Six lectures on Monument Preservation in Switzerland held at

South East University Nanjing, October 2008

Dr. Christian RENFER

Retired director of the office of monument preservation of the Canton of Zurich/Switzerland and Swiss national expert on

monument preservation, member of ICOMOS Switzerland

2 Zellwegerweg, Uster/Switzerland

Email : chr1943@hotmail.de

(English version translated by Firman Burke, Zurich)

First Part: Organization and principles (Paper 1-3)

Paper 1

(1)

The New Swiss Federal Guidelines on Monument Preservation (2007) and

the European Charta on Monument Preservation of Granada (1985) -

Practical Aspects of Monument Preservation in Switzerland

(2)

1. Switzerland as a Country in Europe - A Brief Introduction

Switzerland is one of the smallest countries in Europe and is not a member of the European Union. It

has 7 million inhabitants, i.e. about the population of a mid-sized Chinese city.

(3– 5)

The four official languages are a sign of the cultural diversity of Switzerland.

(6)

Historically speaking, Switzerland was formed as a federal state by many small sovereign states,

which in 1848 adopted a common federal constitution and thus joined together to form a national state.

(7-8)

There are two levels of political decision-making in Switzerland:

a. the level of the federal government, which bears the higher-ranking political responsibility, for

example for international affairs. For such matters federal legislation exists.

b. the level of the 26 cantons, which are competent to pass laws in many fields, for example in cultural

or building matters and the implementation of spatial planning. As a result, the cantons of the Swiss

confederation have much greater political independence and sovereignty than provinces of a

centralized state.

(9 -10)

(11)

2. Cooperation between the Federal Government and the Cantons in the Field of Monument

Preservation

According to Article 78 of the Swiss Constitution, monument preservation, as part of the cultivation of

culture, lies within the sovereignty of the cantons. However, the preservation of the architectural

heritage also affects spatial planning and building matters. Within the federalist state structure of

Switzerland there are therefore 26 cantonal offices of monument preservation, each acting according

to the directives of the respective canton. In addition, in the bigger cities city offices for monument

preservation aid the cantonal offices for monument preservation.

The federal government does not have its own office for monument preservation. However, as the

federal government is responsible for placing monuments of national importance under protection, it

appointed a commission of experts, the „Federal Commission for Monument Preservation“, which

formulated and published the new Swiss Federal Guidelines on Monument Preservation.

(12 -13)

The „Guidelines for the Preservation of Built Heritage in Switzerland“, drawn up by the commission

between 2004 and 2007, were published in the three official languages of Switzerland in 2007. In

addition, there is an English translation of these Guidelines in order to satisfy international interest in

these principles.

(14)

(15)

3. The Guidelines for the Preservation of Built Heritage in Switzerland

The Swiss „Guidelines“ are based on the common monument preservation practice, which has been

established in the 26 Swiss cantons over the last decades and which closely follows the principles of

the ICOMOS-Charta of Venice (1964) and the European Chartas of Granada (1985, on architectural

heritage) and Malta (1992, on archaeological heritage).

The idea of a Swiss-wide understanding of what a monument is dates back to the nineteenth century. In 1905 the Swiss Association of Heritage Protection (SHS), a private association active in the entire

country, was called into existence, and is still active today.

(17)

Since the 1960s an Institute for Monument Preservation has been attached to the Department of

Architecture of the Swiss Federal Polytechnical Institute (ETH) in Zurich which educates Swiss

architecture students in the theoretical principles of monument preservation.

The goals of the „Guidelines“ are a uniform definition of monument preservation in the whole of

Switzerland and, based on this consensus, a common implementation in the government monument

preservation offices of the cantons.

(18 - 27)

(28)

4. Fundamental Documents and Chartas of European Monument Preservation

We all know that documents containing basic principles of any kind are subject to political and

societal change and their practical implementation as a rule gradually makes their validity less

absolute. One notices this if one compares the first European monument preservation charta, the

Charta of Athens of 1931 with the European Monument Preservation Convention of Granada and the

UNESCO World Heritage Convention of 1972. Between the former and the latter two lay the events

of the Second World War with its traumatic destruction of culture, not to mention the very rapid rise to

economic prosperity of the Western world in the 1960s. The ICOMOS-Charta of Venice of 1964 takes

a special position among monument preservation documents. As a non-governmental declaration the

ICOMOS-Charta places its emphasis more on restoration practice and not so much on an international

codex of measures. (29)

(30))

5. The Convention for the Preservation of the Architectural Heritage of Europe (Granada 1985)

The main focus of the Convention for the Preservation of the Architectural Heritage of Europe (Charta

of Granada) of 1985 is different from that of the ICOMOS-Charta. The Charta of Granada seeks to

implement the idea of monument preservation by means of an international convention by making

common principles and common measures binding on the European states which have ratified it. By

these means the Charta of Granada‘s goal is a common European monument preservation policy,

much like the UNESCO Convention‘s goal is a monument preservation policy for the world‘s

heritage.

(31)

(32)

6. Governmental Monument Preservation in Switzerland

In order to fulfill the duties required of it by law, public monument preservation, set up in all 26 Swiss

cantons in the form of government offices, needs theoretical clarifications which sum up the practical

experience in individual cases. Such clarifications concern the definition of monument types, which

range from the simple farm house to the representative public building to the industrial monument.

However, they also concern the methods and concepts of restoring objects and, based on scientific

research and the description of monuments, the review of the preservation value and the gradual

classification of monuments from the point of view of art history. Since the cantonal monument

preservation laws demand a comprehensive inventory of the objects, the monument preservation

offices also have the duty of making inventories of the monuments and designating monument

ensembles which should be protected by spatial planning. Nowadays the preservation of the

architectural heritage is part of a comprehensive environmental protection, the goal of which is an

increase in the quality of life and the conservation of environmental resources (for example energy

policy). The testimony to history, as which the monument should be considered, is only fully

expressed by the preserved authenticity of its handed down substance, to which also belong the traces

of age and utilization. This means that the monument cannot be regarded independently of the time

and place of its origin. Translocation, reconstruction and copying are therefore rejected by all the

European Chartas. The European Chartas also all specify the principles of minimal intervention in

case of restoration, of attention to the historical materials, of careful conversion (adaptation of a

building for a new purpose), of sustainable restoration and of continuous care and supervision,

measures which must also be recommended for financial reasons.

(34 -35)

(33)

7. The Swiss Guidelines of 2007 and Monument Preservation in Switzerland

In contrast to the international charters the Swiss Guidelines are meant more as a theoretical basis for

the monument preservation practice. Whereas the Charters seek to encourage more international

collaboration, the Swiss Federal Guidelines on Monument Preservation are based on the consensus

reached in Switzerland in the practices of the government offices for monument preservation in the

Swiss cantons over the last 50 years. One must mention that public monument preservation, in the

form of government offices, developed in the Swiss cantons between 1950 and 1990. In the meantime

these cantonal offices master the entire spectrum of monument preservation, such as making

inventories, documentation, building permit procedures, points to be considered from the monument

preservation point of view in the implementation of spatial planning, media and public relations, and

training of qualified personnel. These offices though also pursue scientific research and the publication

of pertinent scientific results. However, the most important activity of these offices is to counsel the

owners of monuments and their architects and to supervise building projects involving monument

preservation issues. A training course to learn to become a professional monument preservationist

really does not exist in Switzerland. As a result, the monument preservation offices of the cantonal

governments play a more important role in practical training than the universities, this in great contrast

to the People‘s Republic of China.

