Schwamendingen, one of Zurich's northern districts, tells the story of post-war urban expansion and its long-term consequences. These modest mid-century housing blocks were built in the 1950s and 60s as the city grew outward - functional, affordable, and placed right alongside the newly built motorway that would later cut through the neighborhood.
For decades, the A1L highway physically and socially divided the district (Kreis), isolating these buildings and their predominantly working-class and migrant residents from the rest of the neighborhood. Now, with the completion of the Schöneich Tunnel and the green lid (Autobahndeckel) covering the motorway, the urban fabric is being stitched back together.
But this reconnection comes at a price: land values rise, development pressure increases, and the social makeup of the area begins to shift. What was once a marginalized, overlooked corner of Zurich is becoming desirable terrain in a city of constant transformation.
Soon, these houses will be gone - making way for new buildings, new people, and their stories.
It's a different, less visible side of Switzerland - far from postcard clichés. Yet it is in places like this where much of urban life unfolds: diverse, ordinary, sometimes rough, but real.
Urban change always balances repair and displacement, renewal and erasure. Schwamendingen and Zurich today stand at this crossroads.
#UrbanPhotography #UrbanTransformation #Architecture #Society #SwissUrbanism