Europuddle

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The Europuddle (French: Europuddle, German: Europfütze), is a fountain completed in November 2019, located in the Europaallee area in the city centre of Zürich, Switzerland. Its name is a portmanteau derived from "Europaallee", the residential and commercial area in which it belongs, and "puddle", due to its visual appearance. Unlike a traditional fountain, the Europuddle is contained on only one side by slightly elevated white pavement stone.

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Europaallee Zürich

Eurogate Zurich – originally HB-Südwest, later Stadtraum HB, and today known as Europaallee Zürich – is one of the urban developments on the southwest side of Zurich's Central Station in Switzerland. Located in the city's District 4, near the city centre, Europaallee was completed in 2020 and includes shops, restaurants, offices, apartments, the college of education and a hotel. Europaallee is mostly pedestrianized and features two rows of Ginkgo trees. It also includes a fountain nicknamed 'Europuddle'. The site is connected to the urban developments north of the railway tracks via a pedestrian bridge and the western underpass of Central Station. It is linked with Bahnhofplatz, the square in front of Central Station, via Postbrücke over the river Sihl. Before constructions began in 2009, the site was the railway yard of the Sihlpost. For decades, various commercial uses were discussed for above and next to this central-Zürich site owned by the Swiss Federal Railways.

Restaurant Shopping

142 m

2016 Zurich Islamic center shooting

On 19 December 2016 in the Zürich Islamic Center in central Zürich, three people were injured when a gunman opened fire in the center, though all survived. The perpetrator, who had stabbed a former friend to death the day prior to the shooting, died by suicide after fleeing the scene. The assailant was identified as Manuel O., a 24-year-old Swiss man of Ghanaian descent living in Uster who was known to have an interest in the occult. The Islamic Central Council of Switzerland claimed the attacker was motivated by anti-Muslim sentiment, though this was questioned by the gunman's family.

Church Landmark

Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration

The University of Applied Sciences in Business Administration Zurich is the oldest and biggest part-time university for economics and Business Administration in Switzerland and is a part of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

University

Postbrücke

Postbrücke, lit. 'post bridge', is a bridge in Zurich, Switzerland, constructed between 1927 and 1930. Its name derives from the Sihlpost, located nearby and built in 1930. Located west of Bahnhofplatz, one of the city's main squares, and east of Europaallee, the bridge spans the Sihl river before it continues under the surface platforms of Zurich Main Station on its northern side. Zollbrücke spans the river on the station's northern side, while Gessnerbrücke crosses it south of Postbrücke. The bridge, which is about 67 metres long and has five spans, connects Bahnhofplatz and Gessnerallee to Kasernenstrasse. It is made of slab, with clad concrete pillars. Its superstructure was replaced in 1989 and it was reinforced in 2021. The surface of the brige contains a road, a taxi stand and bicycle parkings. In 2018, the section of the Sihl south of the bridge, up to the confluence with the Schanzengraben, was renaturalised to promote populations of fish, such as the common nase, and other aquatic organisms. This section was until 2004 covered by the Gessnerallee parking deck. Later, it was covered by a deck with facilities used for the construction of the Löwenstrasse underground station. During the construction, the bed of the Sihl below the platforms and adjacent bridges was lowered as a measure for flood prevention.

Bridge Landmark

480 m

Zurich District

Zurich District is a district of the Swiss canton of Zurich in Switzerland.

Government Neighbourhood

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The tarmacadam surface beneath the water slopes gently towards the elevated pavement, making the body of water visually similar to a puddle.

Construction

The Europuddle is about 10 meters wide and 60 meters long, with a maximum depth of about 20 centimeters. Seven identical water jets at the western edge of the Europuddle create a fountain by jetting water eastward into the puddle. The jets of water alternate between three states :

off: in the absence of flowing water jets, the Europuddle is transformed into a mirror of water reflecting surrounding buildings. static: the jets have equal, constant water flow, creating wavelets on the surface of the puddle. animated: the water jets vary their flow rate, creating animated ripple effects on the water body.