Press kit - Press release - Coverage of archaeological ruins of the abbey of St. Maurice - savioz fabrizzi architectes

Coverage of archaeological ruins of the abbey of St. Maurice

Sion, Switzerland

savioz fabrizzi architectes

Institutional Architecture, Institutional Interior Design

Sion, Switzerland, 2012-03-08 –

The abbey of Saint Maurice was built almost 1500 years ago. It is situated against a cliff in a section of the road between Geneva and the Simplon Pass. This particular site was likely to be chosen for its defensive position given by the cliff. However the planned fortification proved a failure due to rock fragments falling from the cliff onto the building.

Throughout the history rockslides had an important influence causing several damages: In 1611 a huge rock fall caused a convulsion of the abbey, 1942 a rock destroyed the cross-spire and portal-nave of the building. Those slides have constantly been occurring and marked the site throughout history.

Our project endeavors to demonstrate this particular treat of history. By suspending 170 tons of stones, it expresses the everlasting hazard the site had been exposed to.

The roof gives the interior a calm and almost contemplative ambience. It is built above the fundamental buildings in order to keep the dialogue between the facades and the cliff face.
The “stone-roof” serves as a filter for light and produces an evenly spread and regular illumination.

The architectural engineering of the roof contains of three king posts, which are anchored in the face of the cliff. The mass of stones put on top of the structure enables the absorption of windblasts.

Owners : : abbaye de st-maurice, av. d’agaune 15, 1890 St-maurice (CH)
Architect : savioz fabrizzi architectes, rue de l’industrie 23, 1950 sion (CH), www.sf-ar.ch
Civil engineers : alpatec sa, rue du léman 6, 1920 Martigny, www.alpatec-sa.ch
Draft order (date) : 2004
Achieving coverage (date) : 2009 – 2010
Cfc 2 cost coverage : 2’000’000.-
Photographer : thomas jantscher, rue haute 23, 2013 Colombier (CH), www.jantscher.ch
Area : 1400m2

PHOTOGRAPHS ARE NOT ROYALTY FREE, PLEASE CONTACT THE PHOTOGRAPHER TO NEGOTIATE USE FOR PUBLICATION:
M.Thomas Jantscher
[email protected]
Tel.: 00 41 79 341 48 10

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Also available in French

For more information:

www.sf-ar.ch/

Media contact

saviozfabrizzi architectes
Laurent Savioz, architecte
[email protected]
027 322 54 91

Press kit | 925-01 - Press release | Coverage of archaeological ruins of the abbey of St. Maurice - savioz fabrizzi architectes - Institutional Architecture - PHOTOGRAPHS ARE NOT ROYALTY FREE, PLEASE CONTACT THE PHOTOGRAPHER TO NEGOTIATE USE FOR PUBLICATION:M.Thomas Jantscher thomas@jantscher.ch Tel.: 00 41 79 341 48 10 - Photo credit: Thomas Jantscher