Isabelle from Zurich
Koch-Areal Zurich
Lost place romance
It doesn’t happen every day that green spaces appear in a city, so I felt incredibly lucky to be treated to a brand-new park close to my home in September 2025. And it turns out that Koch-Areal has bags of character!
Located in Kreis 9, the site is deeply connected to Albisrieden’s industrial past. About a hundred years ago, it served as a coal storage facility for H. Koch Kohlen Zürich, hence the name. A wooden structure and the old coal transport rails still bear witness to that era today.
After the site was abandoned, it was occupied by squatters from 2013 until 2023. Now, the area has been given a fresh purpose with three distinct parts: the former coal storage has been transformed into a shared space with benches and tables, there’s a garden with a delightfully wild atmosphere, and it hosts the base of a circus, "Zirkus Chnopf".
The contrast between eerie and innovative, untamed and industrial is striking. I highly recommend grabbing a book or a picnic and immersing yourself in the magic of this place.
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