Water veil

WATER VEIL, DIETIKON, SWITZERLAND

The water veil in Dietikon, near Zürich is a temporary installation at the bridge Vorstadtbrücke over the river Reppisch, which invites passersby to play and experience. The veil was conceived by the sound artist Andres Bosshard and realized by the metal workshop of David Fuchs [2]. It is part of the project “Quiet Places. Listening Places. Acoustic Quality in the Limmat Valley”, initiated by the Noise Abatement Office of the Canton of Zürich and the Regional Project Show Limmattal, supported by the Swiss Confederation. The veil is planned to stay in place until the end of 2023.

2022

CONTEXT

A button installed next to the water veil can be pressed - like a pedestrian traffic light - to interrupt the flow of water for a short time. When standing next to the veil, the vertical water surface shields all sounds from the other side. If the veil is torn open by wind or if it is switched-off, one perceives the near and far space on the other side of the veil. In this way, listeners standing on either side of the veil, are either acoustically and optically connected or separated. [1,2]

Present day

OBSERVATIONS

The water falling from the veil into the river Reppisch is louder at some locations in the vicinity than the natural noise of the Reppisch in those same locations (64 vs. 57 dB(A)). Therefor, an optimization is planned. [1]

References

[1] Cercle Bruit. Mit Brunnen, Bach und Fluss gegen Lärm von Auto, Tram und Bus. Retrieved: 18 July 2023. https://www.cerclebruit.ch/studies/klangraum/Wasser_und_Verkehr_V8.pdf.

[2] Metallatelier GmbH. Ruheorte. Hörtorte. https://metallatelier.de/projekte/ruheorte.

Photo: Beat Hohmann.
Audio/video: urbanidentity, Trond Maag.
Entry submitted by: Beat Hohmann, Daniela Hallauer, Regional Project Show Limmattal