SWITZERLAND: the Swiss Federal Railway's Bahn 2000 project has invested heavily in
new infrastructure and new trains. 1 The Swiss, who make an average The investment is said to be
AN URBAN FIELD OF FANTASIES
Freek Persyn
Entering Switzerland via the Zurich airport offers a confirmation of
what we expect to find there. The hallways are lined with advertise-
ments not for perfumes or fashion brands, but for intricate handmade
watches and personal bankers (who promise to take the utmost care of
your fortune). A sensation of dedication and permanence permeates
the whole environment. Here, the seamless floor of nondescript granite
tiles found in airports around the world reads as an affirmative choice
rather than simply as the result of a set of functional parameters. The
floor's shine offers a promise: your visit will be an easy one.
This type of flooring doesn't end when one exits the security area,
however. Even on the way to the train, the confident smoothness
(maybe it's even the same floor?) continues. Arriving at the platform,
the platforms are wide, not aiming for monumentality, but beingjust
wide enough to allow some distance between yourself and the other
An RE460 locomotive people around you. The wait for the train is calm and comfortable. It
crossing the Dal a Corge is absolutely clear when the train will arrive, so you can fill the remain-
on the bridge of the see
Simplon Line at a speed of ing time checking some emails or calling someone to report your safe
160 km/h. Passengers on arrival. On the dot, the train enters the station, silently, as iffloating.
the train see daylight for
a mere two seconds when
As it stops, it doesn't make the slightest noise, and the doors seem to
the train passes from one open with a sigh of expectation (gone is the sound of decompression
tunnel to the other so familiar from trains all over the globe). Everyone boards the train
(Photo by Ceorge Triib)
one by one, softly talking. In only a few minutes, you will be able to
change trains in order to reach your final destination.
Smooth
Because of its infrastructure, Switzerland has become completely flat
despite its naturally rugged postcard appearance. Over the last decade,
16
30.5 bi Ilion Swiss franc s or
of 40 train trips per person per year compared with just 21 in Germany, 19.B bi llion euro. Information
14 in France and 8 in Italy, voted for this major program of improve- on the Bahn 2000 program
can be found on t he
ments in a referendum in 1987, and in another referendum promoting fo llowing websites: http://
new Transalpine rail routes in 1992. Bahn 2000 aims to offer at least www.railway-technology.
half-hourly frequency on major routes, a 15% cut in travel time between com/ projects/switzerland/;
http://www.sbb.ch; http://
major cities, new trains and improved station facilities. Thanks to bet- www.swissworld.org/en/
ter signalling, train headway on very busy lines can be reduced from switzerland/swiss_specials/
swiss_trains/rail_2000/;
3 to 2 minutes, boosting line capacity by 30%. Tilting train technol-
http://www.alptransit.ch.
ogy and double-decker trains offer higher speeds and about one third
more seating capacity than conventional carriages, thereby making 2
Born in Switzerland in
platform extensions and station remodeling unnecessary. 1928, Andre Corboz studied
The plans for better international connections via new shortened law at the university in
and higher-capacity transalpine rail routes using tunnels at Gotthard Geneva, and over time he
became interested in the
(57 km) and Lotschberg (35 km) are well under way. On 23 March city·s history. From 1980 to
2011, the miners excavated the last metres of rock in the west tunnel 1993, he held the chair of
history of urbanism at the
between Faido and Sedrun, meaning that both single-track tunnels ETH in Zurich. The key text
of the Gotthard Base Tunnel are therefore completely drilled over a in which Corboz coi ns the
continuous length of 57 kilometres. The world's longest tunnel, it term "hypercity" was his
article "La Suisse com me
should become operational at the end of 2016. hyperville", Le Visiteur, no.
AlpTransit Gotthard is creating a flat rail link for future travel 6 (2000).
through the Alps. The travel time between Basel and Milan will be 3
hours and 45 minutes, 90 minutes less than it takes today. The topog-
raphy of Switzerland has been contracted and deformed by time.
Despite the way it looks, this country has acquired all the character-
istics of "the field", not in a formal sense, but in a temporal one.
