Inderdependencies: Civic Art, Urban Development, and the Public in Zurich

Artistic interventions in architecture and urban design, funded through programs like “percent for art,” are premised on the general public as intended audience. Civic art, then, is a declaration of public values. It is the result of a commission or acquisition, which needs consensus on the part of those commissioning or acquiring it. This is particularly true when the building of which the art is to be a part is commissioned and/or financed by a municipal or state entity. But who is this art speaking for? Whom should it address? And why do the results, often due to the public funding involved, cause such controversies? These questions are the focus of the MAS GTA project semester. The city of Zurich serves as site to analyze the interdependencies of art, architecture, and the public. Having been spared the physical destruction of wars as well as the disruption of political regime change, buildings and civic art in Zurich have enjoyed remarkable longevity. The close examination of their material reality thus allows us to understand—on the backdrop of the seeming stability of Swiss institutions—questions of use, redevelopment pressure, age, and redundancy. Just like the buildings it is a part of, civic art is subject to changes in value systems. These become especially consequential when the function of the building or its urban environment changes—or when the art work’s originally intended message loses its meaning. Students will analyze case studies using primary sources; their insights will form part of an exhibition at the Department of Architecture in the spring of 2025. GTA Archives is the partner for this research project.