NEW COMMISSION BY THE CITY OF ZÜRICH’S KUNST UND BAU PROGRAMME

The jury of the City of Zurich’s Kunst und Bau programme selected Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen’s proposal for a public artwork from among proposals by five invited international artists. The work will be realised in the new Harsplen residential complex in Zürich-Witikon. The eight new multi-storey buildings, scheduled for completion in 2030, will provide homes for more than 800 residents.

The jury described the proposal, A Sentence We All Can Agree Upon, as particularly timely in its themes and praised its contribution to building a neighbourhood identity, as well as its thoughtful and engaging approach to Swiss consensus culture and democratic negotiation.

The idea behind Kalleinen & Kochta-Kalleinen’s work is to find ONE sentence that all the new residents of Harsplen can agree on. The only condition is that the sentence must contain the word “new”. A playful yet thorough negotiation process will unfold over the course of one year, involving discussions, dinners, courtyard parties, and visits by resident ambassadors, who will go door to door.

Once the residents have reached an agreement, the sentence will be installed on a wall in metal lettering.

If the residents do not reach an agreement, the wall will feature only the word “…new…”, together with a small sign revealing the three most popular proposed sentences.

“Building a community, engaging in meaningful discussion, and experimenting with dialogical tools can create common ground, even if the participants are unable to agree on a single sentence,” Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen reflects on the unpredictable outcome.

“The only thing that unites the tenants is the newness of everything. The work will be realized at a time when there is an urgent need to find new ways of doing, being, and thinking, so that together we can negotiate more sustainable ways of living alongside one another,” Tellervo Kalleinen says.