DOI Heft:
No. 93 (November, 1904)
DOI Artikel:Mobbs, Robert: Swiss architecture and the work of Edmond Fatio
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26963#0041
Swiss Architecture
simple, its facades, sometimes white-washed, or
showing the wood-work or partly covered with
wood-shingle. In certain cases the tints of
the window-frame work are ornamental enough.
The balconies, like those in the chalets, will
always be sheltered by the roof or protected by
small projecting roofs which may supply a
picturesque motif. The wooden house has to be
erected on a stone base of at least three feet to
protect it from the dampness of the soil and to
preserve the superstructure. The balconies of the
old Swiss chalet are always high up under the roof,
and never on the ground floor as in some modern
imitations.
The chalet Boissonnas (pages 20 and 21), in the
construction of which wood and stone are com-
bined, has a particularly interesting character of its
own. The Langlois chalet, which is illustrated
on page 22, is entirely of wood
reared on a base - work of
stone. It is rectangular in
plan, and is decorated inside
with Renaissance wainscottings
in keeping with its style.
The Fatio and Kunkler chalets
are much larger, and are con-
structed on a more irregular
plan. In all these buildings
four different kinds of wood
have been utilised—fir, pine,
larch, and arolle — either for
the exterior or for the de-
coration of the interior. Fur-
nished with every comfort and
convenience these chalets can be
inhabited all the year round.
The gable-roofed kind is only
represented by the Roussy chalet,
of a quite different form, recall-
ing to the mind the chalets in
the Canton of Lucerne. Stand-
ing on a steep side of the borders
of the Lake of Geneva, amidst a
wealth of verdure, it is not, how-
ever, out of place, and seems in
happy harmony with its sur-
roundings.
Constructed at a high altitude
in the Jura, in a rude climate,
the Villa Duval is of a robust
and severe style. In this case,
wood is only used for the frame-
work and the balconies. Along
chapel at cornillon e. fatio, architect the principal facade a spacious
25
chalets, in spite of the sobriety of their style,
present a richness of appearance. This, however,
they lose if the architect, as is too much the
fashion now, forgetful of healthy tradition, encum-
bers the facades with lace-like wood carving.
It will be seen by an examination of the accom-
panying illustrations that it was these mountain
chalets which inspiied Mr. Fatio in his happy
working out of the plans for the villas which
he has constructed in the neighbourhood of
Geneva. We here distinguish the two different
types of the flat-roofed and the gable-roofed
chalets.
The principles which obtain in the construction
of the wooden chalet should serve as guides in the
erection of the stone house. This, too, should
have a large roof (which is the main characteristic
of the Swiss house). Its decoration will also be
simple, its facades, sometimes white-washed, or
showing the wood-work or partly covered with
wood-shingle. In certain cases the tints of
the window-frame work are ornamental enough.
The balconies, like those in the chalets, will
always be sheltered by the roof or protected by
small projecting roofs which may supply a
picturesque motif. The wooden house has to be
erected on a stone base of at least three feet to
protect it from the dampness of the soil and to
preserve the superstructure. The balconies of the
old Swiss chalet are always high up under the roof,
and never on the ground floor as in some modern
imitations.
The chalet Boissonnas (pages 20 and 21), in the
construction of which wood and stone are com-
bined, has a particularly interesting character of its
own. The Langlois chalet, which is illustrated
on page 22, is entirely of wood
reared on a base - work of
stone. It is rectangular in
plan, and is decorated inside
with Renaissance wainscottings
in keeping with its style.
The Fatio and Kunkler chalets
are much larger, and are con-
structed on a more irregular
plan. In all these buildings
four different kinds of wood
have been utilised—fir, pine,
larch, and arolle — either for
the exterior or for the de-
coration of the interior. Fur-
nished with every comfort and
convenience these chalets can be
inhabited all the year round.
The gable-roofed kind is only
represented by the Roussy chalet,
of a quite different form, recall-
ing to the mind the chalets in
the Canton of Lucerne. Stand-
ing on a steep side of the borders
of the Lake of Geneva, amidst a
wealth of verdure, it is not, how-
ever, out of place, and seems in
happy harmony with its sur-
roundings.
Constructed at a high altitude
in the Jura, in a rude climate,
the Villa Duval is of a robust
and severe style. In this case,
wood is only used for the frame-
work and the balconies. Along
chapel at cornillon e. fatio, architect the principal facade a spacious
25
chalets, in spite of the sobriety of their style,
present a richness of appearance. This, however,
they lose if the architect, as is too much the
fashion now, forgetful of healthy tradition, encum-
bers the facades with lace-like wood carving.
It will be seen by an examination of the accom-
panying illustrations that it was these mountain
chalets which inspiied Mr. Fatio in his happy
working out of the plans for the villas which
he has constructed in the neighbourhood of
Geneva. We here distinguish the two different
types of the flat-roofed and the gable-roofed
chalets.
The principles which obtain in the construction
of the wooden chalet should serve as guides in the
erection of the stone house. This, too, should
have a large roof (which is the main characteristic
of the Swiss house). Its decoration will also be