Project Mobility FS 2025
Student: Leo Schwinde
Advisors: Silke Langenberg, Maria Kouvari
A chair, a table, a holiday home, a hospital, a military building, a housing estate, a kindergarten, a school pavilion– the construction systems known under the name “HERAG” were used in a wide variety of ways in Switzerland starting in the 1940s. They were developed and patented by architect and building contractor Hector Egger (1880–1956) from Langenthal in the canton of Bern.
This research project deals with the “HERAG” systems, their origin, development, and use from a cultural heritage perspective. To document this largely unexplored architectural heritage, existing buildings are being systematically recorded and catalogued. The historical analysis, based on archival research and cartographic surveys, aims to shed light on the significance of the HERAG buildings for the history of prefabrication. Furthermore, the study evaluates to what extent the “HERAG” systems could serve as a foundation for the development of new, simple timber constructions in serial prefabrication.