Franz Amrhein, Walter Maria Förderer, Peter Steiger, Avanchet-Parc, Geneva, Switzerland,1969-1977. © epfl-tsam, Claudio Merlini, 2020.
Avanchet-Parc in Geneva

an experimental housing scheme, an exemplary complex

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52200/65.A.Y1ZP6CEH

Keywords:

Modern Movement, Modern architecture, Modern housing, Post-war housing, Welfare architecture, Mass housing, Geneva modern architecture, Cité Avanchet-Parc, Franz Amrhein, Peter Steiger, Walter Maria Förderer, Experimental housing, Preservation of modern architecture, Renovation of modern architecture, Energy performance

Abstract

In the teeming context of the 1970s, the Cité Avanchet-Parc is an undeniably original achievement, representative of the approach – above all cultural – of a generation of architects who sought to experiment with new urban and architectural forms in response to current practice. The satellite precinct is also a sign of skillful construction, undoubtedly pioneering in the context of the 1970s and which is still today, half a century later, the essence of its relevance to the present. An exemplary experience, the Cité Avanchet-Parc today deserves renewed recognition.

How to Cite

Graf, F., & Marino, G. (2021). Avanchet-Parc in Geneva: an experimental housing scheme, an exemplary complex. Docomomo Journal, (65), 70–77. https://doi.org/10.52200/65.A.Y1ZP6CEH

Published

2021-07-01

Issue

No. 65 (2021): Housing for All

Section

Essays

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Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Plaudit

Author Biographies

Franz Graf, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Graduate in architecture from the EPFL (Switzerland), Full Professor of Technology at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio and Associate Professor of Architectural Theory and Design at the EPFL. His research explores modern and contemporary construction systems and he has published in major reference works. Since 2010 he has been President of docomomo Switzerland.

Giulia Marino, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Faculty of Architecture, Architectural Engineering and Urban Planning (LoCI, Brussels) and researcher at the Laboratory of TSAM at the EPFL. She is specialized in conservation of modern and contemporary heritage, and in history of 20th century construction techniques and building services. She has been Vice-President of docomomo Switzerland since 2015.

References

Chantiers, special No. “Avanchet-Parc Genève”, Geneve, Chantiers Magazine, June 1975.

FURTER, Fabian, SCHOECK-RITSCHARD, Patrick, Göhner Wohnen. Wachstumseuphorie und Plattenbau, Baden, Hier+Jetzt, 2013.

GRAF, Franz, MARINO, Giulia, “Modern and Green: Heritage, Energy, Economy”, docomomo Journal 44 – “Modern and Sustainable”, Barcelona, docomomo International, 2011, 32-39.

GRAF, Franz, MARINO, Giulia, La cité du Lignon 1963-1971. Étude architecturale et stratégies d’intervention, Gollion, Infolio, 2012.

GRAF, Franz, MARINO, Giulia, Avanchet-Parc: “Cité de conception nouvelle et originale”, Gollion, Infolio, 2020.

MARINO, Giulia, GRAF, Franz, “Housing Reloaded. Collective Housing in Europe, 1945–2015”, docomomo Journal 54 – “Housing Reloaded”, Lisboa, docomomo International, 2016, 4-9.

MARINO, Giulia, GRAF, Franz, “Une transfiguration silencieuse. Transition énergétique et patrimoine de la grande échelle”, Tracés, 142/5-6, March 2016, 12-19.

MARINO, Giulia, “Variations on the theme of Plattenbau. Heavy prefabrication and total industrialization in the experience of the Göhner housing estates in Switzerland (1966-1979)”, in Salvatore D’Agostino, Francesca Romana d’Ambrosio Alfana (ed.), History of Engineering – Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference, Naples, Cuzzolin, 2020, 869-880.