(37 – 41)

(42) 8. Conclusions Concerning Monument Preservation in Switzerland and Europe

In contrast to the Guidelines of the Federal Commission for Monument Preservation the different

monument preservation laws of the cantons are binding for their offices. For example, they stipulate

an obligation of the government and the administration to bind themselves, that is, all the executive

organs of the state, from the cantonal government down to each individual cantonal office, have to see

to it that monument preservation is taken into due consideration in their various acts. This applies for

example to all instances issuing building permits, to the fire police or to the verification of

environmental compatibility but also to any exceptions to the provisions of the law.

The administration is obliged to grant exceptions if it is important for competent preservation, for

example allowing lower insulation standards for buildings considered to be historical monuments.

(43) In addition the law obliges the state to provide financial means for monument preservation on a

compulsory basis. This demand to finance monument preservation is based on the general realization

that society as a whole is responsible for its cultural heritage. The insight that this heritage represents

something irreplaceable for man‘s historical identity and environment has therefore been laid down for

over seven decades in the monument preservation chartas in Europe. Of course politics tends in the

course of Neoliberalism to have the illusion today, that monument preservation can be ensured solely

by private sponsoring. This one-sided opinion must be firmly opposed. On the contrary, as with

environmental protection, combining state obligations with private sponsoring - which may absolutely

be based on interests of its own - makes sense in the field of monument preservation.

An increasing loss of intact landscapes, places of interest, and building monuments would have a

negative impact not only on the quality of life but also on touristic attractively in a country such as

Switzerland.

(44 – 45)

According to the Swiss point of view, both public, that is state, and private owners of historical

monuments are responsible for their preservation. Architects, engineers and construction workers

engaged in building projects are able to influence the professional preservation of monuments, that is

their restoration, renovation and conversion, the most. The projecting team is granted the highest

priority as far as expertise and experience are concerned. In earlier times already high quality

construction was based on a certain prosperity, but also on the construction workers‘ and the

architects‘ well-founded understanding of how to build.

(46)

A suitable modern utilization of the monument promotes its long-term existence and in addition makes

continuous care possible, which represents the most economical form of preservation. Each utilization

however must have as its highest goals sparing the substance and sustainability and reversibility of the

intervention.

(47)

In any case the monument is to be secured by appropriate legal systems and technical building

measures in such a way that suitable preservation measures are also possible in the future.

(48-49)

Paper 2

(1)Devise (Confucius)

(2-3)

Monument Preservation in the Canton of Zurich as an Example of Civic

Monument Preservation in Switzerland

(4)

1. The Zurich Planning and Building Regulation of 1975 – Spatial Panning and

Monument Protection in a Unified Regulation (5)

In 1975 the Canton of Zurich created a new Planning and Building Regulation (PBG), which

superceded the regulation of 1893. Due to the rapid increase in population and the dispersed

development that was becoming apparent, basic spatial planning measures after the Second World

War appeared to be of pressing importance. The new Cantonal Planning Regulation not only

established the separation of building and non-building zones and the decentralization of settlement

development in the individual regions, but also took into consideration for the first time nature and

heritage protection concerns as well. In the new regulation also urban planning and building

construction are considered as two parts of the same matter.(6-11)

(12)

2. Questions of Authority between the Canton and Communities

(13)

In the planning regulations of the Canton of Zurich, a clear division of authority has been made

between the cantonal and community levels. The Canton thereby assumes responsibility not only for

planning matters that apply equally to the entire canton, such as traffic planning or general planning of

settlement development, including landscape areas, which are to be protected, but also for sites and

individual building monuments of more than local.

In 1979 the Government Council established the list of approximately 2500 building monuments of

more than local importance among all communities of the Canton of Zurich.

In 1980 the Government Council also established the 120 sites of more than local importance for

which the Department of Spatial Development is responsible.

The inventories of the Canton are reviewed and revised approximately every 10 years.

The 171 communities in the Canton have the duty to create inventories for settlements and monuments

of local importance. In this case the number and selection of objects to be protected are not stipulated

importance.

(14)

3. The Purpose of Monument Inventories

(15)

Inventories have, first of all, the purpose of creating an overview of the entire historical building stock

and deliver criteria about the extent and quality of the range of monuments. They form the basis for

governmental activity in settlement and monument protection. Since the greater part of property

ownership, and therefore also the greater amount of buildings in Switzerland are privately owned, the

state must specifically justify public interest in the conservation of a private building monument which

is to be protected. With the help of the inventory, the building authorities can, in individual cases,

justify protective measures for an endangered building monument. The courts in cases of disagreement

can also draw upon their expertise.

(16)

4. Monument Protection (17)

The Planning and Building Regulation forms the legal basis for cantonal monument maintenance. This

regulation gives only the great parameters as the definition of historical testimony, the graduation of

monuments and sites (cantonal level, community’s level) and the division of autorithies on two levels

(cantonal level, community’s level). For the execution of the National List every canton is responsible.

In addition, there are also controlling guidelines in the Swiss Federal Guidelines of 2007 and the

European Conventions for the Preservation of the Architectural and the Archaeological Heritage,

which have been ratified by Switzerland. The two resolutions for the Preservation of the Architectural

Heritage in Europe entitled Charta of Venice (implemented in 1964) and Charta of Granada

(implemented in1985) had for decades formed the guidelines for all European monument preservation

experts and restaurateurs for the professional and substantial conservation of building monuments.(18-

21)

(22)

5. The Function of Cantonal Monument Preservation (Canton of Zurich) (23)

The Planning and Building Regulation forms the legal basis for cantonal monument maintenance only.

In addition, there are also controlling guidelines in the Convention for the Preservation of the

Architectural Heritage, which have been ratified by Switzerland. The resolution entitled Charta of

Granada for the Preservation of the Architectural Heritage in Europe was passed in 1985 and was

ratified in Switzerland in 1996. This resolution is not only concerned with the retaining of building

monuments, but also with settlement structures (sites) and entire cultural landscapes. The Charta of

Venice, implemented in 1964, has for decades formed the guidelines for all European monument

preservation experts and restaurateurs for the professional and substantial conservation of building

monuments.

The Cantonal Office of Monument Preservation was created in 1958 in the building department of the

Canton of Zurich With a current staff consisting of 20 employees, trained architects and art

historians, the Cantonal Office of Monument Preservation fulfils its legal duties in diverse areas, in

accordance with established specifications.

