Bundesplatz

The Bundesplatz features twenty-six water jets shooting from the pavement, representing the twenty-six Swiss cantons. This open expanse serves as the front yard for the Federal Palace of Switzerland, where the country’s parliament meets. For decades, this site functioned as a chaotic parking lot filled with cars and buses. It took a long public debate and a total redesign in two thousand and four to clear the vehicles and install these synchronized fountains, which children often dash through on hot summer afternoons.