The metropolis that is resulting from this process has been
described by Andre Corboz as "hyperville": a city that is like a hyper-
text, offering links that cross from one location to another in one
straight move.2 The once distinct realms of the urban and the rural
have mutated into a territory in which the rural is contained within
the urban, and vice versa. This territory - built according to a variety
oflogics, and therefore difficult to define and comprehend - is largely
dependent on transport.
If urbanization is considered to be the adoption of a certain
way of life and a collection of social habits, then it is inevitable that
the experiences connected with this type of urban environment
have changed, too. Once the spatial environment of the city has
been replaced by the temporal environment of transport, this will
17
l
3 undoubtedly affect the experiences - and state of mind - of residents
Reyner Ban ham, Los Angeles: over the course of time.
The Architecture of Four
Ecologies (New York: Harper Of course, the experience of transport is an aspect of the classic
and Row, 1971). metropolis as well. The psychological pressure of taking the metro in
Paris or the subway in New York is an intrinsic part of the urban expe-
rience. Once described by Reyner Banham as the "appalling contrast
between physical contact and psychological separation in the crowds
herded shoulder to shoulder in a public transportation system",3 the
classic metropolitan transportation experience is one that heightens
the pressure of the metropolis to the point of unbearability.
In Switzerland, however, this is different. Another look at the Bahn
2000 programme shows a major focus on new rolling stock. The new
locomotives that support the programme are especially developed
by Pininfarina, the famous designer of super sports cars. Like most
Ferraris, the new Re 460 locomotives are built to be state-of-the-art
technology (and red, too!). Later, double-decker passenger cars were
made to match these engines, which were dubbed IC 2000. Together,
they provide inter-city travellers with a regular top speed of 200 kilo-
metres per hour.
With the use of these machines, transportation and speed are
under control in Switzerland, and travel has no physical impact and
creates no psychological or social tension. It's smooth to the point
of rendering travellers numb. Travelling is no longer an experience;
instead, it is a convenience, a routine, a gap in time.
Rough
In this context of infrastructural perfection, the presence of build-
ings that offer intense tactile experiences seems inevitable. In the
intimacy of the home, there is a need to replenish this lack of physi-
cality: the imaginary needs the tactile - the real - upon which to feed
and ground itself.
Switzerland and its architects have excelled in producing envi-
ronments that take the physical and material reality of spaces to the
extreme. The art of architecture has turned into the mastering of a
double agenda: supreme skill in the material construction of the build-
ing (backed by a high-preformance crafts-based building industry) and
the exercise of perfect control over the sensorial experience generated
by the architectural interiors.
The man who best embodies the prototypical Swiss architect is
Peter Zumthor. His image is globally exported and present, not in the
18
form of actual buildings, of which he has built only a few, but in terms 4
Peter Zumthor was
of his attitude. An architect from Basel,4 Zumthor gradually refined
born in 1943 in Basel,
his skill by focusing on a limited number of buildings over a very long where he studied at t he
period of time, arriving at marvellous and idiosyncratic results in each Kunstgewerbeschule. He
currently works o ut of his
case. Over the course of his career, it can hardly be a coincidence that small studio with around
this architect moved his base of operations from the more urban city thirty em ployees in the town
of Haldenstein, Switzerland.
of Basel to the archetypically rural area of Graubunden, reinventing
He is the winner of t he 2009
himself as the uber-craftsman along the way. Pritzker Prize.
His most famous project, the thermal baths in Vais, is a building
5
where time seems to stand still - a space dedicated to calm, reflection This project description of
and perspective, and a veritable haven from the pressures of mod- the secular retreat in South
ern life. 5 The space itself is designed to create a direct confrontation Devon in the UK is similar to
the project in Vais.
between the body of the visitor and the physicality of the stone, an expe-
rience that is best Jived when the place is sparsely populated. Crowds 6
Quintus Miller was born in
don't help the atmosphere of contemplation that the architecture so
1961 in Aarau a nd studied
masterfully creates. In this project, the collective experience of visi- architecture at the ETH in
tors is far removed from that of the public thermal baths in Istanbul Zurich. Since 1994 he and
Paola Ma ra nta have headed
or ancient Rome. In Vais, the collective experience operates more on up the architectural firm
the level of fantasy: a shared desire for retreat and permanence. In Miller 8: Maranta in Basel.
