..‘His buildings are a soothing oasis in the desert of functional architecture, precious stones in the grey monotony of the streets, creations of melodic rhythm among the dead mass surrounding them.’ The German architect Josef Wiedemann (1) used these words to describe the work of Antoni Gaudí, but he might have been referring to Bruno Weber’s Weinrebenpark (Grapevine Park), a proud rival to Gaudí’s Parque Güell.

Designed and built by Weber in the Zürich suburb of Dietikon, Switzerland, Weinrebenpark is a work-in-progress, a living organic entity which grows and changes continuously. Thirty years in the making, the park is the work of a contemporary artist who, like Gaudí and Ferdinand Cheval, has sought to escape the constraints of reality through the construction of a complex, visionary environment.