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Bleicheli 'Stadtlounge'St. Gallen, Switzerland
ABOVE: Teenagers relax in St. Gallen's Stadtlounge. INSET BELOW: A lighted orb above the street.
St. Gallen is a cantonal capital in Northeastern Switzerland, with a population of 74,000. It was one of the world's leading centers of embroidery production in the 19th Century, when the Bleicheli quarter just outside the city's medieval old town was home to many textile factories. Today, the Bleicheli is the financial district of St. Gallen, with modern banks and insurance buildings that are more functional than people-friendly. In an effort to make the Bleicheli more lively and attractive to pedestrians, the Schweizer Verbandes der Raiffeisenbanken (SVRB) and the city of St. Gallen announced a design competition. The idea was to create a "public living room" amid the mini-skyscrapers of the financial district.
The Stadtlounge opened on November 3, 2005. On the following pages, you can see pictures that were taken the day before the grand opening. (Thanks to the project's bright carpeting, the Stadtlounge has been nicknamed "Red Square.")
Next page: More photos
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