this sense, the thermal baths in Vais exude the same sense oflongev-
7
ity promised by the Swiss watches advertised along the travelators at Interview with Quintus
the Zurich airport. Miller by Job Floris and Anne
Holtrop, 31 March 2008,
Basel, published in Oose 76
Memory as "Tradition Is to Feed the
Swiss architect Quintus Miller has described the way in which an envi- Fire, Not to Preserve the
Ashes:·
ronment can be made to trigger a shared experience in the mind of its
users as Stimmung. 6 Technically, this concept can be understood as
the artful craft of tuning a space through the exploitation of materi-
als, proportion and light. As Miller himself has said, "[T]o work in a
context is to look around, to know the context and then to look for the
essences you can find in this context. We work like perfumers. We are
using these essences, mixing them together into a new perfume."7
Although this quote might sound a bit superficial when taken out
of its original context, it is important to realize the goal of the process
Miller describes. The aim is not to "play with atmospheres". In this
sense, the concept should not be misunderstood as being along the
Jines of "place making", which is more of a branding strategy aimed at
deliberately staging atmospheres. In Miller's words, "Stimmung is not
the same thing as atmosphere. It is a typically German word. It means
'to tune'. Oust] as you tune a violin to the right key, we tune a space to
19
 the right atmosphere. That's a small, but I think important, difference: Swiss hypercity represents the first instance in human history in 8
to find the right key for the perception and the use of the space. We which there is such a dramatic gap between the territorial reality and Some architects agree
with this po int of view and
are designing space through proportions, material use and light. But its mental representation. From an urbanistic point ofview, he claims radically turn their heads in
that's not enough. You need more. Every space creates associations in that the eventual awakening from the Swiss dream will be tragic. another direction. One such
case is the architectural
your memory. And we try to awaken this memory in you." Seen through his eyes, the promise of"analogue architecture" seems
firm ofEM2N in Zurich. They
This attitude creates very sophisticated environments in which flattened: it hasn't reactivated a relationship with reality, but rather don't get overly concerned
fantasies blend with reality. Although the environments created are seems to dwell upon the creation of a nostalgic future - a fantasy that about the exact fin ish of
their buildings. It is not
not collective in the strict sense of the word, they do share a clear set cannot sustain itself,8 instead simply indulging in the tactility of the that they don't put in the
of values that are culturally ingrained in Switzerland. As architects, carefully constructed image. effort, but rather that
An example of this is the recent publication Dado,9 which is about they do so only insofar
Miller & Maranta consider memory and human perception to be part
as it emphasizes their
of the material things they manipulate. In their work, Stimmung is part the house that architect Valerio Olgiati'° lives in, one he inherited own fetishistic interests,
of a strategy to make buildings that are at once ambiguous yet familiar from his famous architect father. Everything in the publication radi- namely the complexity
and contradictions of the
to the existing context. The goal of this process can be understood as ates the characteristics of Swiss architecture. The old house, a rural metropolitan environments
something that is simultaneously traditional and contemporary; it is building exuding authenticity, is sparsely furnished with a few well- they design. And t hese
chosen pieces of contemporary furniture. All of the pictures in the environments can be many
not to be historical, but to bring history a step further - to continue
things: with Swiss rigor and
it. As Miller himself has said, "tradition is to feed the fire, not to pre- book seem carefully constructed, zooming in on scenes rather than American pragmatism, EM2N
serve the ashes". spaces and allowing the viewer to indulge in the intimate atmosphere has designed projects as
diverse as subway stations,
Seen in this way, Swiss architecture and the Swiss railway are the of the beautiful house. One of the images takes this exposed intimacy
schools, infrastructure and
two sides of the same coin. Although the landscape is urbanizing at to the extreme: in the centre of the picture, there is a photograph of cultural conglomerates,
a rapid speed, this is being achieved without creating the traditional Olgiati's parents with a snapshot of a beautiful smiling woman next among others. According
to EM2N, the future of
