. The elements push past each other
and suggest the dynamics of trains on the former railway tracks.

Grün Stadt Zürich

Rotzler Krebs Partner

Hans H. Moser, Zürich