Baustellen betreten erwünscht

Construction sites are omnipresent. Construction crews, scaffolding, cranes, excavators and people in hard hats and high visibility waistcoats are part of the familiar cityscape. We meet them every day, discover new ones and get a glimpse of the construction progress. Mostly, however, it remains an encounter at a distance. Barriers, grids, board walls and covers keep us at a distance and often block the direct view of the construction site.

It is forbidden for unauthorised persons to enter construction sites. Signs and inscriptions clearly point this out to us. The exhibition "Baustellen betreten erwünscht" (Entering construction sites is welcome) allows us to take a look behind the usual barriers. The pictures by Juliet Haller, photographer at the Office of Urban Development, show construction sites and the people working there from close up or from unusual locations. We get an impression of the atmosphere on the building sites, in the construction pits and shells. The photographs date from the last 15 years. They show places and situations that we remember well, to which we may have a personal connection, and others that we have already forgotten or never consciously perceived. Construction sites are as much a part of the city as completed buildings. Analogous to the photographic documentation of the built city, the recording of demolition and new construction is a prerequisite for us to be able to visualise today and in the future how the city of Zurich is constantly changing and developing.

Opening:
September 13, 2023, 7 p.m