»Swissness Applied« is part of a larger research project that focuses on the transformation of European immigrant towns in the United States. These towns share the common aspiration of preserving and perpetuating the architectural charm of their cultural heritage to enhance the social and economic base of their community. The project contributes to the ongoing discussion on the role of imagery and cultural appropriation in architecture and urban design planning.
»New Glarus«, Wisconsin is an example of one of these towns. Its’ architectural elements accessorize the building to create an attractive Swiss appearance for visitors. To curate the setting, the building codes describe typical elements of the »Swiss Chalet« style that evoke certain associations with familiar traditional Swiss building types. Resulting in an evolution of the buildings’ front from the 1960s’ onwards. »Wisconsin’s little Switzerland«, one of many themed towns in America, is the most advanced example of this generative form of urban mutation.
History
Spread across the American landscape are enclaves that exude characteristics of their European antecedents. Towns such as: Frankenmuth, Michigan (after Germany); Solvang, California (after Denmark); or New Glarus, Wisconsin (after Switzerland) have been culturally reappropriated by aesthetic guidelines in the building codes. Highly curated and containing imported historic forms of traditional architectural styles, they exude what we can identify as »German«, »Dutch«, »Swiss« or »Swedish« design motifs.
New Glarus is an example of one such town. Founded by Swiss settlers in 1845, it evolved from being a dairy farming and cheese production village to a popular tourist destination. After suffering through an economic downturn, it discovered a way of survival by embracing the image of its cultural heritage, particularly traditional architectural details, to appeal to tourists. In 1950, local businessmen, some native to Switzerland, started »swissifying« their commercial building façades to appear more Swiss.
Since 1999, the city has regulated the production of new buildings via its building codes, most notably »Chapter 118: Building Construction, Article II: Swiss Architectural Theme«, to preserve the »Swiss« aesthetic of the town. These building guidelines describe typical elements of the Swiss Chalet style that evoke certain associations with familiar traditional Swiss building types. It refers to Swiss design examples through illustrations in seven picture books and a collection of photographs and postcards. These images portray a variety of traditional chalet styles in the cantons of Switzerland, but altogether the collection simplifies many very distinct versions of »Swissness« in architecture into a composed style that is recognizable as, simply, »Swiss«.
Swissness Applied documents and projects on Article II: Swiss Architectural Theme.
Publication
Swissness Applied – Learning from New Glarus
Founded by Swiss settlers in 1845, New Glarus in Wisconsin evolved from being a dairy farming and cheese production village to a popular tourist destination. Following a grave economic downturn in the 1960s and 1970s, the community discovered embracing the image of its cultural heritage, particularly traditional architectural details, as a way of survival. Consequently, they began to change their commercial building façades to appear even more Swiss. Since 1999, the town has even regulated the production of new buildings via its building codes to preserve this particular aesthetic evoking the familiar traditional Swiss chalet style. Swissness Applied investigates the transformation of European immigrant towns in the United States, exemplified by New Glarus. It features the results of extensive fieldwork on buildings in the village as well as design projections based on the local building code and evaluates the outcomes through different representation techniques. Expert authors including Courntey Coffman, Kurt Forster, Whitney Moon, Philip Ursprung, and Jesús Vassallo contribute essays that pick up on aspects such as the role of cultural imagery and immigration history in architecture, and on Swissness as a cultural concept in particular.
Winner of the DAM Architectural Book Award 2022.
Edited by Nicole McIntosh and Jonathan Louie
Foreword by Marc Angélil and Cary Siress
Contributions by Courtney Coffman, Kurt W. Forster, Jonathan Louie, Whitney Moon, Nicole McIntosh, Philip Ursprung, Jesús Vassallo
Interview with Patrick Lambertz
Curator
Nicole McIntosh MSc. Arch ETH
Nicole McIntosh and Jonathan Louie are co-Founders of Architecture Office (www.architecureoffice.org), a Swiss American design and research practice based in Zurich. Currently they hold the 2023/24 Hyde Chair of Excellence. In teaching and practice their work examines how the dissemination of imagery produces new contexts that are composites of vernacular and imported architectural elements and styles. The work investigates broader effects of this phenomenon, acknowledges associated design challenges, and reveals characteristics that create other contexts. Their recent design investigations and writing examines the transference and fidelity of the Swiss image in the buildings of New Glarus, Wisconsin. A Swiss American village that constructs its architectural identity – built with materials from Swiss and American sources, some inherited, some acquired, some repressed. The initial investigations with this topic were made through teaching (Seminar at Syracuse University in 2017). The research and design work manifests itself in form of the traveling exhibition Swissness Applied. The project received the 2020 ACSA Design Faculty Award and an Interior Design Award (Honoree) in 2019. Their book Swissness Applied: Learning from New Glarus (published with Park Books 2021/22) was a winner of the 14th annual ‘DAM Architectural Book Award’ hosted by the Deutsches Architekturmuseum.
Support
Collaborations
Exhibition Design
Exhibition Team
Alexandra Allen, John Bryant, Philip Claghorn, Scott Krabath, Brittany Flowers
Fabrication Team
Aniekan Bassey-Etuk, Vivian Cheng, Jose Coba, Turku Colak, Dylan Crean, Deena Darby, Andrea Dominguez, Logan Froebel, Nathan Gonzales, Andrea Herrada, Amber Hou, Brittany Flowers, Jerry Yan, Spencer Young, Michael Lin, Weiqiao Lin, Reide McClain, Alaina Marra, Bram Monson, Ian Mulich, Kyle Neumann, Birani Nyanat, Toluwalope Onabanjo, Tanvi Rao, Silvio Renz, Ethan Russel-Benoit, Irving Shen, Heather Skinner, Hanneke Van Deursen, Kamila Varela, Helna Zhen, Ziyan Zhou
Website
Exhibition Photography
Angelika Annen
Brian Griffin
Michael Vahrenweld / Esto
Paola Corsini
