_melting views
Diploma project
Prof. Charbonnet
Prof. Heiz
SS 25
ETH ZÜRICH
Saas-Fee is renowned for its extensive range of outdoor activities throughout the year, from hiking and mountaineering in the summer to skiing and snowboarding in the winter. Situated at an elevation of 1800m above sea level, it is known for the opportunity to ski during summer months—an offer made possible by the enduring presence of surrounding glaciers.
Over the decades, Saas-Fee has continuously evolved and expanded its tourist infrastructure in an effort to maintain and enhance its relevance within the competitive sphere of alpine tourism. Feats of engineering form part of a broader strategy to make the extreme environment user-friendly and commercially viable, effectively transforming natural terrain into a highly orchestrated landscape of experience. While the infrastructure presents itself as a means to authentically access and appreciate the alpine environment, it arguably constructs a curated and controlled nature. Saas-Fee is only accessible by car. Shortly after the construction of the road from Saas-Grund in 1950, the village made a pivotal decision to remain car-free to preserve its traditional alpine character. Vehicles are stopped at the village entrance, Am Saumweg, marking the threshold between modern transportation and the protected core of the village. However the dependency of alpine tourism on vehicular infrastructure is inherent and led to a need for extensive parking infrastructure with a total of 1600 parking spaces. Embedded within the rocky terrain, the parking facilities serve as a necessary compromise between accessibility and conservation—allowing for large visitor volumes while maintaining the village’s “car-free” charme.
As tourism remains the economic backbone of the region, a radical departure from this main source of income is not viable. A more realistic approach lies in utilizing its infrastructure to provoke awareness and reconnection with the changing natural environment. The design incorporates both a hotel and residential housing, embracing a mixed use and thriving to push interaction between visitors and inhabitants. A slim steel construction, that is placed in front of the existing south-east facade, allows a fast and modular assembly and future dismantlement.
Oriented towards the valley, the units frame the mountain view, visually reconnecting the user with the changing landscape.
The overlap between cars and users is a slim buffer allowing for comfortable typologies while maintaining the connection to the existing structure. The ice stupa in the helix ramp is an exaggeration of the infrastructural effort to hold annual ice climbing competitions in the parking. It is implemented year around to stimulate awareness about climate change and shifting glacier volumes - growing in winter, melting in summer.
