The 240 meter long and 27 meter high curved and shiny silver building was designed by the Japanese star architect Shigeru Ban. What is special about it? The big part only consists of wood. Shigeru Ban’s specialty. With him, wood does not just take on a covering or protective function. He also makes the structure of the building a visible part of the architecture, which on the one hand creates spectacular forms, and on the other hand also makes the diverse possibilities of wood visible.
For the Swatch building, almost 1997 cubic meters of Swiss spruce were sawn. The natural material was not only chosen because of its sensual look, which definitely breaks with the conventions of classic office building architecture, but also to make a tribute to sustainability. The vision was to build as ecologically as possible. It is heated and cooled with groundwater, the electricity is generated by means of photovoltaics and the transport routes were kept short. A masterpiece of modern architecture.
