Cabaret Voltaire Dada Zürich

The Cabaret Voltaire at Spiegelgasse 1, birthplace of Dadaism, transformed into a contemporary cultural venue in 2004. The aim of the project was to strengthen the spatial structure through precise interventions while at the same time keeping the historical substance open as a stage for Dada. All necessary infrastructures concentrated in the form of targeted implants, so that the four main rooms were free of permanent installations and set in relation to one another.

Three new volumes connect the existing rooms – showcase, reading room, exhibition room, and event room – and generate extended visual and spatial relationships. These condensations are places of increased structural density, while the remaining areas are deliberately left raw. The transitional zones clearly programmed: between showcase and exhibition room, sales, work, and presentation connect with cashier, counter, and display cases. The connection between showcase and reading room integrates internet workstations and a small library. Between reading room and event room lies the bar, which can serve either side with sliding doors and is also independently accessible from Spiegelgasse.

The larger spatial units remain movable: mobile partitions allow the rooms to connect to a continuum or operate separately. The deliberate contrast between finished installations and ephemeral, raw surfaces provide space for artists and visitors to interfere, with the house understood as a changing total artwork.

The individual areas follow clear functions: the vaulted cellar serves alternating half-year exhibitions and is equipped only with a media grid. The showcase opens with direct visual connection to Münstergasse and forms the entrance to the Cabaret Voltaire; it remains flexibly usable and conveys the first impression of the house. The reading room strengthens the relationship between facade and windows and invites visitors to linger with books, coffee, or newspapers. The event room itself remains preserved in its original shell but supplemented acoustically and in terms of fire protection. A media grid enables flexible use and technical installations allowing several positions to position stages for the most diverse artistic activities.

Thus, a cultural venue emerges that unites historical authenticity with openness to change – a house that, in the spirit of Dadaism, always remains in motion.

Client: Präsidialdepartement der Stadt Zürich, Amt für Hochbauten der Stadt Zürich

Planning: Rossetti+Wyss Architekten, Lüchinger Meyer Partner AG, Amstein+Walthert AG, Waldhauser Haustechnik AG, G. Bächli AG

Photos: © Lorenz Bettler, © Maurice K. Grünig

Costs: CHF 1.2 Mio.

Competition: 2003, 1. Prize