Jakob Eschenmoser

Domhütte (2010)

Jakob Eschenmoser (born January 9, 1908 in St. Gallen , Canton St. Gallen ; † November 4, 1993 in Zurich ) was a Swiss architect and draftsman . He is considered the most important Swiss architect for SAC huts in the 20th century.

Life

Eschenmoser was born in St. Gallen in 1908. In his youth he explored the Säntis area. After studying architecture, he worked in Zurich, where he became a member of the Uto section of the SAC. He worked in Otto Rudolf Salvisberg's studio . He later ran his own architectural office with Georges-Pierre Dubois .

As an architect, he was able to combine his hobby and profession. As head of the Uto section, he was commissioned to build a new cathedral hut in 1956 . Further orders for new buildings and conversions of SAC huts followed. In the years 1968 to 1970 he was appointed head of the central smelter to the Central Committee of the SAC. Eschenmoser shaped the SAC hut architecture for thirty years.

plant

Eschenmoser was inspired by the Glarner architect Hans Leuzinger and his floor plan for the Planurahütte built in 1930 and developed a new hut construction style. Its snail-shaped, polygonal floor plan offered the sleeper more space and the hut could be built smaller than the one with a rectangular floor plan. With materials and design, he wanted to integrate the hut well into the landscape.

His huts were designed radically. The Domhütte (1957) and the Bertolhütte (1975) not only offered exciting rooms, but also a maximum of space with a minimum of facade area. Eschenmoser's influence on the hut architecture extended into the late 1970s, as shown, for example, by the bivouac at Grassen built in 1970 .

SAC huts by Jakob Eschenmoser

Coazhütte with extension

space-saving stairs, Coazhütte

1957 new construction of the Domhütte (1978 side extension, 2009 extension)
1959 Extension of the Voralphütte (destroyed in 1988 by an avalanche, 1989 new building in the same style)
1961 Expansion of the Spannorthütte
1964 New Coazhütte building (1982 side extension)
1964 new construction of the Bächlitalhütte (1980 conversion, 2000 extension with timber construction)
1966 Extension Salbithütte (1979 extension, 1998 conversion)
1967 conversion of Cadlimohütte (2002 enlargement)
1968 new building Carschinahütte (1985 conversion, 1993 extension)
1968 Extension of the Kesch hut (2000 demolition and new construction)
1970 New construction of Sewenhütte (destroyed by avalanche in 1973, new construction by Jakob Eschenmoser, renovation 2006)
1970 Extension of the Albert Heim hut
1970 Sustlihütte renovation (completely rebuilt in 1992)
1974 Reconstruction of the Sewenhütte
1974 Extension of the Täschhütte
1976 New Cabane de Bertol (2000 renovation)
1986 Reconstruction of the Capanna di Sciora

Fonts

About mountaineering and building huts . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1973, ISBN 978-3-280-00648-1 .
From Chur to Bergell. Sketches of building culture on old roads in Graubünden . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1979, ISBN 978-3-280-01128-7 .
Sketches from St. Gallen and Appenzell . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1985, ISBN 978-3-280-01614-5 .
Sketches from the Valais . Orell Füssli Zurich 1983, ISBN 3-280-01406-9 .
Ticino sketchbook . Orell Füssli Zurich 1981, ISBN 3-280-01294-5 .
Zurich sketchbook . Orell Füssli Zurich 1980, ISBN 3-280-01232-5 .
On the old mule tracks and pilgrimage routes in central Switzerland . Orell Füssli 1988, ISBN 3-280-01847-1 .

literature

Roland Flückiger-Seiler: Eschenmoser and new experiments, 150 years of hut construction in the Alps, in: Die Alpen, Bern: Schweizer Alpen-Club SAC 2009.
Swiss Alpine Club, Section Uto (ed.): 7 huts - 47 tours . Anniversary book for the 150th anniversary of the Uto section, AT Verlag, Aarau 2013, ISBN 978-3-03800-803-3
The new Dom hut of the Swiss Alpine Club 1957, architect Jakob Eschenmoser BSA / SIA, Zurich. The work: Architecture and Art, Volume 47, Issue 4 1960 online
Traces searcher: Jakob Alphons Eschenmoser-Müller, architect, mountaineer, SAC hut builder, draftsman and author (1908–1993) [1]

exhibition

The touring exhibition “2000 meters above everyday life” in 2016 focused on the construction of huts and bivouacs in the 150-year history of building shelters in the Alps.

Web links

Commons : Jakob Eschenmoser - Collection of images, videos and audio files

NZZ from September 23, 2009: Alpine Architecture Today
Raised ground floor from July 4, 2020: Jakob Eschenmoser and the Alps - two-day hike to the Coaz hut [2]

Individual evidence

^ Rudolf Galli: Eschenmoser and new experiments . In: 150 years of hut construction in the Alps, part 2. The Alps 8/2009. Editor of the Swiss Alpine Club SAC
^ The new Dom hut of the Swiss Alpine Club 1957, architect Jakob Eschenmoser BSA / SIA, Zurich. The work: Architecture and Art, Volume 47, Issue 4 1960
↑ Swiss Alpine Club, Section Uto (ed.): 7 huts - 47 tours. Anniversary book for the 150th anniversary of the Uto section, AT Verlag, Aarau 2013
^ Monument Preservation Switzerland from February 24, 2016: Exhibition shows the history of alpine hut construction

personal data
SURNAME	Eschenmoser, Jakob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Swiss architect and draftsman
DATE OF BIRTH	January 9, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH	St. Gallen , Canton of St. Gallen
DATE OF DEATH	4th November 1993
Place of death	Zurich

[1] Rudolf Galli: Eschenmoser and new experiments . In: 150 years of hut construction in the Alps, part 2. The Alps 8/2009. Editor of the Swiss Alpine Club SAC

[2] The new Dom hut of the Swiss Alpine Club 1957, architect Jakob Eschenmoser BSA / SIA, Zurich. The work: Architecture and Art, Volume 47, Issue 4 1960

[3] Swiss Alpine Club, Section Uto (ed.): 7 huts - 47 tours. Anniversary book for the 150th anniversary of the Uto section, AT Verlag, Aarau 2013

[4] Monument Preservation Switzerland from February 24, 2016: Exhibition shows the history of alpine hut construction