Culture of Construction

Contemporary Architecture
Graubünden is not only known for its mountains and tourism, but for its castles and mansions, medieval churches and paintings and the farmhouses of the Engadine Valley. Built upon this rich tradition, Graubünden has quietly and slowly grown to be one of the most important regions in Switzerland for contemporary architecture of the last 30 years. We will guide you to the most
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The Early Christian Period
The present-day Graubünden cover an area which is included within the much larger region of the Diocese of Chur and which in turn belonged to the older dioceses situated north of the Alps. The remains of buildings and smaller works of art dating from the 5th century bear witness to this long religious continuity. Chur was elevated to the function of the capital of the Roma
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Carolingian Churches
The region around Chur was religiously and culturally orientated toward the south and artistically still entirely under the influence of the ancient world up until the time that the Chur diocese was incorporated into the archdiocese of Mainz in 843 AD. Large, exceptionally well-preserved works from the time around 800 AD are found in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Cloiste
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Castles and Towers
The period between 1000 and 1300 AD was the high period of the nobility and centres for small principalities and estate alliances. In the course of the ’castle dying’ period of the late Middle Ages, most of the constructions were left to ruin and some were later restored as palaces. (Ludmila Seifert-Uherkovich) The oldest rising masonry walls which bear testimony to the pr
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Romanesque Church Construction
With the general increase in population and the consequence that building extended into the country, the density of churches increased in the Middle Ages. Small parishes broke off from the large country parishes of the early Middle Ages and were the source of numerous ecclesiastic constructions. One central enterprise during the Romanesque period was the building of the cathe
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The Waltensburg Master
For the first time in Graubünden an artistic individual, the Waltensburg Master, can be recognized and identified, albeit under a hypothetical name. Many frescoes - especially in churches in the northern part of the canton - from the time between 1320 and 1350 have been attributed to him and his atelier. These exemplars count among the most beautiful witnesses of courtly cult
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The Late Gothic Period
A building boom occurred in all of Europe during the second half of the 15th century and in the early part of the 16th century. In Graubünden new churches, chapels or at least new chancels and altars were the result. In connection with this, many winged altars from Southern German workshops were imported and can still be found in the Roman Catholic regions of the canton today
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Hans Ardüser
The schoolmaster, poet, chronicler and muralist, Hans Ardüser (1557 – 1617), was what one would call a prototype of a rural universal man. In the winter months of the time around 1600 he read „vil 100“ (many hundreds of) books and copied pictures out of them. He utilized these subjects in murals in private houses and churches. The murals are fascinating in their artistic inep
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Houses of the Engadine Valley
The Engadine house is given, to a certain extent, an iconic significance among alpine domiciles. The type of house, developed during the 15th and 16th centuries and built in the Engadine and in other neighbouring valleys into the late 18th century, lends an almost urban touch to the villages where they stand. At the beginning of the 20th century most of the buildings in Grau
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Baroque Churches
After the uncertainty of the Reformation, the ecclesiastical building of the Catholic Church experienced in the 17th century a similar upswing as to that of the Late Gothic Period. The churches, built in the High Baroque style - with their unprecedented grandiosity and splendour - were used in the service of the counter-reformation. The new architecture was also used in some
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Stately Homes and Mansions
Regional loyalties influenced building styles in Graubünden from the end of the Middle Ages. The mansions in the 16th and 17th centuries emanated originally from the local farmhouse then gradually progressed into an independent form. The mansion was developed as a response of the bourgeoisie to the aristocracy in the 19th century. Many historic town centres inGraubünden are
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Streets and Bridges
The construction of pathways and roads is one of the oldest tasks of civilisation. In mountainous regions it has always demanded an enormous effort. The difficult topography led to astounding feats of engineering. An example is the Viamala, first built in the Middle Ages and improved in the 18th century. Great works of the early 19th century were the north-south transit route
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Inns and Spa Hotels, Hotels
Inns of today are derived historically from the taverns, hostels and hospices of the Middle Ages. The building function achieved a new architectural quality after 1860 with the emergence of tourism. The spa hotels of Le Prese, Tarasp Baths and St. Moritz Baths were the predecessors of the mighty hotel buildings of 'la belle époque' especially in the Engadine, in Davos and in
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Settlements
The development of cities, villages and hamlets in Graubünden has been a century-long process. A certain planning strategy can be seen in the settlement projects of the immigrating Walser in the 13th and 14th century. Fire and natural catastrophes in the 19th century called for a systematic reconstruction and/or new construction of villages and parts of villages. In Chur in t
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Town Squares, Gardens and Parks
The town squares of old villages in Graubünden are most often simple in appearance, ameliorations of widened roadways or undeveloped properties, which have been identified by the construction of a well/ fountain. One is more likely to come across deliberately constructed ornate plazas in urban or park settings and touristic areas. Park-like cemeteries and private gardens are
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Rhaetian Railway
The railway route from Landquart to Davos that was opened in 1890 was the starting point for one of the most extensive narrow-gauge railway nets in the world. It provides access to many of the main valleys of Graubünden. The spectacular route management, viaducts and helical tunnels of the Albula Route in conjunction with the Bernina Route make a transalpine connection possib
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Regionalism
The rediscovery of sgraffito and the Engadine-style house in the late 19th century announced a newly awakened interest in local and regional architecture. The Bündner Heimatschütz, section of the Swiss Heritage Society, was created in 1905. It propagated a homeland style of construction and rallied influential architects as its supporters. A more liberal use of typical exampl
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Power Plants
The first large power plant that was built in Graubünden is in Campocologno, the Power Plants of Brusio AG (Public Limited Company), which started operation in 1907. The exposed pressure lines of Campocologno, as well as those of the control centre of the Power Plants of Graubünden (1922), made a massive impact on the shape of the landscape. Early attempts to cover dams with
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Modern
Various currents are included within the concepts of the Modern period. These are more or less closely connected to the Rationalism and Functionalism of the 1920s and 1930s. The so-called 'innovative construction' was avant-garde at that time. In the 1950s and 1960s, this idea of the use of simplified forms became generally accepted - often with notable success. Rudolf Ga
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Small Architectural Elements
Small constructions are something like the chamber music of architecture. In their case everything is reduced to the essential; often they appear to be models for bigger things. Such objects as wells, monuments, gazebos, garden houses, vineyard buildings and gate buildings set discreet accents. Small architectural elements include fixtures in churches such as fonts, reposi
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Additional Buildings and Works
The categories referred to here give us only a small portion of the constructional and artistic whole. Special attention should also be given to sacred buildings of other eras, of school buildings, city halls, trade and industrial buildings as well as their furnishing with such amenities as panelling, wall paintings and sculptures. Particular attention was given to the sel
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