Entwurf V-IX: Panta rhei - Brienz-Brinzauls (GD M.Voser)

Abstract

New dynamic prototypes for the landscape of Brienz-Brinzauls

Objective

Basic knowledge in landscape architecture, developing an attitude, formulating a hypothesis, choosing appropriate design elements, designing and representing complex/dynamic systems and landscape spaces, large scale design, alternating between different scales.

Content

It rumbles from above and slides downward - the Grisons municipality of Brienz-Brinzauls lies in the middle of a landscape that seems to flow apart. The diverse geological dynamics on the mountain lead to landscape images that, depending on the perspective, oscillate between idyllic Heidi romanticism and menacingly harsh wilderness. But it is not only the classic vedute that experiences cracks; much more, on closer inspection, one discovers split buildings, dancing trees, and roads that are more reminiscent of a Lunapark than of the perfect traçés of Swiss infrastructure buildings. While the landslide on which the village sits has been quietly moving faster and faster in recent years, the 'island' above it kept the Swiss media on tenterhooks this summer: live tickers were used to watch how the inhabitants were evacuated, how the debris flow came down at night, and how the village could be revived after 52 days. With the construction of a drainage tunnel, geologists and engineers are now trying to slow down the dynamics of the mountain - an experiment with an uncertain outcome, especially for the village and its cultural landscape. In exchange with the municipality and the canton, we will face the many unanswered questions this semester and design possible answers: In the form of a test arrangement, we are examining various scenarios for the further development of this space and are thus embarking together on a search for the future identity of this centuries-old cultural landscape. How can it be further cultivated, what new natures will emerge and what added values for humans, flora and fauna can we generate? We are convinced that landscape architecture can mediate between geology, engineering, cultural landscape, village and man and is a means to design future-oriented transformation processes - always balancing between preservation, adaptation and laisser-faire. Finally, we see Brienz-Brinzauls as a prototype for the future development of Switzerland - here, symbolically, the question arises as to how we will deal with the increasing natural dynamics in the future and what our relationship to nature and landscape will be.

Resources