(24)

5.1. Inventorization

The Cantonal office of Monument Preservation has the duty of reworking and updating the list of

building monuments, which was established by the administration of the Canton of Zurich in 1979,

and to compile a detailed description of protective measures for each object on the list. The historical

worth of a building monument can be supported with this description if it must be protected. (25-27)

5.2. Placement of Building Monuments under Protection Since the majority of buildings in Switzerland, which should be protected, are privately owned, the

authorities that must protect a building monument have to justify the legal intervention in private

property. That is, they have to equate the public interest in preservation with the private interest on

usage, and to reconcile conflicting interests. If an object is endangered due to building planning, the

Office of Monument Preservation develops relevant protective measures, which the government

subsequently enacts. The government then has one year at its disposal to decide on the formation of

definitive protective measures. The private owner can subsequently challenge the decision in court.

The Federal Supreme Court can finally decide upon the legality of the protective measures.

(28)

5.3. Restoration Monitoring (Professional Guidance) and Documentation

The Office of Monument Preservation is required to monitor the renovation or restoration of an

inventoried building monument professionally and to advise the owner without charge. Since most of

the building monuments are privately owned, the government has enacted a law in 1974 which

requires Parliament to yearly include financial means in a pool from which financial assistance can be

extended to house owners who are prepared to repair and restore their building monuments according

to professional guidelines. At the same time, Monument Preservation documents the building in its

condition before, during, and after the renovation and prepares a final written report. Often the

building construction is accompanied by scientific research. Source research, scientific age

determination, or technological analyses are the rule. Accordingly, in time, the experience of working

with historical building methods and materials, and the exposure to modern building technologies,

which can be applied to ancient buildings, grows. In addition the research into the source of building

damages also belongs to Monument Preservation know-how. Historical knowledge concerning the

development, chronological classification, and the typology of our building monuments is constantly

being expanded by the on-going preoccupation with the historical building substance.

(29-33)

(34)

5.4. Publicity

Publicity is an indispensable requisite in order to sensitize the broad public for the preservation of

historical building culture and to cultivate consciousness for historical tradition.

Naturally, every opportunity to propagate monument preservation concerns is used, even if this

demands an excessive amount of time.

Knowledge concerning economical use of the maintenance of cultural assets is still insufficiently

founded in financial circles.

Every year in September, in most European countries including Switzerland, a ‘Day of Open Building

Monuments’ is staged.

For this occasion, monument protection agencies organize collective visits and guided tours in

historical buildings, which on this day are open to the public.

(35-39)

(40)

Digression I: Private initiative for developing inventories of building monuments in the

19th and 20th centuries in Switzerland

In Switzerland the efforts to obtain an overall view of the architectonic inheritance in its entirety go

back to the 19th century, that is at the time of the first industrialization . At that time, the population

felt that the technical development was dangerous for culture and tradition. Diverse social groups

were therefore concerned with the preservation of works of art and archeological monuments, and

were more active than the state. In 1905 a private organization, the Association for Heritage

Protection (SHS), active in the entire country, was called into existence, which still exists today and

fulfills important assignments as a non-governmental organization (NGO). Additionally, over the

years private organizations and societies were formed which were concerned with the scientific

inventorization and description of building monuments in Switzerland and publishing their results in

book form.

The Swiss Institute of Architects and Engineers (SIA) began in 1909 to publish “The Middle Class

House”, a work which was arranged according to cantons, and up to 1937, had published 29 printed

volumes. This work has now been completed. (41)

The Society for Swiss Art History (GSK) started working on The Art Monuments of Switzerland (Die

Kunstdenkmäler der Schweiz), also organized by canton and have published to the present more than

100 volumes. The work continues. (42)

The Swiss Folklore Society (SGV) formed a special section in 1948 that was to publish a scientific

series called “Farm Houses of Switzerland“. The first volume appeared in 1965. To date 32 volumes

have appeared, also arranged by canton. Approximately a quarter of the ca. 40 scheduled volumes are

still outstanding.

These monumental, cumulative works, extending over generations, are supported financially today by

the Swiss National Funds and are still by no means finished. (43)

(44)

Digression II: Federal Building Monument Inventorization in the Swiss cantons since the

middle of the 20th

Century

When in the sixties of the 20

th century the cantons established their monument preservation

departments, they began with a legally binding survey of the entire architectonic inheritance. The

development of the federal inventories of building monuments, always with reference to the individual

cantons, has continued over decades and still hasn’t been completed. The object of this federal

inventorization is to identify those building monuments which should be protected. From the start it

was a selective review of building monument assets. The goal is that the most important building

monuments in all categories, from farmhouse to factory ensembles, and all epochs should be

contained in this inventory, which every canton individually prepares for its own territory.

In accordance with the individual historical and regional architectural development, rural cantons

have more farmhouses than industrial areas, while in contrast, the cantons with city agglomerations

such as Zurich or Geneva possess more industrial complexes or urban housing developments. Thus

the architectonic inheritance of Switzerland is spread over the entire country. However it is the

cantons that are responsible for its maintenance and each canton practices different monument

protection policies depending upon its financial power. The more financially developed cantons such

as Zurich have recognized that the last remains of the architectonic inheritance must urgently be

protected through legal measures and that the prerequisite for this is a well developed, scientific

inventory, while rural cantons profit from their still largely intact historical building stock and

therefore postpone the inventorization of their building monuments. However the uncontrolled

development of Switzerland continues at such a headlong pace that the inventorization and

maintenance of the vastly reduced architectonic inheritance cannot be allowed to be further deferred.

Cultural diversity is the greatest political challenge of Switzerland, but the collective will to act is

often hampered by the federalistic system, as happens in monument protection.

(45-51)

(52)

Digression III: The European Year of Monument Preservation and Heritage Protection,

1975, as Input for Monument Preservation

A movement in Europe to prevent the destruction of the traditional agricultural landscape by the

industrial development was noticeable already in 1900. In Switzerland, the Swiss Heritage Protection

Association was founded in 1905; an organization which worked for the preservation of the Swiss

cultural landscape and even today has an important function in helping to form public opinion. A

movement in Europe to prevent the destruction of the traditional agricultural landscape by the

industrial development was noticeable already in 1900. In Switzerland, the Swiss Heritage Protection

Association was founded in 1905; an organization which worked for the preservation of the Swiss

cultural landscape and even today has an important function in helping to form public opinion.

The interest in nature and heritage protection and therefore also for monument protection, was

intensified after the end of World War II in the European countries under pressure from the

industrialization and the overheated development of residential settlements in the large

agglomerations. Therefore, through the non state-run cultural institutions of ICOMOS and Europa

Nostra, the European Year of Monument Preservation and Heritage Protection was called into being.

This triggered off an intense, collaborative activity of private specialist organizations and civic

institutions in all of the European countries, and helped establish in the public awareness the idea of

site and monument protection as part of a comprehensive maintenance of the cultural inheritance. For

monument conservation, the Year of Monument Preservation meant an unheard of input in a time

when the belief in progress was still unbroken in broad circles of the population, and was intensified,

in addition, through a visible economic boom. At that time, all of the organizations of nature and

heritage protection as well as the relevant national professional departments for settlement and

monument protection worked together and carried out diversified campaigns to educate the public.

(53-58)

Paper 3

(1)

Considerations of a Swiss Monument Preservationist during a visit to

traditional villages in China – The Shaxi Rehabilitation Project as an

Opportunity (2-3)

(4)

1. My first contact with Monument Preservation in China)

In the year 2002 I had the opportunity to visit China for the first time, as part of a delegation from the

city of Zurich, and was able to take part in discussions with monument preservation experts from the

city of Kunming. At that time there was already a long standing concept for retaining the old city and a

monument preservation position had been created in the planning department.

