Page 180 - DIVA_MY WORKS 1918-2022

Three Swiss Palaces for Multilateralism: full advantage of daylight for skiing or hiking difference. The new building repeats certain
Present, Past and Future
By Evelina Rioukhina and Ash Charlton
This article was originally inspired by the work cold winds to give an enhanced microclimate.
of the world-renowned British architect Lord This is a contemporary interpretation of the
Foster, who kindly shared the beautiful renders thick walls and deep windows of the Engadin
for his planned wooden, energy-efficient valley, designed to minimise heat loss. The
construction in Switzerland. This inspiring building will be made of local materials and
‘palace in the snow’ inspired thoughts about covered in larch shingles.
our existing Palais, and about a possible future
one. This article is about all three. The low-rise structure has a contoured
roofscape with skylights as well as renewable
To start with the star of the show, Lord Foster. energy generation systems. Along with the
A year ago we paid a visit to his Chesa Futura building’s energy efficient systems, these will
in St Moritz (article in Diva 2/2021), but when generate a third of total energy demand. At
we learnt that he is planning not just a building, the project’s heart is the ‘village square’ – an
but a whole hub mini-city, we had to learn amphitheatre gathering space, on top of which
more about it. On his recent visit to Geneva will be a distinctive rooftop café and terrace
he kindly supplied us with his initial renders. overlooking the valley.
These incredible images are shared with you
below, as well as details of the project and our La Punt is an innovative “third place”: not
own thoughts about it. home, not office, but somewhere a person
can both live and work when they need to.
The new project is called La Punt. It will be It is an old idea, but during the pandemic we
built in Chamues, Grisons, and will be a could see how vital it might be. Teleworking
centre for innovation, creating new jobs and from home showed us that other ways of
revitalising local products, as well as promoting work were possible, so why not improve these
collaboration between locals, tourists, start-ups and make them sustainable? Work breaks
and universities. The 6,000 square metre space to environments like La Punt could benefit
will include work and seminar spaces, sports employees and employers.
facilities, retail shops and a restaurant, as well
as underground car parking. Spending a month or two in the mountains,
close to nature, would benefit morale, health
The design is inspired by the landscape and local and well-being, especially for desk workers.
architecture, with a protective wall blocking Establishing fixed working hours while taking
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could enhance productivity. Interacting with lines but in a modern way, to suit the same
the local community will broaden horizons, landscape.
whether by learning traditional skills such as
cheese-making or doing something useful for Our Palais was a hub of its era – no mere suite
them like conservation work. of offices, it was always intended as a creative
space for meeting and negotiating. The new
A visitor could arrive with just hand luggage, building, for example, was expressly designed
using the local speedy internet to work in this to encourage these creative ‘out of meeting’
special ambience. People could visit singly or encounters, and much of its beauty comes
in groups, and network during their stay or from the easy flow between areas, and its
not as suits them. many nooks for informal discussions.
Looking at the renders, we saw not a modern So those are the palaces of the present and
hub but a real palace in the Alps. Of course, we past, what about the future? Well, going back
already have a palace of our own: our Palais to the Foster building, the Alps give a different
des Nations in Geneva. It was proposed for an perspective to the idea of a palace. The sheer
architecture competition in 1926, when 377 height will give another dimension when
architectural projects were submitted along people stand in the transparent “sky” terrace,
with the project by the great Le Corbusier. The with the mountains as walls and the sun as
vision of the Palais was very different at that ceiling. One of the renders looks almost like a
time: “un palais de verre” by the modernist fairy tale, and we immediately wondered - can
Le Corbusier, or a more classical “palais de this mountain palace be for us, our “Palais”
pierres” by the majority of architects. As it was for Geneva International, or simply a “Palais
not possible to select a single winner, a group of Internationale” in the Swiss Alps?
five architects oversaw the Palais construction
(see the book by Jean-Claude Pallas Pallas We have always felt that here in Geneva
“Histoire et Architecture du Palais des Nations; International, we need a sort of “third place”.
(1924-2001); and our earlier articles in the The Palais is a partial hub – it has office and
magazine UN Special). other spaces, but it is still a workplace, not a
home. No matter how many creative meetings
It is strange to look now at the contrasting we have, at the end of the day we all go back to
newer building H, with its ultra-modern homes and hotels. Receptions in the evening
energy efficient structures. It was designed cannot compensate for longer interaction in
by totally different generation of architects, a different environment – eating and living
but to us it somehow echoes the spirit of together. This might not be suitable for all
Le Corbusier, as both buildings represent a conferences, but it could be fruitful for some
perfect architectural match despite a century’s working group meetings, and even talks.
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