A Home for the Circus
New Construction Zirkusquartier Zurich
In 2027, the Zirkusquartier will return to its original location in the Koch-Quartier. There, a production, performance, training, and learning center for contemporary circus—the only one of its kind in Switzerland—will be created: a space for children, teenagers, and adults, professional artists, and the neighborhood.
The Zirkusquartier grew out of the Zirkus Chnopf community—from a long history of touring, productions, classes, and collaborative work. With ZQ27, this story now has a permanent home: open, professional, close to the neighborhood, and ready for the next generation.
For this building to reach its full potential, we now need broad support for the final stage of funding.
A place where the circus is born, grows, and brings people together
Contemporary circus combines acrobatics, artistic expression, play, and community—it is accessible, immediate, and open to children and adults alike, as well as to audiences and people who want to get involved themselves.
For many years, Zirkus Chnopf has demonstrated just how powerfully the circus can bring people together: on tour, in productions, in classes, and through its work with young people. The new Zirkusquartier builds on this experience, providing the necessary infrastructure and creating a space that, in this form, is virtually unprecedented in Switzerland.
700 m² for the circus, production, and community engagement
A building is taking shape in the Koch-Quartier that brings together a variety of functions: performances, rehearsals, training, classes, workshops, offices, and community space. This will transform the Zirkusquartier into a vibrant hub and meeting place for the independent arts scene, class participants, audiences, and the neighborhood.
Circus Hall
A space for performances, residencies, rehearsals, and professional productions—equipped with technical infrastructure for contemporary circus.
Course hall
Training and Learning Center: A space for an extensive program of courses—for all age groups and skill levels, for workshops, and for accessible introductions to the circus.
Mirror room
A space for movement, bodywork, dance, deepening, training, and preparation.
Workshop
A production space for set design and material experiments—for theater companies, resident artists, and emerging artists.
Foyer
A gathering space for residents, the public, course participants, and artists, connected to Koch Park
Koch Park
The public park connects the Koch-Quartier. The historic coal storage warehouse also serves as a venue for the Zirkus Chnopf and other open-air performances.
Circus for Everyone
Circus creates spaces where people can try new things, develop confidence in their own bodies, and become part of a group. The Zirkusquartier works with children, teenagers, families, schools, adults, and seniors, as well as with social partner organizations, including those focused on refugee support and integration.
At the new location, these offerings are set to expand further: courses, school projects, open training sessions, workshops with young refugees, solidarity-based funding models, and formats that provide access to people regardless of their income or background.
A production facility for contemporary circus
The ZQ27 not only supports regular classes but also the professional circus scene. Artists need high ceilings, rigging, practice time, technical infrastructure, a workshop, and performance venues. It is precisely this combination that makes the new Zirkusquartier unique.
This is where productions are created, companies rehearse, and up-and-coming artists and professionals learn from one another—and where audiences experience contemporary circus up close.
“The circus is so much more than sawdust and popcorn. Cultural forms and genres are wondrously interwoven, transporting us to an incomparable universe. Fascinating, poetic, accessible, and inclusive: a performing art for everyone. With the Zirkusquartier Zürich, the modern circus arts now have a home of their own. This will further spur the development of this art form. And that’s wonderful.”
Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider
Federal Department of Home Affairs
Help make the new Zirkusquartier a reality
Part of the funding has already been secured. We are looking for additional partners, foundations, companies, and private individuals to help cover the full cost of equipment and programs at the new location.
Specifically, your donation makes the following possible:
- the furnishings of the circus hall, class hall, mirror room, and workshop
- Programs for children and youth with low barriers to participation
- Rehearsal, production, and performance opportunities for the independent theater scene
- A welcoming space for connection, participation, and contemporary circus in Zurich
Become part of the ZQ27
Support the development of the new Zirkusquartier in the Koch-Quartier. Every contribution helps make this space—dedicated to the arts, children, teenagers, the neighborhood, and professional circus artists—a reality.
CONTACT
We’d be happy to tell you more about the project
Would you like to support the Zirkusquartier 2027 project or learn more about its individual components? We would be happy to personally introduce you to the project, its current status, and specific ways you can support it.
Lukas Kubik
Head of the ZQ27 Fundraising Campaign
Lukas Kubik@Zirkusquartier.ch
Zirkusquartier Zürich
Hohlstrasse 256
8004 Zurich