Zurich rejects controversial congress centre
Voters in the city of Zurich have turned down plans for a new lakeside congress centre, designed by top Spanish architect Rafael Moneo.
The authorities needed voters' agreement to purchase land for the project. However, Moneo's SFr380 million ($370 million) project came up against stiff opposition.
The proposed site would have had enough room for 3,000 people and would have included a hotel. Supporters maintained that Zurich needed a better centre that was more international than the present one dating from 1939.
But a group of architects and an association of politicians and local personalities mobilised in favour of the old congress house, saying it was an important part of Zurich's architectural history.
Now that the land purchase credit – almost SFr60 million - has been rejected, plans for the new congress centre will go back to the drawing board.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
Contributions under this article have been turned off. You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.