werk, bauen + wohnen 1/2 – 2023

The Good Métier

The present issue engages in a balancing act, as it were. In addressing the climate crisis nowhere else than on and in the ground is the gap between aspiration and reality quite so wide. Actually, if we are determined to build, we should do this in the way traditionally practiced in Japan, i.e., without really touching the ground at all, or if so, then only in a minimally invasive way.
This may sound inviting but it borders on window-dressing, given that throughout Switzerland regulations regarding car parking spaces still determine the amount of excavation and concrete. And consequently, to a significant extent, the amount of embodied energy. Unfortunately, there is little of substance that architects can contribute to this kind of automatism, except perhaps to influence their clients to accept a mobility concept to reduce parking space.
So, is all that remains the call for a good métier? For a satisfactory solution for the building plinth, which, if possible, minimises the impact of the new building on the surrounding landscape. And indeed, there is much that can be achieved here — from the intelligent embedding of a building to a more ecological view of the resource ground, to knowledge about reparation, if not improvements, to flora and fauna. If such an approach were to find widespread acceptance in design theory and applied in practice much would be achieved.
The price of werk, bauen + wohnen has remained unchanged for many years. From this issue onwards we see ourselves obliged to increase our subscription and single-issue prices. At the same time, we are constantly increasing what we offer. We developed the digitally readable magazine (with enriched content), the section «JAS Junge Architektur Schweiz», furthermore with werk-material.online as the largest data-based Swiss collection of buildings or books in the werk, edition — many of them available to subscription holders free of charge.
The price increase is a response to economic pressure in the form of increases in the prices of paper, raw materials and energy and postal charges. The decrease in the number of advertisements, something that affects the entire editorial sector, is a further factor. We want to continue to produce a specialist journal which is distinguished by quality, which critically follows what is happening in the world of architecture and also looks at important projects abroad: as an archive of good practice of our time. Here, we wish to take this opportunity to thank our esteemed readers for their loyalty. — Editorial office and publisher