(5-9)

I visited the city four years later, in October 2006, for the last time. To my surprise, most areas of the

old city had already been destroyed except for the Muslim quarter, where I was able to take the last

pictures of its destruction. I don’t know the background of this change, therefore I also cannot judge

the course of events. Clearly here development and preservation concept were diametrically opposed,

so that planning which could have brought about a building synthesis between the old city of Kunming

together with the developing areas was no longer possible. The reality of the city development in

Kunming was a real culture shock for me as an experienced preservationist

(10)

2. A new experience with Monument Preservation in China – the Shaxi Rehabilitation Project

(2000-2006)

(11)

If the view of Kunming had been my only experience with monument preservation in China, I would

have had a completely wrong picture of the possibilities in this country. Happily, as a guest of the

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), I was allowed to take part in a joint Swiss-Chinese

project in the province of Yunnan, in which completely different perspectives of old city retention

were put into practice. After completion of planning, the results of this project, which was

conceptionally an especially successful one, have become visible since 2006 in a first and second

realization phase (phase I: 2002-2004, phase II: 2005-2006). I would like to transmit to you some

basic thoughts and illustrate them with some pictures. However at best, visit Shaxi yourself – it is

really worth it !

(12)

3. A synopsis of the Shaxi Rehabilitation Project

(13)

3.1 Preliminary Remarks – from Switzerland to China

The Shaxi Project is somewhat of a role model for China in that there are similar rural cultural

landscapes with intact villages and traditional structure in other parts of China which would be of

value to retain as complete units and to develop further.

(14)

It is particularly the still intact areas of national minorities which demonstrate, on the basis of an

enormous backlog, a high rate of destruction in their traditional communities.

This destruction is not only visible because of large buildings but also in all of the small additions to

the buildings or dwellings, perpetrated without any consideration in the communities.

(15)

As a large country in which agriculture, different from European countries, still has an important place

in the economy, it is worthwhile to develop spatial planning with appropriate means. Different from

the booming cities of China (Kunming belongs in this group), in which the development threatens to

burst all seams in the shortest possible time, basic planning could be set up which could be sustainable

well into the next generations and could include a regulated and logical preservation of the overall

situation.

As a Swiss monument preservationist I was reminded strongly, when confronted with the situation I

found in the provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi, of the economic and planning situation which our land

had reached between 1950 and 1960 (before the mechanization of agriculture and before the huge

building boom following the financial boom) and which then, after 1970, resulted in the

implementation of spatial planning covering the entire country of Switzerland. At that time one

recognized the fact that the last remains of the historical building substance within its traditional

context could only be maintained by space planning means which included preservation and further

development while retaining the overall appearance. On this basis laws were created in Switzerland

which since the seventies has led to an effective, governmental monument preservation system in the

cantons.

(16)

3.2. Geographical situation of the Shaxi valleys in the province of Yunnan

(17) Shaxi lies to the west in the province of Yunnan, near the Yangtze River (Tiger Leaping Gorge) in

Jianchuan County (district Dali) between Lijiang and Dali Old Town. The valley is reached by

automobile along a lonely lane leading through a protected landscaped area. The journey there is very

impressive.

(18)

The Shaxi valley forms a broad funnel surrounded by hills, with an area of ca. 270 km2, in which a

political community unit with 8 villages and ca 20,000 inhabitants live. Shaxi lies on the old economic

route from Yunnan to Tibet (Tea and Horse Caravaning Trail)

The area belongs to the culture of the Bai Minority mixed with elements of the Yi-Minority.

(20)

3.3. Partner in the Shaxi Project as basis for an expertise specific Chinese-Swiss cooperation.

(21)

On the Swiss side there was the Institute for Spatial and Landscape Planning (IRL) of the Swiss

Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ) in Zurich which, as initiator and project author, had overall

control.

(22)

On the Chinese side the following took part: the authorities and planning positions of the province of

Yunnan and Jianchuan County, as well as the local town government of Shaxi, supported by the

ministry of Construction in Beijing. The control was by the county.

(23)

Active planning and the first implementation phase (Sideng Market Place) lasted from 2000/01 to

2006.

(24-27)

(28)

3.4. Financing the Project

(29)

In the year 2001, the Shaxi Valley was placed on the list of the 100 most endangered cultural artifacts

of the world by the World Monument Endowment Fund and was promised financial support for the

project. A financial division between Chinese and western partners (in Switzerland the Swiss Federal

Institute of Technology with support of the the Agency for Development and Cooperation, SDC).

Several internationally active foundations and sponsors also gave financial contributions.

(30)

(31)

3.5. The conceptual part of the Shaxi Project

(32-33)

The above overviews of the problems which were to be addressed in the project resulted in the

following subsections:

(34-37)

1. Marketplace restoration (Preservation of the building substance of the historical

marketplace and surrounding in the centrally locadted Sideng)

(38-41)

2. Village preservation

(42-44)

3. Sustainable valley development (The further economic development of the Shaxi Valley

with agriculture and mild tourism. Preservation of the beauty of the landscape and

surrounding spaces in the Shaxi Valley and a soft further development.

(45-46)

4. Ecological sanitation (Improving sanitation with ecologically compatible

(47-49)

5. Poverty alleviation (Taking into consideration the requirements of the population)

(50-54)

6. Events and dissimination (Promulgation and activation of the experience, planning, and

technical know-how which was gained in this project.

(55)

3.6. Goal and potential of the Shaxi Project

(56-57)

1. The Shaxi Valley should retain local agriculture as an economic resource.

(58-60)

2. The Shaxi Valley should open up a soft tourism based on culture and

landscape.

(61-62)

3. The living standards of the populace should be reached through technical improvements in

living conditions and improvements in the service sector

(63)

3.7. The results of the restoration of the Sideng Market Place in Shaxi

(64)

Centrally located Sideng lies picturesquely on the main river of the valley, reached by a beautiful,

arched bridge.

(65-67) The settlement is revealed as a –up to the present time– largely intact, closed village with a southern

entrance gate and narrow, interconnected clay houses, which are grouped around the old, picturesque

square, the Market Place. Two buildings dominate the square: the Xingiao Temple and the Theater

Stage. Only on the border, along a new street, are there several modern houses and a school. Many of

the older houses display facade paintings and carving

(68) The dominant courtyard house of the Ouyang family is striking because of its especially rich

decoration and its unadulterated spatial disposition. This house should receive special monument

preservation considerations.

(69)

The maintenance and revitalization measures comprise the following work

(70-71) Restoration of the Xingjiao Temple from the 13th Century

(72-73) Restoration of the Theater Stage with equipment from a local museum

(74) Restoration of the paving of the square and restoration of the rain water

channels

(75-77) Reconstruction of a dilapidated house as a test building for local

Building workmen

(78-79) Restoration of two courtyard gates with two test groups of building workmen

(80-83) Urban restoration of the remaining South Gate

(84) New construction of the missing West Gate from existing evidence

The restoration and reconstruction measures were part of the first phases which was inaugurated in

2004 and ended formally when the project was handed over to the local authorities in 2006

(85-86)

(87)

4. Further observations on traditional villages in Yunnan and Guangxi

(88)

In the years after Shaxi (2004 – 2007) I undertook several personal trips to minority villages in the

provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi.

