Innovation Cultivated Inside a Soap Factory: Citizen Space Zurich
I work in Citizen Space in Zurich. It’s a very creative co-working space, settled in a former soap factory. For Christmas in 2008 my girlfriend gave me a couple of one-day tickets to work from this location, while she noticed that I was getting fed up of running around with my laptop and in between meetings I was forced to jump into a bar or café with (free) wifi. I must have seen all the starbuckses and other coffeeshops in Zurich. By the way, I’m now thinking of solving this problem. See my project on the Entrepreneur Café.
Anyway, Citizen Space Zurich is lead by my friend Juerg Rohner – he’s Swiss, entirely bold, and as we’re often the only two guys left in the factory we drink a beer together at the home made bar (with red light). He’s does things with design and is a former bike-courier. This is why the entire space hangs full of bikes and bike parts. Furthermore, we’ve got nespresso coffee machines, fast wifi, a high-end stereo system, and often the sweet scent of fresh popcorn (from the cinema next door). There’s also a large roof terrace for brainstorming and for eating lunch. You enter the building via an old fork lift… it feels very industrial, also as we’re in the industrial area of zurich called “District 5”, which is between the Limmat and the train tracks leaving Zürich main station, it contains the former industrial area of Zürich which has gone under a large-scale rezoning to create upscale modern housing, retail and commercial real estate. Citizen Space Zurich is not part of a franchise of any kind, even though there’s more citizen spaces around.
What I enjoy most of this venue is that it’s a blend of everything. It really boosts my senses, which is necessary to produce the right words and connections and it makes me feel well in my working environment. It’s a cool place to be, also because there are about 25 other entrepreneurs – active in not just one particular sector: web design, sales, photography, food, architecture, programming, and traditional artists (even though I call all real entrepreneurs artists, or linchpins). I’m the only Dutch guy.
We’ve had some massive parties in the building with over 150 friends. Come and check it out if you’re an entrepreneur yourself. You can become a citizen here too and work flexible for (I think) only CHF30 per day.
