Committee on Design

The Innovators and Maintainers: Swiss Innovation in Architecture, Infrastructure, & Technology

Basel, Lausanne, Lucerne: 21st - 29th September 2019
Add on tour to Vals: 29th September - October 2nd

The AIA Committee on Design International Conference in Switzerland is second in a two-part conference series about innovation in architecture, infrastructure, and technology, following the first in San Francisco and Silicon Valley this Spring. The Fall 2019 program will explore innovation in all aspects of the built environment in Switzerland, the country that ranks number one on global innovation indexes.

Switzerland is known for its superb infrastructure and richness of architectural objects. Innovative works by Swiss architects like Le Corbusier, Herzog & de Meuron, and Peter Zumthor will be toured as well as work by renowned international firms, including projects on Novartis, Vitra, and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Campuses. An excursion to Mount Pilatus will provide a spectacular experience of the landscape and infrastructure Switzerland is famous for, while an add-on tour will offer a stay at the mystifying Vals Therme Spa and visit to Zumthor’s Studio in Haldenstein.

How does the ‘slow and steady approach’ to innovation in Switzerland compare to the ‘disruptive approach’ of the American dream? This multi-city, traveling-conference program will focus a new lens on the image of innovation.

GOALS
1. To educate attending architects about advances in architecture, infrastructure, and technology as developed in Switzerland.
2. To present projects and topics in a local and global context.
3. To establish a dialogue between the two “global centers of innovation” about the role of architects in conceiving possible futures for the built environment.

SPECIFICATIONS
The Conference will bring 80 - 100 leading architects from across the United States to look at innovation in Switzerland. There will be three main city/ hotel bases: BASEL (Hotel Trois Rois), LAUSANNE (Hotel Royal Savoy), and LUCERNE (Hotel Astoria), with excursions to additional cities. A post-conference tour will visit the Alpine Villages of Graubunden. The conference format will be site tours and presentations led by topic experts as well as Symposium Talks.

SITES AND TOPICS
PROPOSED SITES:
Innovative Swiss companies and institutions: SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. EPFL LAUSANNE. NOVARTIS. ROCHE. VITRA. LAUFEN. RICOLA. AUDEMARS PIGUET. FONDATION BEYELER. MOUNT PILATUS.

PRACTICES
Swiss architects who changed the way we see the world: LE CORBUSIER. HERZOG & DE MEURON. PETER ZUMTHOR

TOPICS
Innovation in Urban Planning, Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Workplace, Digital Technology.
Disruptive vs. Incremental Change, Innovation vs. Growth, Instrumental Role vs. Communicative Role of Architecture, and Maintenance.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
In addition to architects presenting visited projects, the conference will also invite renowned speakers to present key ideas related to innovation in Switzerland:

Schweizweit: The Culture of Building in Switzerland
The Archaic Role of Architecture, Innovation and Incremental change
Swiss Lessons: How could 15 million people be living and working in Switzerland in 2048?
The Swiss Alpine Landscape, infrastructure design and ecological analysis with advanced Technology
Can Technology Makes Swiss Style Direct Democracy Scalable? Liquid Democracy technology named one of the World Changing Ideas of 2017.
“Urbaphobia” Territorial Politics, Innovation vs. Growth
Lessons on Infrastructure “Made in Switzerland”
   
As with all good films, some things end up on the cutting room floor.  Please make sure you make time to see the newly restored Heidi Webber House in Zurich on your own before or after the conference. Website : https://pavillon-le-corbusier.ch/en/