It was mostly areas in which the prevailing construction system was of wood.

The dwellings consist of a frame construction with two levels, whereby the ground floor was mostly

open as shelter for animals and equipment.

(89)

On the upper floor which in many ethnic groups is hardly divided, one finds the kitchen, sleeping and

living areas

(90)

Such houses are of elementary construction and exhibit neither living comforts nor modern sanitation.

Even the courtyard houses in Shaxi are wood framed buildings, even though the exterior walls often

sheathed with unfired clay blocks. The houses in this area also exhibit very little living comforts

according to present day standards (and in the view of the town inhabitants). In the houses, conceived

as courtyard houses, all rooms open onto the courtyard. Here the rooms are separated from the outside

at the most with perforated doors. The doors are mostly open or are missing entirely. For Europeans,

this open art of living is unusual. They know only closed and differently utilized spaces: living room,

bed room, Children’s room, kitchen, stairway and hall, etc., the plans of which are still sufficient for

present requirements. The main measures in the renovation of old houses are mainly insulation,

improvements in infrastructure (electricity, water, drainage) and modernization of kitchen, bath, and

toilets. Public canalization is found everywhere, even in the villages.

In the villages which I visited there is a much greater discrepancy between village dwellings and

modern city habitation. Clearly, people striving to obtain new living comforts are of the view that the

old houses cannot be converted to present day living standards. In addition, the economic powers of

the individual families are not sufficient to enable them to take building measures which would bring

an increased living comfort. They attempt to obtain new dwellings wherever possible.

These constructively very clearly conceived wood framed buildings can be extremely well

modernized, in my opinion.

They are usually of a very sturdy construction and could be improved and extended using the same

construction principles. With the installation of space cells individual rooms and designated functions,

such as kitchens and wet rooms (baths, showers, and toilets) could be created.

It is readily apparent to the foreigner that the intact villages lie in extremely attractive, natural

surroundings, just as they were laid out centuries ago. This is touristic capital which should be used to

the advantage of the local inhabitants.

These villages are still very far away from the great population centers. However even now the first

encroachments are appearing through arbitrary and ruthless modernization.

In this area there are not enough funds to rebuild on a grand scale. Apart from the legitimate question

of general prosperity, a great opportunity for the conservation of traditional cultural values is

available, which in other areas of China have long been forfeited. A reckless touristic marketing would

be extremely damaging to this culture. These regions must be developed with other means.

The basic prerequisites for the conservation of the traditional building culture is functioning spatial

planning, within which legal parameters for monument protection can be implemented. Counseling of

the population in questions of monument preservation should be performed by trained architects and

construction experts. A prerequisite thereto would be specialist training in monument preservation,

building design, and the history of architecture. The training could be offered in the universities and

institutes as post graduate and post diploma studies, as is done in Switzerland.

The Shaxi Project could be a conceptual model for similar regional planning projects.

Second Part: Examles in Pracice

Paper 4 (Private historic facility) (1)

Object: Uetikon, Alte Landstrasse 119, Farmhouse of Regional Importance (2)

History and Typology:

(3)

The farmhouse is located on the eastern bank of the lake of Zurich, ca. 25 kilometers from the city of

Zurich. Wine growing is still carried out in this area and was, until well into the 19th century, the most

important source of income for the region. The building is a typical dwelling of a wine grower in this

area and originated, for the most part, in the middle ages. The large wine cellar, with its stone walls, is

easily accessible from the outside, which reflects its original agrarian usage. Above the wine cellar

rises a two-storey dwelling that is divided into three parts in the longitudinal direction. The two

southern parts form the two-storey dwelling, the northern third was the storage room in which the

wine presses were also placed. Probably a separate barn also belonged to the dwelling, since in this

area a traditional farm consisted of a dwelling, a barn, and further small ancillary buildings. The land

belonging to the farm was small and consisted mainly of a vineyard. A farm had at the most one or

two cows for family use. The wine was sold in the main city and formed the sole income of the family.

This farmhouse certainly belonged to a wealthy family since in the middle ages, where all houses were

built of wood, a stone façade was indicative of an elevated social status. In the 20th century, the last

occupants were no longer farmers.

(4-9)

(10)

Dating and Type of Construction:

(11)

Using dendrochronological dating, the age of the three main building stages could be determined,

namely 1383 for the cellar foundation, 1441 for the dwelling in wood placed on top of it, and 1542 for

the roof construction. In the third building stage a part of the façade was evidently replaced in stone

together with the attic construction. The year 1542, a carved in stone still attests to this today.

(12-18) The construction framework of the building consists of a two-storey system of 3 times 6 uprights,

which have been erected on a sleeper crown placed directly on the masonry foundation. This results in

three rooms in the length and two in the depth of the building. The walls consist of horizontal

boarding. Only the kitchen wall on which the hearth was placed is of masonry construction. This

technical change represents a typical technical innovation which became commonly widespread only

in the 18th century and reduced the danger of fire considerably. The original open fireplace was

replaced in the 19th century by an iron stove with a masonry chimney. The entire interior construction

is of wood. The most important room in the house is the living room. Only this room could be heated,

for here stood the only heating oven in the house, a masonry construction faced with porcelain tiles.

(19-33)

(34)

Importance as a Building Monument:

(35)

Between 1976 and 1979 an inventorization of historical buildings of supra-regional importance was

carried out which urgently dictated new planning and building regulations. In 1979 the government

established a list of 170 historical settlements (cities and villages) and 2500 individual buildings,

which were to be protected for the future through spatial and monument preservation measures and

were to be retained. This house is also mentioned on this list.

The house is classified as a characteristic wine grower’s dwelling in the region of the lake of Zurich

from the middle ages. The wood construction system is characteristic of the time before 1600. In this

area there areonly a few surviving wooden buildings, since here the newer buildings were exclusively

of half-timber or masonry construction. The majority of the still existing building substance, i.e. ca

90% of the total basic substance, originated from the three building stages between 1383 and 1542.

After this time, the house experienced hardly any larger changes. Even the interior construction

remained comparatively primitive until the 20th century. Therefore it represents a building and living

type which has been almost completely superseded by the modernizing of the last three centuries

(36)

The practical application of the natural scientific determination of the age of wood used in building

construction (dendrochronology), first possible since ca. 1970, allowed monument preservation to

determine the exact year in which the building was built. Since simple, private buildings built before

1600 are rarely dateable through building inscriptions, and there are practically no contemporary

written sources, this method is of particular importance for the monument preservation work of rural

building fabric. In the canton of Zurich, the number of buildings from the 16th to the 20th century still

forms a large percentage of building substance despite the enormous increase in buildings since the

industrialization of the 19th and 20th century, and forms the basis of the entirety of building

monuments. This is why the attention of monument preservation is directed toward exactly this type

of building substance. Still today, the villages of the Zurich countryside are molded by this building

type (even if the Canton of Zurich, as the largest agglomeration in Switzerland, exhibits at present an

extensively urban character) and it is important to retain such buildings in the total context of rural

settlements. For this reason the planning and building regulation of 1975 requires, in addition to the

protection of individual building monuments, also the protection of historical village centers of supra-

regional importance. This protection is to be ensured through appropriate measures in spatial planning.

