Dialogue

How do we want to live? How can we solve pressing social challenges? The dialogue on Baukultur in Switzerland is diverse and challenging – and takes place through various channels. The Baukultur Switzerland platform gives visibility to this dialogue. What ideas, projects or political plans are currently causing a stir? Get inspired by the Question of the Month and join the discussion via the Baukultur Switzerland channel on LinkedIn or one of your own channels.

Question of the Month

How does the Art Biennale inspire Baukultur?

Baukultur must allow diversity to play a part in cultural identity. The Venice Biennale 2024 entitled "Foreigners Everywhere" highlights the global nature of the condition of being or feeling foreign, validating the cultural value of expressions arising from this condition or feeling. It's inspiring for Baukultur to go to Venice and take a look at the visual arts, which seem to take one of the greatest contemporary challenges seriously: how to create a society that embraces individuality...

Adrien Jutard
visarte.ch central committee member

Recent editions of the Biennale have, among other things, showcased artists who have worked far from the limelight. This curatorial decision has enabled an international audience to make important discoveries in the setting of one of the world’s prime cultural gatherings. Baukultur thrives not only from the works of renowned authors, but also from a host of lesser known, yet ubiquitous positions. The Biennial’s strategy inspires us to recognize the underlying qualities of a built environment that goes beyond grand gestures.

Victoria Easton
member of the Federal Art Commission and partner at Christ & Gantenbein

How do we solve the housing shortage?

Only by working together – investors, planners and authorities alike. The tools of spatial planning can be used to make an important contribution to high-quality inward urban development and thus to demand-orientated living space. Successful municipalities are those that act with energy and foresight and involve the relevant stakeholders at an early stage. And: Wherever it can be shown that densification preserves qualities, eliminates deficits and creates added value, then densification will also find acceptance.

Damian Jerjen
Director of EspaceSuisse

Enabling construction – removing hurdles: The visible queues in front of flat viewings are also a consequence of the invisible months-long wait developers face for building permits, further exacerbated by improper objections. Utilising scarce building zones correctly: The higher the utilisation rate and the lower the boundary distance standards, the more living space can be created on the scarce building land that is available. Making the zoning plans more flexible also helps. Let's tackle the hurdles of housing construction together. After all, any one of us will only ever find the right home once it's actually been built or converted.

Karin Bührer
Managing Director of Development Switzerland

Should Baukultur be enshrined in law?

Yes, it is important that we have a holistic understanding of Baukultur legally anchored in the Nature and Cultural Heritage Protection Act. Only with a holistic Baukultur can we solve pressing social challenges such as the housing shortage, climate change and the scarcity of resources. Anchoring these in law enables the federal government to promote Baukultur. This benefits not least the education and training of children and young people in relation to Baukultur: Only those who can make competent judgements can make a qualified contribution to shaping our living environment.

Eveline Althaus
Managing Director of Archijeunes

Our built environment is increasingly lacking in quality – something that can only be achieved through greater coordination of sectoral policies, better cooperation between stakeholders, and shared goals in our Baukultur. We can only be efficient here if we have clear legal requirements. This does not in fact create expensive additional rules, but rather leads to better planning and construction. The legal basis for high quality Baukultur is therefore as necessary as it is urgent.

Oliver Martin
Head of the Baukultur Section, Federal Office of Culture

How do archives contribute to Baukultur?

When we talk about archives as institutions of memory and Baukultur as the characteristics of how we design living and working spaces, one thing is important to me: If you want to build a better future, you need to understand the past and be able to assess the present. This requires, among other things, archives to provide reliable information and impart knowledge, ideally with dynamism. (Photo: Bettina Matthiessen)

Yvonne Radecker
General Manager of Material-Archiv

Project archives (a term used to describe extensive archives that include not only architecture but also the disciplines of engineering, urban planning, landscaping and design) contribute to Baukultur above all through the valorisation and academic dissemination that they actively promote on the basis of their holdings, and through the indispensable link between conservation and research – which should not be seen as two distinct processes, but as one and the same act.

Nicola Navone
Vice Director of the Archivio del Moderno, USI

Is Swissbau the centre of Baukultur?

The Swissbau programme starts from the following initial situation. The construction industry faces major changes and is called upon to continue tackling current challenges such as resource and climate targets, the circular economy and urban development. All of these topics are linked to the eight criteria of the "Davos Baukultur Quality System". In this respect, Swissbau is the centre of Baukultur.

Cristina Schaffner
Director of Bauenschweiz

Baukultur is a living culture. The interaction between the various stakeholders and different disciplines of the constructed environment is of central importance. Far-sighted planning of our living space and high quality landscapes are just as much a part of Baukultur as the careful design and realisation of individual projects. Urban planners, landscape designers, architects, building contractors, bricklayers all meet at Swissbau to learn about the state of the art and discuss the challenges of the future. In this sense, Swissbau is undoubtedly a centre, a venue, and, yes, a key part of Baukultur.

Peter Wullschleger
Managing Director of the BSLA from 1995 to 2023

What does Christmas have to do with Baukultur?

At Christmas, the focus is on community and family. Baukultur can only be successful if it is created and lived collectively by different actors. Celebration and culture are permeated by economic factors. These must be addressed responsibly, creatively and sustainably. Structuring elements can provide guidance: at Christmas and in a Baukultur practice, they can be adapted to the specific contexts and constantly renewed and cultivated in the sense of a lived tradition.

Monika Litscher
Deputy Director of the Swiss Association of Cities (SSV)

In winter, during the dark season and especially around Christmas, we spend more time indoors. This makes it all the more important to have good quality spaces in our homes and in all the other places where we spend time. Meanwhile, festive lighting illuminates some public spaces, making them pleasant places to be. It may be cold, but we still feel warm and cosy.

Caspar Schärer
Secretary General of the BSA-FAS

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