Seilbahn Albigna SAV

Vicosoprano - 2014

Description

Competition project

The Albigna cable car, owned by ewz (City of Zurch Electricity Authority), leads to Lake Albigna, a reservoir approximately 2,160 metres above sea level. The planned valley station is conceived as a monolith, whose form and geometry are derived purely from the cable car’s function. The simple, reduced, and abstract formal language, in which the façade development is minimised to the essential, gives the building an iconic presence. It is perceived as a striking public building, in part due to the placement of the main entrance on the ground floor facing the street. Inspiration for the material choice and the external appearance came from the archaic presence of the dam wall and the Albigna massif. Therefore, it was decided to clad the building’s shell with a robust material that exhibits high resistance to weathering. The use of raw steel corresponds to the concept of form, space and material behaviour developed for this location. In contrast to the rough exterior material, wood is used inside. Wood, concrete and steel are building materials that, in their elemental formsb as fir trees, gravel, sand, lime or iron ore are directly available in the region and thus establish a strong connection to the place.