Prangins on Lake Geneva wins 2020 architectural heritage prize
The village in western Switzerland has managed to preserve its traditional architecture and scenery despite undergoing an intense process of urbanisation, said the organisation awarding the annual Wakker prize.
The municipality’s “clear” development strategy is grounded in a respect for open spaces and historical buildings, the Swiss Heritage Society announcedExternal link on Tuesday.
In choosing a strategy of “moderate inward-directed urbanisation” and in refusing to build on farmland, Prangins has managed to preserve its architectural heritage and to marry population growth with a continued high quality of life. It has also organised its town centre in a way to “reinforce identity and social cohesion”, said the Heritage Society in its verdictExternal link.
Prangins sits next to the town of Nyon (canton Vaud) on the dynamic stretch between Geneva and Lausanne. Its population of 4,000 is expected to grow by 30% in the next two decades.
The French-language seat of the Swiss National Museum is located in the castle of Prangins. Currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the museum generally holds historical and cultural exhibitions about the development of modern Switzerland.
The Swiss Heritage Society, founded in 1905, focusses on “the preservation of important landmarks, the development of the structural environment, and the promotion of good architectural design”. It has awarded the Wakker Prize annually since 1972: usually to a municipality, such as Baden last year, but exceptionally to an organisation, as in 2018.
‘Alpha Uno’: Swiss fighter jets take off and land on motorway
This content was published on
The Swiss Air Force is conducting a military exercise on the motorway in canton Vaud between the Payerne and Avenches municipalities on Wednesday.
Federal offices and Xplain adopt data protection recommendations
This content was published on
Swiss authorities and its private contract processors are required to review their cooperation after an investigation into leaked data.
This content was published on
Heavy rainfall has caused severe flooding in northern Armenia and cost lives. Switzerland dispatched a team of seven engineers to the region.
Swiss House of Representatives does not want to recognise Palestine as a state
This content was published on
By 131 votes to 61 with 2 abstentions, the House of Representatives said 'no' to the postulate put forth by the Social Democratic Party.
This content was published on
The peak of the snow accumulation was most likely reached on Monday, wrote glaciologist Matthias Huss on the social media platform X on Tuesday.
US Vice President Harris to attend Ukraine peace conference
This content was published on
US Vice President Kamala Harris and US President Joe Biden's security advisor, Jake Sullivan, will take part in the Ukraine peace conference.
FINMA director expects cooperation and transparency from banks
This content was published on
"I demand complete and unfiltered access to all information", said the director of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority said in an interview.
Swiss Senate wants additional billions for the army
This content was published on
The increase in the payment framework is intended to ensure that the army budget reaches the target value of 1% of gross domestic product by 2030.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Voters rejected urban sprawl curbs due to adequate laws
This content was published on
A study shows that Swiss voters rejected a proposal aimed at curbing urban sprawl as most people felt that existing rules were sufficient.
This content was published on
Despite its relatively small area of just over 41,000 square kilometres (15,444 square miles), Switzerland’s rural building styles are as diverse as the many regional dialects of its four national languages. The country’s mountainous terrain is a kind of geographical crossroads in Europe, with regions north of the Alps building mostly with timber, and those in the south using…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.