Swiss Histories: Unruly Images of Switzerland

Abstract

Images govern our understandings of reality, transcending their purposes, media, support, and going beyond disciplinary borders. It is only by scrutinizing and contextualizing them that we understand the fragility of ideas they bear and the fundamental role architecture plays in this narrative construction.

Objective

Students will: • Understand and critically question the media environment in which architecture operates; • Question the fragility of the idea of Swissness in a longer-term span; • Familiarize themselves with digital humanities tools and glimpse how these methods promote new understandings of architectural history; • Learn about lesser-known architectures and challenge the canonical idea of Swiss architectural history.

Content

Tiny, neutral, rural, wealthy, precise, and timely are some of the many attributes (or stereotypes) commonly used to shape our ideas of Switzerland. However, to build (Swiss) histories and myths, attributes inescapably rely on images and their unruly dissemination. An 18th-century print of Wimmis Castle, a postcard promoting a new PostAuto route, the Zurich skyline featured on a poster for a Volksinitiative, and even the contour of the hills and Lake Geneva on a milk bottle all frame expectations of Swiss identity. Images govern our understandings of reality, transcending their purposes, media, support, and going beyond disciplinary borders. It is only by scrutinizing and contextualizing them that we understand the fragility of ideas they bear and the fundamental role architecture plays in this narrative construction. The course aims to characterize ideas of the Swiss built and unbuilt environments by means of its images and to understand the media context in which these narratives occur. In this course, we will examine the mechanics of media by mapping representations from the 18th century to contemporary photographs. Through the digital platforms, e-periodica Swiss journals online, Bilder der Schweiz online, Historia Helvetica, and e-pic Baugeschichtliches Archiv the course aims to explore the Swiss media environment to understand how it has instigated different ideas of architecture, cities, landscapes, and interiors that are also differently applied to the national ideas of Swissness. The course will consist of a series of short lectures followed by discussions. Active participation in class is required. The final assignment will be a brief research paper analyzing one or two images, which will be developed through in-class discussions and is due during the exam period.

Resources