Francesca Facchini St. Moritz Bad: Osservatorio sul territorio

The alpine landscape that surrounds St. Moritz since years summons up lots of tourists, coming from all over the world to see its spectacularity. The territory is usually perceived in a glance with no obstacles between eyes and full nature. The aim of the project is to suggest a new way of observation, deeper and more punctual, focusing on some specific details into the alpine landscape.

The project is located on the lakeside of St. Moritz Dorf, in a privileged position, standing right in front of the mountains. Collaborating with the “Alpines Museum der Schweiz” in Bern, this observatory fits strongly into the frame of the lake. Studying the different areas of native vegetation and the most peculiar phenomenon of Engadine valley, five clear spots were detected into the landscape and the eye of observers is brought there: the freezing water, the natural bank in front of St. Moritz Dorf, the change between sub-alpine and alpine vegetation, the peak of the mountain and the famous “Maloja snake”, a thick and white fog sliding trough the swiss valley. Each view keeps out men’s presence, working only on the natural side of this place.

These five moments could be discovered one after the other getting up in the tower.

The project is made of two different and opposite ways, intertwined and alternated. The way up in the tower is a cold concrete path, made out of five rooms of observation and stairs connecting them, with optical views into the landscape. Once on the top of the tower, the visitor goes down into a warm wooden path, where museal explanations take place and explain the phenomenon seen before.

Going up the eye explores exclusives and unusual corners, that learns to know in the way down, within a journey focused on increasing consciousness of natural beauty surrounding us.