Larger than St. Mark's Square in Venice

How can topics be tailored in such a way that they receive a positive response in the media? How can the anticipated sensitive issues be picked up in advance at a media conference? Such communication tasks are part of Andreas Eigenmann's consultancy mandate for the City of Zurich. His corporate communications department has been working on projects for the civil engineering department for three years. Accompanying the redesign of the two squares Sechseläutenwiese and Münsterhof became an exciting story. How can drastic changes be made palatable as a positive innovation to the initially suspicious population? - Because the planners are convinced that there is added value that is not yet visible at first glance. But there was a tricky nut to crack: how can the city administration reconcile the different interests of businesses, the public, the opera house and motorists? The clippings from a media response analysis showed Eigenmann where "critical tones" are to be expected in these construction projects. There were reservations about the Sechseläutenwiese, for example, because the traditional site for Circus Knie and the Böögg burn will no longer have a lawn in future. In the run-up to the media conference, negative voices were heard in the media criticizing the fact that the square is to be "paved over" with Vals quartzite. "It was clear to me that we had to create a counter-image to the dead square in our communication. This counter-image is the living one," says Eigenmann, explaining the concept, which ultimately found its way into public opinion in close collaboration with François Aellen. The Director of the Civil Engineering Office is convinced that the Italian attitude to life should symbolize the flair of the redesigned squares. This is how the idea for the "Piazza" project was born. Eigenmann and Aellen searched: Where can you find a square as large as Sechseläutenplatz? The solution was St. Mark's Square in Venice. This is admired by millions of tourists, although it is also covered with beautiful stone instead of grass. It borders the sea - Sechseläutenplatz borders the lake. St. Mark's Square is even smaller. This led to the headline: "Bigger than St. Mark's Square in Venice", as the NZZ benevolently included in its title after the media conference. As a "jewel based on the Italian model", the agency then also verbally restyled the Münsterhof as a Zurich "piazza". The architects promise to do the rest. Andreas Panzeri