ARCHITECTURE IN CONVERSATION WITH NATURE

Travelling through Switzerland gives Sourabh Gupta of Studio Archohm an insight into the simplicity and balance of Swisstecture

-  Sourabh Gupta

Post pandemic, my last two trips to Europe meant visiting Switzerland. The reasons being, firstly, it was the only country that allowed quarantine-free travel. Secondly, a fair bit of our design work is in Meghalaya and the Swiss mountain projects are relatable case studies. And third, it was the closest to where one wanted to be as the extreme opposite of being within the bounds of urbanity. These two trips brought me deep insights into this beautiful country that has largely been promoted by Bollywood in India.

Switzerland potentially has the harshest terrains for urbanity. Mountains and lakes punctuate the entire country that bridges the French, German, Austrian and Italian borders. The picturesque country is dotted with villages where the affluent reside, whereas the rest possibly move to the urban centres such as Zurich, Geneva and Basel. The Swiss landscapes are an exploration into the balance between convenience and comfort on one hand, and calm, composed living on the other. This balance between a slow weekend and fast weekdays is enabled by infrastructure and technology.