Swiss Urban-Rural-Attached-Barn-Houses

Attached house and barn combo outside of Bäretsvil, Switzerland.

C. 17th century attached houses outside of Bäretsvil, Switzerland.

House and barn combo, in a town outside of Hinwil, Switzerland.

 

 

 

 

Shingles, St Benedigt Chapel, Sumvitg, Switzerland, P. Zumthor.

These houses are all in the towns surrounding Hinwil and Bäretsvil, about an hour and a half outside of Zürich. I am fascinated by the combinations of attached buildings - attached houses, house + barn combos, house + shop combos. The middle photo is a 17th century house, and was a form relatively common the area during that time. It makes sense - it's efficient in terms of energy resources, materials, etc - but it does require a different, more urban mode of dwelling. It seems strange, perhaps, to the American eye, to group everyone [including farmers] together so closely while leaving so much open space, but that's, of course, just the point. The landscape in this area is metered by a mostly steady rhythm of small towns, open fields, and forest patches, whose locations are determined by site factors [rivers, topography, sun exposure]. This arrangement allows for the maximum amount of land for farming and grazing usage. But, the fact that this pattern still exists is a testament to its success over time, and in a variety of economic climates.

Architecturally speaking, I love the house + barn combo. Again, material, energy, usage efficiency - but also, because different materials are used for each, there is a beautiful seam, or moment of contrast, between the two - between masonry and wood board-and-batten or shingle; where one remains white and pristine, the other weathers; one is painted over and built up over time, the other rots away and is replaced; one is for people, one is for animals; both are necessary for the other.

And so, lesson number #47 of field research: I went in search of precedents for the single family Swiss German Pennsylvania farmhouse, and instead, found urban-ish, hybrid use forms [and a corresponding land-use strategy] that were a lot more interesting. The question is, what made then leave that concept behind when they settled here in PA?