Zurich’s post-pandemic balcony and what we can learn about it from this health crisis
The current situation in Switzerland
In the light of COVID-19, Switzerland has not been in the focus of the international media as much as its European neighbors Italy and France. Yet, it has one of the highest numbers of reported cases per inhabitant globally. Hotbeds are the region bordering Italy as well as the city of Zurich. As of today, approximately 1’100 people have lost their lives to COVID-19. On March 16, the Federal Council declared the “extraordinary situation” based on the Swiss Epidemics Act of 2013. This allows the Federal Council to assume competencies that, in the Swiss structure of federalism, usually lie within the jurisdiction of the 26 States, or Cantons. The declaration of the “extraordinary situation“ includes closure of all non-essential businesses such as shops, restaurants, bars, and entertainment and leisure facilities. Even though public transport continues to run on a reduced schedule, the City of Zurich is asking its inhabitants to stay at home using their own campaign and hashtag #bliibdehei (#stayathome). Gatherings in public spaces of more than five people are prohibited and public outdoor life as we know it has come to a halt.
In light of these severe restrictions on activity in public spaces, the media has shifted the attention to our own homes, one example being the popular radio show on Swiss national radio La vie chez soi or “Life at our place”, where people in confinement are talking about their experiences at home. In Zurich, where public outdoor infrastructures such as the lake, the rivers and city parks play a vital role, one particular outdoor space has reclaimed relevance: the balcony.
A short balcony history
Urban researcher Carolin Aronis describes the character of a balcony as liminal: a place between the private and the public. Despite the changing relevance throughout history, the liminal character of the balcony remained important: Back in the age of feudalism, the balcony was where power and dominance was demonstrated to citizens. In the age of Industrialism, the emergence of apartment blocks for industry workers and the rising middle class made the balcony accessible to the masses. It allowed the middle class worker to experience the same feeling of dominance. Sociologist Henri Lefebvre wrote a large share of his seminal work from his Parisian balcony and praised it as a “marvellous invention […] from which one dominates the road and passers-by ”.
In Zurich, the balcony is often subject of dispute between residents and city authorities. This is illustrated by a debate in 2016, where the city council amended the zoning plan of 1999 and included a paragraph suggesting that the allowed overhang of balconies should be reduced from 150 centimeters to 120 in order to preserve the architectural heritage of the city. These 30 centimeters triggered a heated political debate ranging from accusations of severe infringement on personal freedom to the question whether balconies are necessary at all. From an architectural perspective, the balcony in Zurich is considered an architectural nuisance: it is something the people demand but really disturbs the architectural form with its obtrusive protrusion and anarchist individualism.
The balcony during the pandemic: Beyond leisure
In the age of COVID-19, our personal balconies have become essential. A balcony liberates us from the claustrophobia of the apartment and allows us to perform mundane leisurely activities such as domesticating edible plants, barbecuing, practicing yoga, participating in Zoom meetings, drinking our morning coffee, smoking cigarettes and sipping Gin Tonics in the evenings. Recently, a 22-year old started giving exercise lessons to elderly neighbors in which they could take part from their balconies, demonstrating that even if we perform these activities in confinement, it does not have to be in solitude.COVID-19 has also inspired completely new ways of making use of the balcony. Citizens found ways to communicate with others by decorating their balconies with banners stating Alles wird gut — everything will be fine. Posts on Social Media amplified these messages and mobilized others. For example, following the lead of Italian cities, a Facebook post encouraged people to organize small ad-hoc concerts from their balconies. Even religious events are transplanted to the homes. A local church in Zurich held a sermon from the central courtyard of an elderly care home. The inhabitants joined the sermon from their balconies facing the courtyard. This year, the Orthodox Jewish community held their annual Pesach festivities on their loggias. Other countries report similar stories about balconies that play a significant role in the social and cultural life. They are stories of newfound love across rooftops, balcony drone delivery or that of a Frenchman running an entire marathon on his balcony.
The post-pandemic balcony
These anecdotal reports raise the question of how we can leverage our COVID-19 learnings for the design of a post-pandemic city. Today, institutional public infrastructure serves our needs for leisure and social interaction with others. In a future where we will spend more time in confinement, will balconies become a replacement for public infrastructure? How can design reflect the new responsibilities of the post-pandemic balcony? Are we moving towards eco-urbanism, just like the Italian architect Stefano Boeri’s vertical forest utopia in Milan?
Furthermore, the COVID-19 crisis reveals the transformative power of the balcony. It can be redefined and reconstituted depending on the inhabitant’s needs. Could we learn from Tel Aviv, dubbed “the city of balconies’’, where authorities are more permissive towards frequent bottom-up alterations of its purpose — instead of haggling about 30 centimeters? Lastly, we should ask what role technology will play in our future balcony city. Many examples of balcony usage during the pandemic overlay the physical space with a digital layer by incorporating social media or entirely new technologies, such as the usage of Drones. Dutch architect and founding partner of architecture firm MVRDV Winny Maas believes that technologies will make the city of the future more three-dimensional. His vision of the future includes flying vehicles and a city where mobility is at one’s balcony.
No matter what the future will look like, the current pandemic is a reason to rethink our relationship to the balcony and ultimately how we want to organize urban density to preserve cities as liveable yet resilient places.
Melanie is an IT consultant and an urban designer from Zurich, Switzerland. She is particularly interested in cartography & data visualization and believes that data analysis can help us to understand complex urban networks. Sometimes, she builds her own maps. She hopes that she can leave her balcony soon.