(37)

Rural houses from 16th to20th century as basement forms of built heritage in Switzerland:

Traditional sites and traditional houses in the Zurich area – selected examples and typology of wooden

buildings (38-44)

(45)

Restauration and Rehabilitation:

(46) The farmhouse was occupied until 1970 by a family that was no longer active in agriculture.

Afterwards, the property was acquired by the adjoining chemical factory, to be used as reserve land.

In 1984 the gradual decay of the historic building became so clearly visible that a consortium of

inhabitants in the community of Uetikon filed a petition for its preservation with the local government.

In 1985 the local government had an expertise made by the cantonal monument preservation

commission concerning the importance of this monument. The commission recommended that the

building be retained as an important witness of the cultural history of the region of the lake of Zurich

and requested the government to place the object under protection by decree.

In 1986 the government placed the building provisionally under protection. Since the chemical factory

refused to undertake desperately needed maintenance work (for example the replacement of the leaky

roof) the government (that is the cantonal building department) awarded a contract to erect a

temporary, emergency roof in order to protect the substance of the building exterior.

In 1987 the government placed the building definitely under protection through another decree. The

owner took legal Steps against this, and tried to have the protection decree removed. However, in its

decision, the court defended the governmental protection measures. As a result, a demolition and

change prohibition was imposed upon the owner. No further measures to save the house were

undertaken. The provisional roof remained in place fort he following 10 years.

(47) – (51)

(52)

During this time monument preservation was looking for a suitable buyer who would be prepared to

restore the house professionally and to retain its use as a single family house. Since the owners kept

the price too high for many years, because they had bought the property to be used only for extending

the factory, no prospective customer could be found for a long time.

It was only after the reorganization of the concern, which brought with it out-sourcing of parts of

production, that the chemical factory sold the building on favorable terms to a young building

engineer, who thereby also took over the legal follow up of protection and restoration obligations. For

the financing of a building modification project by the bank, the new owner first requested a concrete

contribution assurance from the government.

(53)

Building Analyses:

As a prerequisite an architect was commissioned to prepare a conversion project which had to comply

with the requirements of the new owner and the conditions of monument preservation.

As a basis, the following goals for restoration and renewal were established:

1. The building will be used solely as a single family house. A conversion to a multi-family house,

which would bring the owner a higher income, would destroy the structure, and would cause

fundamental invasions into the building substance, for example through the construction of a fire proof

stairway.

2. Only the two previously existing dwelling parts will be lived in and insulated. The northern part of

the building will remain as a storage room and will not be insulated. Because of lack of space in the

dwelling, a bathroom in the form of an isolated box will be projected into this building volume and

will be connected to the dwelling with a door.

3. The attic with the original roof construction of 1542 will not be upgraded and only the missing

static stiffeners will be retrofitted.

4. The original framing of the primary construction in wood will be carefully repaired and missing

parts will be replaced with new wood (for example stiffeners or floor boards). Thus the original statics

of the building will be reconstituted. In no way will an original building construction in right angles

and plumb be aimed for.

5. The central part of the façade which was constructed of wood and because of widespread decay

cannot be retained, will be replaced with new wood and whitewashed as before. (Obviously one

wanted to present a unified façade even centuries ago, although one part of the façade was in masonry

and the other in wood.)

6. The building insulation will be built up in several layers on the inside of the walls and ceilings and

covered once again with the original paneling.

7. The older arrangement of windows with inner and storm windows will be reconstructed. Insulated

glazing will not be used. The window is an essential element of the expression of the building.

8. The old façade plaster work in calcium mortar will replaced where missing and will then be

whitewashed once again.

9. The roof was completely covered until 1880 with a very old type of clay tiles, which must have

been seen as a relic of the middle age roofing system. These tiles, with a half circle, arched cross

section, which are still widely used in China today, are in Europe the forerunner of the flat, handmade

clay tiles, which themselves were replaced in the 19th century by machine made tiles. A remainder of

stock was still available in the building before the provisional roof was erected. At that time they were

placed in storage by monument preservation.

10. The roof will be once again completely covered with these tiles, whereby missing tiles will

likewise be replaced from the material storage of monument preservation, which had originated from

earlier building demolitions.

11. All installations will be carried out through existing interstitial spaces or on the existing wall

surfaces. Therefore interference with the building substance through boring and excavations will be

avoided.

12. All the old parts of the interior construction will be retained and restored, such as wall paneling,

doors, floor board, stone tiles in the kitchen, and the kitchen stove.

13. A new stairway will be erected as a safe connection between the floors of the dwelling.

14. The existing, original kitchen will receive contemporary, built-in furnishings.

15. In the living room, the porcelain stove which was demolished during the period in which the

building was not lived in (1970-2000) will be replaced. The replacement consists of a valuable hand

painted porcelain stove from the 18th century which monument preservation is providing from its

stored materials. It was saved decades ago from a demolished building. It can be heated once again.

The living room, with old paneling from the 18th century, will thereby be upgraded once again to the

main space of the house.

(57)

Building application technology and adaptation for actual accommodation

(58-79)

The restoration was carried out on the above outlined basis between 1999 and 2000. The overall

specialist supervision was the responsibility of the cantonal monument maintenance department. The

state allowed a financial contribution of 30% of the building costs of approximately 2.5 million Swiss

francs. With the state subvention, the extra expenses of the restoration, in comparison with a new

construction of a similar size and the same building standards, could be approximately balanced.

(80-81)

Paper 5 (Public buildings) (1)

Zurich City, Main Branch of Credit Suisse, Paradeplatz 1 (2)

1. Importance of the Building Monument and the Building History:

Among the many public buildings of the cities and towns of the country, there are important private

banks which have public character. They supply mostly service functions. In the large cities, like

headquarters buildings, they stand out mostly through their prestigious building styles and therefore

even today are already classified as building monuments. This building category owes its emergence

to the industrial development of the 19th century, as Zurich became the economic center of

Switzerland. The two large Swiss banking concerns, UBS and Credit Suisse, have their original main

headquarters on the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich.

(3) – (4) The Credit Suisse originated in 1864 on the initiative of one of the greatest economic leaders of

Switzerland in the 19th century, Alfred Escher, who not only financed his own international economic

enterprises, but also worked toward the implementation of one of Europe’s largest projects, the alpine

tunnel of the Gotthard pass, through which, with its completion in 1872, the first north-south rail

connection became a reality. This shows how important banking became for the economic

development of the industrial nations of Europe.

(5) – (7)

During 1871, in an epoch of economic prosperity, Credit Suisse acquired a site in a central area of

Zurich, on the newly constructed main axis of the city, the Bahnhofstrasse (completed between 1877-

80), which led from the newly constructed main railroad station, constructed from 1865 to 1871, to the

lake of Zurich. Approximately in the center of this axis a large site offered itself on which the

prestigious main headquarters could be erected.

