Teaching Team: Silke Langenberg, Stephan Bischof, Norbert Föhn, Elischa Bischof, Matthias Brücke, Sarah Gemoll, Fabian Kastner
Method: Analysis and design project in groups of two
Introduction: February 17, HIL
Excursion to Ilanz Monastery: February 24–25
Costs excursion: CHF 100
Optional Seminar Week: Workshop with Filmmaker Adrian Dorschner at Ilanz Monastery
Founded in 1865, the Dominican convent in Ilanz profoundly shaped the religious, social and economic life of the Surselva region for decades. Through education, healthcare, agriculture and welfare, the convent became a central institution in the valley. In the late 1960s, an era defined by economic optimism and belief in progress, the Dominican sisters commissioned a new mother house. Reflecting the renewed spirit of the Catholic Church following the Second Vatican Council, a strikingly modernist monastery was constructed in 1969–70 on the hillside above Ilanz. Designed by Walter Moser, the building is characterized by the clarity, simplicity and precision of its architectural language.
More than fifty years later, the convent stands at a decisive moment. From an original community of 200 nuns, approximately 60 remain. In response to this transformation, the sisterhood has initiated a process leading toward the sale of the convent, an opportunity to reflect on the building’s future use and to reimagine it in inventive ways. Ensuring its preservation requires new strategies, programs and spatial interventions. The existing building is perceived as an architectural and structural resource: a foundation for projects that explore new forms of communal living and working, while creatively reinterpreting monastic ideals such as community, contemplation, education, care and responsibility.
The semester therefore focuses on the future of a comparatively young architectural monument. The conceptual ideas of the building are examined in their historical context and critically assessed for their relevance today and in the future. A central question is how to work with the existing substance without compromising its architectural and conceptual clarity.
Ilanz Monastery is approached as a spatial structure in transformation. The investigation extends beyond construction, structure, joints and materiality to include programmatic organization, internal spatial logic and the building’s relationship to the surrounding landscape. Using the monastery as a case study, students engage with the principles of preservation, applying, questioning and further developing them. These analyses give rise to architectural narratives that respect the site’s spatial, historical and social qualities. The aim is to develop an architectural design across multiple scales, from the urban context to structural details, that engages with the existing building while expressing an own identity.
Throughout the semester, projects are continuously refined through models, axonometric drawings and plans. At the beginning of the semester, we will spend two days together at the Monastery of Ilanz. An optional workshop with filmmaker Adrian Dorschner (Robin Hood Gardens) takes place during the seminar week.