Engineers and architects

by Thomas Kadelbach

Thomas Kadelbach, né en 1979. Après des études d'histoire et littérature française à Angers, Fribourg et Madrid, il collabore au projet de recherche FNS Les relations culturelles internationales de la Suisse, 1945-1990. Thèse de doctorat sur Pro Helvetia et l'image de la Suisse à l'étranger. Actuellement collaborateur scientifique à l'Université de Neuchâtel.
, Thomas Kadelbach, born in 1979. Studied history and French literature in Angers, Fribourg and Madrid. Research assistant in the SNSF research project Switzerland's International Cultural Relations, 1945-1990. PhD thesis on Pro Helvetia and the image of Switzerland abroad. Currently scientific collaborator at the University of Neuchâtel.

architecture
engineering
Institute of Technology

Since 1930, an arched bridge of more than 130 meters in length has spanned the Salginatobel at Küblis in the Canton of Graubünden. With its sophisticated structure of reinforced concrete, it represents an innovative approach to bridge construction. It is one of the most famous works of Genevan engineer Robert Maillart, born in 1872. His decisive contribution to the development of reinforced concrete architecture is widely acknowledged. In 1991, the American Society of Civil Engineers accepted the bridge into the ranks of the most important constructions worldwide by awarding it the title of “International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.”

During the second half of the 20th century, more engineers, educated at the Federal Institute of Technology, among them Pierre Lardy and Christian Menn pursued the path chosen by Maillart. The most famous works of Christian Menn include the bridge over the Rhine at Reichenau, built at the beginning of the 1960s and the Felsenau Bridge, part of highway A1, north of Bern. In the Prättigau, again in the Canton of Graubünden, the Sunnibergbridge, an impressive and aesthetically pleasing cable-stayed construction, was built according to his designs in the years between 1996 and 2005.

Throughout the 20th century, the innovative constructions of Swiss engineers not only caught the attention of the professional audience but also played an important role for the Swiss image abroad. Pro Helvetia’s international activities transformed Swiss bridges, dams, roads, and hydroelectric plants into objects of great cultural value.

Civil engineering first appeared on the Foundation’s agenda in the early 1970s, when its Group I, responsible for cultural policy abroad, decided to create a travelling exhibition illustrating the most emblematic works of Swiss engineers. The exhibition, reproduced in over twenty instalments, primarily aimed at developing countries, was shown in South America, Africa, and Asia.

In 1979, Pro Helvetia once again used civil engineering to promote Switzerland abroad. On the centenary of Othmar H. Amman’s birthday, the Foundation collaborated in an exhibition shown in the United States, dedicated to the life and major works of the engineer who originally came from the Canton of Schaffhausen.

In addition to the engineers, also the architects occupied an important position in the promotion of Switzerland’s image abroad. In 1947, the Federal Council took it upon itself to define the distinctive features of Swiss architecture in its address to the first major exhibition of architecture at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London. Once more practicality and meticulous workmanship were aligned with the mentality of the nation.

In 1953, an architecture exhibition, organised by Pro Helvetia, started touring the United States. It highlighted modern Switzerland at the cutting edge of innovation in style and form. Presented in Gainesville, Austin, Acron, New York, Andover, Urbana, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Stanford, and Eugene, it continued to Canada and finished in South Africa in 1958, after showing in Ireland, Germany, and Poland. To increase the promotion of Swiss architecture, in 1968 Pro Helvetia sent exhibitions to the Soviet Union and other Eastern European countries. Because of the Soviet repression of the Prague Spring, this experience was not repeated.

In the early 1980s, Pro Helvetia arranged a major new exhibition dedicated to the most recent developments in Swiss architecture. Prestigious institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston and the "Hochschule der Künste" in Berlin welcomed it. Simultaneously Pro Helvetia supported for the first time projects of individual architects such as e.g. Mario Botta, whose work was exhibited in Europe and beyond from 1979 onwards. (tk)

Bibliography 
Allenspach, Christoph : Architektur in der Schweiz: Bauen im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Zurich, Pro Helvetia 1998 Billington, David P. : The art of structural design. A Swiss legacy, Princeton, Princeton University Art Museum 2003 Roth Alfred, Zur neuen Schweizer Architektur der dreissiger Jahre, in : Dreissiger Jahre Schweiz, ein Jahrzehnt im Widerspruch: Ausstellung Kunsthaus Zürich, 30.10.-10.2.1982, Zurich, Kunsthaus 1981, pp. 126-128 

Archives 
AFS E9510.6 1991/51, Vol. 266-269, 341, 859-880

medias

Othmar H. Ammann: an interview

Othmar H. Ammann (1879-1965) is one of the most famous Swiss architects of the 20th century. In 1904 he emigrates to the USA, where he is responsible for building bridges, some of which contribute to the characteristics of New York's cityscape. In a broadcast of the shortwave service SRG in 1951, he comments on the superiority of Swiss cutting-edge technology.

Article on Othmar H. Ammann in Historisches Lexikon der Schweizhttp://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D31280.php

Swissinfo Archives in collaboration with Memoriav

Othmar H. Ammann and the art of Swiss engineering

On November 14, 1931, Othmar H. Ammann inaugurates the Kill van Kull Bridge between Bayonne (New Jersey) and Staten Island (New York).

Billington, David P.: The art of structural design: a Swiss legacy, Princeton University Art Museum 2003, p. 94.

The art of engineering as export product

The Pro Helvetia exhibition on Swiss engineering also mentions the Rheinbrücke near Reichenau, a masterpiece of engineering, built in 1962.

Pro Helvetia Archives

"Schweizer Architektur 70-80"

In 1981, the exhibition Schweizer Architektur 70-80 stops over in Chicago.

Pro Helvetia Archives

Mario Botta

Mario Botta is the first architect whose work Pro Helvetia presents in a solo exhibition. In 1979, the cultural foundation allots 20 000 Swiss francs to the project. Subsequently Botta’s work is often chosen for exhibitions abroad.

Swiss National Library, poster collection

"Schweizer Architektur 70-80"

The exhibition Schweizer Architektur 70-80 is shown in Rotterdam.

Swiss National Library, poster collection

The Alpine dams

Pro Helvetia’s exhibition of famous Swiss works of engineering includes the dams in the valleys of the Alps.

Federal Archives E 2200.136 1994/132, Vol. 30

Le Corbusier

Architect Le Corbusier’s most significant works are exhibited by Pro Helvetia in Oslo, 1991.

Swiss National Library, poster collection

Herzog & de Meuron

The most important works of Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron are exhibited in Japan, 1996.

Swiss National Library, poster collection

Swiss architecture in Paris

An architecture exhibition is on display in the Centre Culturel Suisse in Paris, May 2001.

Swiss National Library

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