Hidden paintings and radical art: Why Zurich needs to be your next cultural escape

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After I checked into my hotel, I noticed a person slumped within the corner of the lobby. He looked dishevelled, more like a jet-lagged backpacker than a guest at a five-star retreat. The front desk staff barely glanced at him, so I believed higher of rubbernecking.

It wasn’t until later, while touring the property and admiring works by Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró, that it clicked. I returned to the lobby, got face-to-face with the person within the corner and realised he was no man in any respect. He was an art installation.

I used to be on the Dolder Grand, a lavish resort built amongst Zurich’s wooded hills, like a fairytale castle towering over the Zürichsee. Originally opened in 1899 as a Curhaus, or spa retreat, it still attracts the world’s well-heeled with Alpine views and quiet luxury.

But inside, the Dolder Grand offers a glimpse of a lesser-known Zurich, where art, not only affluence, shapes the experience. With greater than 100 pieces by major Twentieth- and Twenty first-century artists scattered across the property, the hotel doubles as a gallery, reflecting the town’s deep ties to creativity and design.

And it’s removed from an outlier.

Public artwork brings unexpected beauty to on a regular basis life

Zurich is commonly seen because the domain of financiers, FIFA officials and other members of the Maserati-driving classes. Nevertheless it also gave the world Dadaism, the unconventional movement that emerged in 1916 at Cabaret Voltaire and laid the groundwork for surrealism and pop art.

Later, Zurich became the birthplace of Swiss Style, which championed grid-based design, sans-serif typefaces like Helvetica and a pared-back, rational aesthetic that also shapes every thing from transport signage to web sites.

Its creative spirit isn’t limited to the annals of history, either.

“Zurich is inconspicuous but buzzing,” says Jacqueline Uhlmann, manager of the Löwenbräukunst art centre within the up-and-coming Zurich-West district. “There’s a quiet confidence and a collaborative spirit here, driven less by trend and more by substance. It’s a city where design, art, architecture and technology consistently intersect.”

A few of that’s credit to the town’s Kunst im öffentlichen Raum (KiöR) programme. It has commissioned and maintained over 1,300 public artworks, starting from underpass murals to sculptures in cemeteries and playgrounds.

At Zurich Predominant Station, you’re welcomed by Niki de Saint Phalle’s purple-and-gold ‘Guardian Angel.’ At Zürichhorn, Jean Tinguely’s mechanical ‘Heureka’ greets you with spinning parts and surreal charm. Even Bahnhofstrasse, the town’s high-end shopping boulevard, hosts Max Bill’s minimalist ‘Pavilion Sculpture.’

“There’s a growing movement around reclaiming and creatively using urban space,” explains Milica Vujcic of Zurich Tourism.

Perhaps essentially the most surprising example of Zurich’s artistic undercurrent is found contained in the last place you ought to be: the police station. Here, the doorway incorporates a vivid fresco of blooming flowers painted by Augusto Giacometti. Often known as ‘Blüemlihalle,’ it’s a landmark you’ll be able to visit freely – no arrest required.

A former industrial district now leads Zurich’s creative renaissance

Follow the Limmat River west from Zurich’s medieval centre and the cobblestones give solution to train tracks, industrial towers and a distinct rhythm entirely. Zurich-West, once the town’s manufacturing core, has been transformed right into a creative hub humming with energy.

At its heart stands Löwenbräukunst, a red-brick brewery transformed into considered one of Europe’s most original cultural complexes. Under a single roof, you’ll find the Kunsthalle Zürich, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst and major galleries like Hauser & Wirth and Francesca Pia, alongside Edition VFO, which specialises in limited-edition prints.

In a single moment, you’ll be able to be peering at kinetic sculptures and oil paintings, and in the subsequent, you’re eating vegan dishes at Bistro LOI or chatting with gallery owners.

“Zurich’s strength lies in its diversity and density,” says Jacqueline Uhlmann, Löwenbräukunst’s manager.

“While it might be quieter than Basel during art week, it offers a year-round, highly lively contemporary art scene with a remarkable mixture of galleries, off-spaces, major institutions, collectors and universities – all inside walking distance.”

That proximity can fuel cross-pollination. Uhlmann explains that the Löwenbräukunst hosts regular meetups that allow anyone thinking about art to plug into the district’s creative pulse.

“Initiatives like our monthly Art Walk West – a collaboration across the Zurich-West district – are designed to activate and connect with the broader community,” she says. “It fosters informal conversations that usually result in real collaborations.”

Back within the old town, the art spaces offer a distinct aesthetic.

Kunsthaus Zurich, the town’s most famed fantastic arts institution, is considered one of the most important museums in Switzerland, housing works by Marc Chagall, Alberto Giacometti and Swiss-born innovator Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Nevertheless it’s not all reverent silence and oil portraits. Recent exhibitions have tackled every thing from NFTs to feminist interventions. And if you happen to need a breather, the leafy Heimplatz square outside is ideal for people-watching with a pastry in hand.

If you happen to time your visit right, you may additionally catch Zurich Art Weekend, a three-day event in early summer that features greater than 70 exhibitions across the town. Organised just before Art Basel, the annual art weekend involves every thing from rooftop talks to guided tours, all free and open to the general public.

Zurich’s hotels offer discovery in addition to design

Even Zurich’s hospitality industry has a creative edge. The colourful 25hours Hotel Zurich West was dropped at life by Swiss designer Alfredo Häberli. The Boutique & Art Hotel Helvetia houses sculptures, paintings, prints and more in its clean riverside space.

After which there’s the Dolder Grand, where art is all over the place. Reportedly price over €800 million, its collection is interwoven with the guest experience.

One morning, I walked into Blooms, the hotel’s garden restaurant, and located a towering Keith Haring sculpture rising from the flower beds.

“Unlike in a conventional museum setting, guests encounter art in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere,” says Markus Granelli, the overall manager. “It encourages lingering, commentary and conversation.”

You experience that whether you’re sipping a cocktail on the Canvas Bar & Lounge – where each drink is inspired by a distinct piece within the hotel’s collection – or admiring an enormous mushroom sculpture by Takashi Murakami in the fashionable wing. There are works by Francesco Clemente, Urs Fischer, Mel Ramos and even Sylvester Stallone.

However the piece that lingers is Duane Hanson’s ‘Traveller,’ also referred to as the person within the lobby. Made with a mixture of found materials – clothing, hair, paper tickets – he looks startlingly lifelike. Orlando International Airport has a version, too, and passersby commonly attempt to wake him. I nearly did the identical.

While he may not move, let alone talk, the person within the lobby will let you know every thing you should find out about Zurich. Art isn’t kept behind glass here; it’s a part of the experience.

As Uhlmann puts it: “It’s a spot where something is made, not only shown.”