image of the city. On the contrary, the future of the new Swiss city to it. It is clear that the architect and his wife are happy. Switzerland should be
looks like the old countryside: it is an accumulation of projects loosely Next to Olgiati's house stands a newly constructed office space more explicitly urban and
thus denser, which would
bound together by seamless infrastructure that is gradually moulded resembling a rural shed clad in dark timber cladding. In one of the
also serve to preserve
and shaped by architects and railway engineers (who are one another's book's other pictures, the rural fantasy is carefully depicted. It shows a some of Switzerland as it
mirror image) into a collective domain with a strong public image. street running down towards the office shed in the background. Inside is today: undeveloped and
unspoilt. EM2N is an office
The dedication and skill with which this is being done is breath- the building, the profile of the architect is clearly visible. To the side, of architects who believe in
taking. This is no kind of Las Vegas decor that makes one constantly something that looks like a dung heap prominently fills the image. contrasts. Keeping a part
The manure looks fresh, releasing a steam which imbues the scene of Switzerland unspoilt
aware of the scaffolding buttressing the mirage. Rather, these Swiss
means accepting that
worlds are carefully constructed and embedded within their context with a sense of mystery and nostalgia. This is Switzerland dreaming another part will have to
and topography: they represent a complex and multi-layered ecology. of what it used to be. be positively di rty. Rather
than craftsmen they are
What is outside or behind is out of sight, discretely and effectively dealt Looks can be deceiving, however. Another picture spread in the cultivated businessmen
with in other places (the most evident of these elements being the highly book tells a completely different story. On the left, there is a picture along the lines of Cordon
protected federal border). Slowly but with the utmost determination, taken from the ground floor of the shed-or better, from the floor under Bunshaft, the genius
architect-entrepreneur
Switzerland is turning into a Gesamtkunstwerk - a rough diamond the platform on top ofwhich the shed is standing. The space consists of who headed up SOM in the
being gradually polished to bring out a gentle shine. four concrete columns holding up an exposed concrete slab, which is g lorious 1960s.
surrounded by an offset concrete retaining wall. The floor of the space 9
Fantasy is simply made of tarmac. On the tarmac, there is a car slightly hidden Selina Wa lder, ed., Dado:
Built and Inhabited by Rudolf
But is it credible to claim that the radical urbanization of the Swiss behind the central core that leads towards the office above. Olgioti and Valerio Olgioti
landscape is in fact an evolving tradition whereby the existing is slowly In the picture on the right side of the double-page spread, two (Basel: Birkhauser Verlag,
2010).
being transformed into the future? According to Andre Corboz, the deck chairs stand in the sun that illuminates the gap between the

20
10
Valerio Olgiati was born in
1958 in Chur and studied
architecture at the ETH
Zu~ch.ln1996heopened
his own practice in Zurich,
and in 2008 his wife, Tamara
olgiati,joined his firm in
Flims.
22
retaining walls and the platform. All of the elements in the picture
are relatively autonomous: they are standing together, but they don't
seem to belong to each other. The scene is unfamiliar and even a bit
aggressive, and yet there is still something relaxed about the setting.
Although the link might seem farfetched, the picture's atmosphere
is similar to that of the work of David Hockney. Like in his L.A. paint-
ings, the emptiness of things on this tarmac plateau has an artificial
tension. In these pictures, the metropolis is just outside the frame,
and this changes everything; it gives the entire publication another
perspective. Obviously, this is not a space designed to be Switzerland.
This is the Swiss sensibility dreaming about Los Angeles.
Hyperlink
In a recent interview with Andre Corboz in the Swiss newspaper Le
Temps, the journalist wondered what Switzerland has become today.
Is it an informal city, a big periphery, an expanse of countryside lack-
ing a soul? When Corboz was asked - so many years after he coined
the word "hyperville" - what would be an appropriate term for this
nameless kind of diffused urbanity, he paused and blurted out "Los
Angeles".
The tarmac photo of the Swiss architect and the Swiss newspaper
quote refer to the same metropolis. Could this be a coincidence? Well,
there is no answer, just a curiosity about what will happen now that
architects have started fantasizing about the reality that urbanists
are already seeing.
Double-page photo spread
from Dado: Built and
Inhabited by RudalfOlgiati
and Valeria Olgiati (Basel:
Birkhauser Verlag, 2010)
23