Gardens and outdoor spaces

ETH Zurich’s outdoor and green spaces include spacious public gardens and squares as well as quiet corners and calm oases for reflection or discussion with fellow students, researchers, and colleagues.

The Polyterrasse and historical gardens

Notable examples of fine urban planning and landscape architecture include:

• Polyterrasse: The now-rectangular viewing terrace with canteens and spaces for sporting activities was built between 1965 and 1978 and is located in front of the ETH main building. It is a popular hangout for students, researchers, and staff. It offers guests and tourists a magnificent view over Zurich, the Limmat, and Üetliberg. It is easy to reach via the Polybahn or on foot.
  The tree-lined forecourts around the main building also provide beautiful spots to spend time and retreat to for conversation and relaxation.
  
• Albert-Steiner-Garten: This spacious garden is located in the oldest part of the Hönggerberg campus, which is a listed architectural treasure, with the physics, biology, and infrastructure buildings dating from the 1960s and 1970s.
  The garden consists of a large lawn and a pond used to store water in case of fire, framed by a group of pines and ironwood trees, which together with the shrubs and heath-like ground shrubbery and terraced area give the complex its special character. The garden is a testament to post-war modernist landscape architecture in Switzerland.
  The garden is named after Albert Heinrich Steiner (1905–1996), former master architect of the city of Zurich and professor of architecture and urban development at ETH Zurich. He was responsible for the overall planning of ETH Zurich’s Hönggerberg campus from 1957 onwards. The gardens reflect the abstract naturalism of landscape architect Willi Neukom (1917–1983).
• Flora-Ruchat-Roncati-Garten: This near-natural garden is a picturesque gem and a secret oasis among ETH Zurich’s green spaces. It is located at the back of the pavilion and is grouped around a precious natural habitat: this pond has an organic shape and its natural shore is surrounded by groups of larches and a gentle grassy hill.
  The sparse planting of conifers and grasses gives the garden the feeling of natural heathland. The use of scattered boulders, the Japanese-style stepping stone paths and benches create an open space that naturally stimulates reflection.
  The garden is an example of the ecological naturalism produced by the two landscape architects behind the project, Willi Neukom and Hans Epprecht (1917–1980), as well as input from ETH Zurich professor and well-known geobotanist Elias Landolt (1926–2013). It is named after Flora Ruchat-Roncati (1937–2012), an influential architect from the canton of Ticino and the first female professor at ETH Zurich.

Quiet corners for relaxation and reflection

ETH Zurich has a number of additional green and outdoor spaces aside from the gardens, the Polyterrasse, and the central piazza on the Hönggerberg campus: for example, the terrace garden on the HPP building on the Hönggerberg campus, the LEE building’s roof garden, and the greenhouse by the CHN building at Zentrum.

Green corridors, embankments, street spaces with attractive greenery and flowers, forecourts, yards and inner courtyards are often welcoming outdoor spaces. A typical example of this is the CAB building of the Department of Computer Science, which has a forecourt that is often used by students.

Places to relax

Aside from study and research, green corners with seating are great for relaxation and offer the space to reflect on one’s work. In its July 2018 issue, life – the ETH community magazine – presented a selection of five fine places to relax on the Zentrum and Hönggerberg campuses.

More places to relax