Rote Fabrik — Attraction in Zurich

2005 - My artist friend of many years, Hans, had an atelier here for 20 years. We toured the entire Fabrik and ate dinner at their mellow restaurant. From the rooftop you can actually run and launch into the lake below. The graffiti at the Rote Fabrik is world-class, too.

Update - 2019: Back again after 15 years. Hans is in the process of moving out of the Rote Fabrik after 35 years! We had a good time looking at his small art pieces as well as his large canvas paintings and toured the factory one more time. No place but Barcelona has graffiti to match this venue. Though a few original 2005 pieces have still survived, it seems to be the method to start fresh on certain surfaces, especially the...

Nice environment and okay-ish food. I would have given three stars if it wasn't for what I'd consider a flawed pricing concept given the Rote Fabrik's ethos. Considering their self-proclaimed status as a "grassroots democratic structure" that is autonomously and collectively managed, the prices should reflect some pursuit of, say, inclusivity: having a scale price might be an option. Seems a bit hypocritical in my view to do monotone pricing and then proclaim that it's a place for everyone (especially given Zurich price levels). The contrast is particularly stark if one compares it to similar places in other...

Every local knows Rote Fabrik. To everyone else, it's nearly impossible to distill its history and character into a short review. It's had its ups and downs over the decades, and its brushes with becoming mainstream. But it's still one of those very few sympathetically underground, grimy, schizophrenic, eternally young, squatter-chic places that make Zürich almost feel as if it was a real city! Also recommended if you like it here: Stall 6, Umbo, Dynamo, El Lokal, Reithalle in Bern, and Boa in Luzern because although that one was forcibly closed, IN OUR HEARTS IT...