(9) – (17)

(18) Already in the 19th century, state architectural competitions were announced for great building

schemes. Credit Swiss arranged such a competition in 1872 between nine of the most successful

Zurich architects, one of which was the architect of the Zurich main railroad station, Jakob Friedrich

Wanner (1830-1903). The invitation encompassed not only a building program for the bank but also

for rentable localities such as shops, offices, and cafes. In addition the prestigious building was to aid

in beautifying the city.

(19) From 1873 to 1876 the horseshoe formed building complex was erected in a neorenaissance

style, with three wings and a main, 15 bay façade facing Paradeplatz. This resulted in a courtyard

building typical of city planning in the 19th century, with differentiated façade configurations.

(20) – (24)

From 1898-1901 a large banking hall for private customers, which could be entered from the main

portal of the building, was built in the free space in the center of the complex, replacing the post office

which had been situated there.

(25) – (28)

In 1913 the rear, fourth wing was demolished and a building wing with a new façade was evolved.

The project was designed by the architectural office of the Pfister Brothers, who between 1910 and

1950 belonged to the leading building constructors of the city of Zurich and designed many public

buildings and offices here. Afterwards, the Pfister brothers were for years the house architects of

Credit Suisse. They built additional new rooms, such as the octagonal room for security trading on the

ground floor (1913), the hall in front of the executive offices on the first floor (1931) and the board of

director’s hall on the top floor (1931).

(29) – (34)

For its hundred year celebration in 1956, Credit Suisse renovated the main façade, whereby the

sculptural decoration in Sandstone was partially replaced by cast stone.

(35) – (36)

From 1965 to 1970 many spaces, such as the entrance hall, were modernized and simplified in a

contemporary manner by the well known Zurich architect, Werner Stücheli (1916-1983). In doing so,

many important decorative elements of the 19th century disappeared.

(37) – (39)

After 1990, a further façade renovation was already urgently required and at the same time the banking

concern was looking for a new utilization concept since at this time a great part of the banking

administration was to be relocated. Upon closure of the main banking room, the entire ground floor

would be free to lease. The general executive offices would remain on the second floor. In order to

prepare a study brief for experienced architects, the real estate department of the bank was to clarify

the renovation requirements.

(40) – (41)

(42)

2. Reconstruction and Restoration 1993-2003:

In 1993 five famous Swiss architectural offices received a study request.

The goal was to open the bank up for the citizens of the city by reorganizing the no longer needed

Ground Floor with its large banking hall.

“This area should be exciting, communicative, expansive, and open“and should have an urban

character

(43) – (45)

Three projects were short listed. Since, with the exception of ”Atelier 5“, all of the participants

envisioned radical renovations, the bank chose this office, known since the fifties to be a particularly

innovative and stylistically confident architectural office from Bern. In its proposed solution, Atelier 5

took the original block border construction with its banking hall added at a later date as an opportunity

for the formation of a passage, open to the city on three sides, with a central, covered courtyard. This

concept was laid out on an orthogonal, modular grid oriented toward the main entrance. The original

banking hall was opened above as a “Cortile“ and the former courtyard façade was reverted back to

its original architectural design. Today the passage can be freely entered from three sides: from the

main entrance on Paradeplatz, from the side of the Bahnhofstrasse, and from the Bärengasse to the

rear. Shops and a restaurant are grouped around the courtyard and flank the passages.

(46) – 60)

As a second part of the assignment, Atelier 5 developed the technical infrastructure in the offices

above and gave the bank floor a contemporary, slick design. The decorative interior elements of the

thirties were implicitly respected throughout. A particular challenge was the redesign of the board of

director’s hall, since here the representative paneling and picture gallery of the former presidents of

the board of directors, had to be outfitted with contemporary electronic information technology and an

adjacent lounge.

(61) – (62)

The headquarters of Credit Suisse belongs to the highest level of classified building monuments in the

Canton of Zurich. The collaboration between monument preservation and architects was exemplary

and the generosity of the bank enabled optimal results, which completely fulfilled the functional

requirements of the owners

.

(63) Digression: a Second Building Monument of Credit Suisse:

The historical understanding of the concern as a traditional Swiss bank is also apparent in a second

building venture which was also carried out together with monument maintenance in two stages, 1991-

1993 and 2002-2003.

In 1991 the bank acquired a manorial estate, located in the township of Horgen, lying freestanding in

the landscape on a hill above the western shore of the lake of Zurich, consisting of a baroque country

villa from 1688 and a park with ancillary buildings which were constructed in 1911 and 1926 by the

rich textile mercantile family of Schwarzenbach, owners of an international group of companies. The

manor house with its rich interior decoration from two epochs (1688 and 1919) was to serve as a

reception building for guests of Credit Suisse and at the same time, a new building for an internal bank

advanced training center was to be constructed.

(64) – (73)

In the second stage, the former riding hall of the Schwarzenbach family (Mrs. Schwarzenbach was a

well known sport horsewoman) was to be converted into a lounge with banquet hall. Whereas the

spatial impression of the former riding hall was determined by the wooden vaulted ceiling, the

adjacent stall building, to a large extent unaltered, forms an architectural contrast to it. Its interior

spaces have been renovated uncompromisingly in a contemporary design, which has been

intentionally kept in contrast to the restored building shell of 1926.

(74) – (78)

At the same time as the building renovation, the bank award two commissions to international artists,

with the aim of creating a high quality, artistic landscape design. Dani Karavan, Paris, designed a

central plaza between the buildings with a marble stele in the center, and Beverly Pepper New York,

created a steel wall as a transition between the plaza and the surrounding free landscape

(79) – (80)

The restoration of the historical buildings was conducted by the Cantonal Monument Preservation

Department, who here, as well as at the main headquarters of Credit Suisse in Zurich, collaborated

with the project team during the entire reconstruction process.

Paper 6 (19th

Century Industrial heritage site) (1) Wald, Former Textile Factory “in der Bleiche“ (2)

1. The Historical Basis for the Industrial Development in the Canton of Zurich:

(3)

The Canton of Zurich belongs to the most important early industrial landscapes of Switzerland. Here,

at the turn of the 18th to the 19

th century, many textile factories settled on the banks of countless rivers.

Preceding this was the textile exchange from the 16th century, which was based on the manufacturing

of silk and cotton fabrics in the farms and homesteads of the region. The farmers received the

imported raw materials of cotton and silk from merchants in the city of Zurich (imported from Italian

and the Near East). The inhabitants of the countryside undertook the entire production process up to

the finished cloth in manual work for wage payment. The finished product was then sold by the

merchants on the great European markets. This lucrative textile business also allowed the Zurich

merchants to establish themselves in the financial sector, loaning capital to the producers, and in this

manner the Swiss banking industry was founded. Credit Suisse is a typical example of how a world

bank grew out of the textile transactions of a Zurich family.

(4) – (7)

(8) After the introduction of water power operated looms in the canton of Zurich around 1820, a great

number of textile factories came into existence. They became the backbone of the Swiss economy in

the 19th century. The first manufacturers in the countryside were the millers, since this occupational

category already possessed old rights for the industrial usage of water power. Through flourishing

business operations the factory areas were continually enlarged in the 19th century and new buildings

for textile production were continually built. The production areas exhibit similar building typology.

