Location | Pilatus Kulm, Alpnach OW |
Client | PILATUS BAHNEN AG, KRIENS |
Commission | Competition on invitation 2008 |
Planning | 2008–2010 |
Construction | 2010–2011 |
Architects | Graber & Steiger Architekten, Project Architect: Philip Käslin |
Consultants | Construction manager: Jürg Gabthuler, Structural engineer: Dr. Schwartz Consulting, Cost management: Büro für Bauökonomie, Façade engineering: Metallprojekt GmbH |
Photographer | D.M. Wehrli |
The impressive, crystalline silhouette of the Pilatus massif was integrated into the design for the panorama gallery and developed further in an architectural form. The new structure is subtly fitted into the Alpine terrain and develops between existing buildings and striking rocky outcrops into an artificial topography. The polygonal, meandering ground plan and the gentle cross-sectional modulation are spatial strategies that evoke gentle transitions between the developed and undeveloped landscape. The polygonal connecting section choreographs a series of spectacular perspectives and breath-taking viewpoints, while also acting as a perceptive amplifier that stages the reference to the landscape to the fullest extent. The underlying crystalline theme of the volumetrics is also reflected in the structure, construction and materialisation, and is based on a hybrid steel and concrete composite system.
On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Kahn’s lecture 'Silence and Light', given at the Department of Architecture at ETH Zurich in 1969, this symposium looks back at the reception of his work at that time and considers its legacy today. Historians and practitioners have been invited to reflect on Kahn’s influence on their thinking and the effect that he has had on the forms, buildings, and ideas of architecture today. As part of the symposiums panel 'Town Planning - From Beaux Art to Critical Modernism', in his input-talk 'When Universality Touches Liquid Grounds', Niklaus Graber will examine aspects of contextuality in Louis Kahn's master plan for Sheerebanglanagar, Dhaka/Bangladesh.
Symposium with André Bideau, Roger Bolthauser, Mario Botta, Adam Caruso, Maarten Delbeke, Yvonne Farrell, Annette Gigon, Niklaus Graber, Marie-José van Hee, Sonja Hildebrand, Kathleen James-Chakraborty, Jaume Mayol, Shelley McNamara, Stanislaus von Moos, Elli Mosayebi, Werner Oechslin, Thomas Padmanabhan, Florian Sauter, Marina Tabassum, Helen Thomas, Martin Tschanz, Alessandro Vassella, Shamsul Wares
ETH Zürich Hönggerberg: 21./22.11.2019
ETH Zürich, Hönggerberg: 21.11.-11.12.2019