Every year there are a few referendums in Switzerland. Among the voting material distributed by post, citizens receive an informational brochure, which is for most people the main source to form an opinion. It means that the current information system on referendums is rather centralized and comes mainly from the Federal Palace in Bern. This project aims to decentralize production of the information and to engage citizens at the local level. The smallest organization unit being a community, the Municipal Palace and a place suitable for a city’s pavilion were identified in different communities (medium city – Sion, big city – Zurich, small village - Acquarossa).
The case study focuses on the implementation of the project in Zurich’s community. The central point is a City Pavilion, based on a modular/metallic construction that opens to the public space by its glass envelope. It’s located in a central position, ensuring good access. On the ground floor visitors profit from the cafeteria to sit and share their political opinions. There’s also an office responsible for management of the whole system. The space can be freely organized and adapted to the users’ needs thanks to rotating screens. The upper floor can be used as a traditional conference room - where members of a citizen panel meet and create a citizens’ report on the voting -, can be transformed into a more divided area - for discussions in smaller groups -, or even become an exposition space - displaying information about the current referendum.
The project is spread throughout the city. In addition to the city pavilion, existing conference rooms can be rented and implemented with the same modular structure. Besides the informing screen, there is always a place to sit encouraging people to take some time and learn about the upcoming votation.