They are large, long stretched, mostly two-storey spaces with two or three rows of columns in the

longitudinal direction which could carry the weight of the heavy looms. The looms were placed in

long rows and were driven at first through a transmission by water wheels, later through water and

steam turbines, and finally through diesel motors. This is the reason why most of the buildings are

placed along the river banks, or at least near water power. The regular window division is a result of

the placement of the looms. In time, further buildings were added to the factory areas, such as a steam

building with high chimney, buildings for dyeing the textiles, etc. Horse stalls and wagon depots for

transportation were obligatory due to the national road network which had developed rapidly since

1830. The factory owner also had his villa also placed within the factory area so he could directly

watch over the work of the wage laborers. In addition, the factory also erected complete housing

developments to prevent the worker from migrating to the competition

(9) – (32) !!

The Swiss textile industry was world renown in the 19th and early 20th century. The largest

entrepreneur, the firm of Schwarzenbach in Thalwil, employed 10’000 workers world wide. The

second world wide branch of the Swiss economy arose out of the requirements of the Swiss textile

industry: the machine industry. At first this industry manufactured machines and looms for the textile

industry. Later, motors and utensils were manufactured and this branch became equally famous

worldwide, for example the firm of Rieter, producer of looms, which since 1970 is also active in

China, or the firm of Sulzer, which until the second world war was a worldwide leader in the

construction of ship motors and locomotives.

Until a few decades ago, the canton of Zurich was an industrial landscape. The two cities of Zurich

and Winterthur had continual growth thanks to industrial development. The traditional factory areas

are accordingly important as cultural monuments. They form interesting historical ensembles and most

of the factory areas in the canton of Zurich have been registered as buildings of supra-regional

importance.

(33) – (36)

(37) 2. Spatial Planning Preconditions for the Conversion of Factory Areas

Monument preservation lays particular emphasis on the retention and meaningful conversion of

factory areas, because since the sixties most of the textile factories have ceased production due to price

competition from East Asia. The factory areas are therefore under great pressure from economic

change and exploitation. Based on their size, they represent a large potential investment in densely

populated Switzerland and many factory entrepreneurs have changed to the real estate business in the

past few years, as did Sulzer, for example. The great work spaces of the textile factories have become

leading experimental areas for significant changes in utilization. Lofts and ateliers can be successfully

built into these spaces.

Since in the Swiss building regulations spatial planning is strictly differentiated into firmly established

zone characteristics – manufacturing firms can therefore only be located in an industrial zone or

dwellings only in certain areas exclusively reserved for habitation – industrial areas, which in the past

were used for production, must first be rezoned so that new uses can occur in these spaces. Therefore,

a useful planning instrument is the organizational plan in which the parameters for future usage and

for future allowable building projects can be established. For example, building density or volume

distribution can be stipulated. This is a complex process of decision making which must be filtered

down through cantonal and community jurisdictional levels together with the project designers.

However after successful clarification the most interesting new forms of usage and mix emerge. Very

often architectural competitions are established or study briefs commissioned, based on the size and

economic importance of such projects, which mostly take on city planning dimensions. In addition, the

planning of such projects is generally developed in stages lasting many years. Furthermore, the public

often takes great interest in the execution of these projects. The communities in which the areas are

located are generally directly affected because of spatial planning and fiscal considerations.

(38) – (43)

Monument preservation also participates in such experiments because the projects mostly deal with

important historical building complexes that significantly shape the cultural landscape. It has

considerably cultivated and accompanied countless promising projects in the last 20 years. It

participates in preliminary spatial planning, establishes inventories as a basis for development plans,

evaluates the varied importance of the buildings, accompanies concrete building projects, and supports

building execution financially.

(44) 3. The execution of Concrete Projects

We can present a few examples here. One of them is the factory area “in der Bleiche” in the

community of Wald. (the local name cames from bleach, is it: expose the textile on the sun)

(45) The community of Wald is a typical example of how the former farming village was transformed

into a downright factory town during the time of industrialization and at the same time its population

grew heavily. Dozens of textile factories settled in Wald during the 19th century. One of the largest

was the firm of Honegger.

(46) – (48)

The first industrial representative of the Honegger family was the owner of a water driven saw mill

north of the village. In 1857 he added a mechanical loom which was also driven by water power. He

thereby laid the cornerstone of one of the largest textile business empires. In 1873, Johannes Honegger

(1832-1903) purchased a large tract of land to the southwest of the village, with the associated right to

use water energy. Some buildings for the textile industry were already located here, namely cloth

bleaching building and a spinning mill. In 1873-75, the contractor erected a long, two-storey weaving

mill with an additional building containing an oven and high chimney to drive a steam turbine. An

office building was added in 1876. In 1875 Honegger could acquire two neighboring factories from a

bankruptcy case, one a spinning mill and the other a weaving mill. Subsequently this weaving mill was

shut down and worker’s dwellings were built inside of it.

(49) – (51)

Between 1887 and 1890 the great weaving mill of 1875 was extended and another floor was added. In

addition the weaving halls were provided with electric lights. After his death in 1903, Johannes

Honneger bequeathed to his heirs the largest cotton weaving emporium in Switzerland, with 1000

looms and more than a thousand workers. However, the peak level was overrun. The two sons led the

enterprise further.

(55) – (56)

From 1903 to 1906 they built eight worker’s housing units and added another large factory building as

well as a water tower which could be seen from a long distance and became the symbol of the

Honegger factory. From 1919 to 1974, the third generation managed the textile concern. During this

time difficulties in international marketing increased because of Asian competition. The Firm of

Honegger therefore transferred to the production of high quality fabrics and streamlined the production

flow. For this purpose the production halls of the firm were completely air conditioned. When

management was taken over by the fourth generation in 1974, the firm was converted into a stock

corporation. In 1988 the firm of Honegger, the largest employer in the community of Wald and the

largest textile factory in the Canton of Zurich, with 280 employees, ceased production.

(52) – (54)

The present owner, a representative of the fifth generation of the family, turned the business into a

purely real estate corporation and began to convert the various industrial buildings in stages to new

uses based on an overall organization plan for the entire area.

(55) – (57) The cantonal planning department, monument preservation, and the community of Wald working

closely with the owner developed the spatial planning basis for the entire area and enabled a good

mixed usage of the buildings. The spacious, former industrial complex now contains office space,

diverse dwelling forms, among them numerous lofts, a hotel and wellness establishment, and other

functions.

(58) – (72)

The present owner, Andreas Honegger recently restored the manor house of his family, located at the

edge of the village, for his own use. The villa was also built in 1851by a factory owner but was

acquired by Johannes Honegger in 1880. In 1906 and 1912, his son had a well known architectural

Zurich architectural office renovate the house and added a gardener’s house. The villa is, as are the

main buildings of the former factory, classified as a building monument of supra-regional importance

in the inventory of monument preservation. All planning, renovation, and restoration work from 1982

to 2004 has been carried out under the direction of the cantonal department of monument preservation,

and the state has assisted with financial contributions.

(73) – (76)