werk, bauen + wohnen 4 – 2023
Continuing Building, Together
The region Geneva currently shows how more people could live in Switzerland in the future. Due to the restricted area available, for years the debate about density in Geneva has been very animated. In the intervening period the large housing developments from the 1960s have been renovated (Le Lignon, Vernier) or their density has been increased (Meyrin). The communities that border on Geneva are currently experiencing an enormous growth phase. An end is not yet in sight.
One motor of change is the new commuter train line, the CEVA (see wbw 12 – 2019). Around the stations the city is growing vertically. But expansion into the suburbs is also taking place on previously undeveloped land: for instance, the Ensemble Belle-Terre (see p. 16) close to the national border; illustrative material and a lesson for dense building on a greenfield site.
But one also sees many cranes in the skyline above the city itself. Here terrain that, at first glance, seems impossible to build on is being developed (for example the student residence in Champel, see p. 24) or new usable floor areas are being inserted beneath old roofs (for instance in the council hall see p. 25). Projects of this kind stand paradigmatically for continuing building the city and they show how quality can be achieved through density to the benefit of many.
In earlier issues we portrayed a number of implemented projects such as the numerous additional storeys (see wbw 1/2 – 2017), which one constantly encounters in looking at the appear ance of the city. Three years ago, the successful new harbour and the lido Eaux-Vives (see wbw 6 – 2020) were already a theme for us. In this issue the new Buvette an inventive steel building, is presented, as part of an illustrated stroll by Ariel Huber from Lake Geneva to the Ensemble Belle-Terre on the outskirts of the city (see p. 6). And so, an architecture guide is an indispensable part of this city issue (p. 24). For those under taking in-depth research before making a trip to Geneva it is worthwhile to look at the plat form and the films by Gvarchi of the Foundation Pavillon Sicli in Geneva: www.gvarchi.ch. — Roland Züger