Publisher's Synopsis
Laba, or Laboratory Basel, was founded in 2005 as a satellite studio affiliated with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. Swiss architect Harry Gugger established the studio with the aim of offering a well-rounded education that will enable architects to understand the design and building process in its entirety, and thus be proactive participants throughout the building process.
Swiss Lessons is a speculative project of the students and teachers of Laba, who here imagine what Switzerland will look like in 2048, from an architectural and urbanist point of view. Extrapolating from current demographic trends, they analyze the potential effects of population growth on land use and infrastructure, and show how the pressures of growth will make boundaries between city and suburb, farmland and wilderness, more porous and complicated. Highly illustrated with photographs, maps, and plans, the book presents not only a carefully imagined future, but also the part architecture and design can play in making it better.
Swiss Lessons is a speculative project of the students and teachers of Laba, who here imagine what Switzerland will look like in 2048, from an architectural and urbanist point of view. Extrapolating from current demographic trends, they analyze the potential effects of population growth on land use and infrastructure, and show how the pressures of growth will make boundaries between city and suburb, farmland and wilderness, more porous and complicated. Highly illustrated with photographs, maps, and plans, the book presents not only a carefully imagined future, but also the part architecture and design can play in making it better.
