DISCOVER ARCHITECTS BÉNÉDICTE MONTANT AND CARMELO STENDARDO’S SWITZERLAND IN THE EIGHTH EDITION OF WALLPAPER* AND TUDOR WATCHES STYLE FILE SERIES
As seen in Wallpaper*, photographer Daniel Stier
STYLE FILE
#08 SWITZERLAND
THE EIGHTH STOP IN OUR TUDOR STYLE FILE WORLD TOUR SEES US TOUCH DOWN IN THE LAND OF WATCHES, WHERE A LOCAL ARCHITECT DUO SHOW US A FINE TIME WITH CHAPELS, CHOCOLATE, CAFÉS AND CULTURE
As seen in Wallpaper*, photographer Andy Barter
ARCHITECT BÉNÉDICTE MONTANT’S BEST ADDRESSES
Bénédicte Montant reveals her blueprint for having a top time in Switzerland, including a dip in the iconic Pâquis Baths, built in the 1930s, with views of Lake Geneva.
Lake Morat
20 MIN
If snow-capped mountains have become a globally-recognised symbol of Swissness, then what better way to see them than with a walk around the 8km-long Lake Morat.
Café Remor, Geneva
20 MIN
Every city has a café that comes to define its café culture and, if you’re lucky, doesn’t change too much over the decades. Café Remor is Geneva’s, an atmospheric venue that, in a nod to the intellectual life that once thrived in cafés, also hosts art shows and poetry readings.
Place du cirque 3, Geneva
Museum Beyeler, Basel
45 MIN
Fondation Beyeler, built by the Italian architect Renzo Piano.
Café de L’Hôtel de Ville, Geneva
1 HR
This dining spot specialising in Swiss dishes has long been the go-to rendezvous for Geneva’s political crowd (it’s situated opposite the city’s parliament buildings). It has seen power-brokers come and go, and some form of tavern has been on the site since 1700.
39 Grand-Rue, Geneva
Galerie Jan Krugier & Cie, Geneva
AFTERNOON
International art director Jan Krugier actually cut his teeth with his first gallery in New York before opening this renowned outpost for pioneering modern art: Expect to see pieces by the likes of Joan Miró, Max Ernst, Paul Klee, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, but especially Pablo Picasso and Joaquin Torres-Garcia, whose work the gallery specialises in.
29-31 Grand-Rue, Geneva
Bains des Pâquis, Geneva
EVENING
Opened back in 1932, it’s small wonder these public baths – with their sauna and hammam, massages, diving boards, café, and great views of the Jet d’Eau fountain and Lake Geneva – have become a much-loved historical landmark for the city.
The Hotel, Lucerne
EVENING
This luxury hotel was redesigned by French Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel in 2000.
Drive to Nufenen
WEEKEND
Want to pack in several sights in one hit? Then take a tour through the Rhone Valley to Nufenen, in Graubünden, taking in not just the Alps and the traditional villages en route, but also Peter Zumthor’s thermal baths in Vals, the Kirchner Museum in Davos, and the Disentis Abbey, an eighth-century Benedictine monastery.
A PAIR OF SWISS ARCHITECTS GUIDED BY A LOVE OF CHURCHES AND CHOCOLATE
The clichés of national identity have some grains of truth to them: French romanticism, German exactitude, Italian flair, and so on. But what of Switzerland? Outside of its watches’ mechanical precision and the bold simplicity of Helvetica, its aesthetic pitch might appear too understated for its own good. ‘It’s an essential style,’ says Bénédicte Montant, ‘thoughtful and coherent but also discreet – which are all deeply cultural values here. It has no need to make a noise to assert itself. But there is also a special sense of humour.’
Montant and Carmelo Stendardo set up Atelier d’Architecture 3BM3 in 2000 in their native Geneva. ‘We work on urban projects, whether they be for private individuals, communities or institutions, to the smallest possible detail,’ says Montant. ‘Sometimes we go so far as to draw the furniture. Architecture is a real passion.’ Stendardo echoes the sentiment. ‘In what other profession can your work tools be pencils, models, cardboard and even Lego?’ he says. ‘There is an immense satisfaction in working in a perpetual search for solutions to architecture’s many constraints, be they economic, legal, technical, cultural or spiritual.’
Certainly, there is a religious fervour in Montant and Stendardo’s shared passion. Ask them to name their favourite buildings and they cite Franz Füeg’s St Pius Church in Meggen, near Lucerne, and Peter Zumthor’s Chapel of St Benedict in Sumvitg. Ask them what they couldn’t live without, however, and the selection is far more sensory than spiritual and, at last, characteristically Swiss. For Montant, it’s Toblerone, while for Stendardo only the darkest chocolate, preferably with a touch of orange zest.
“Smooth, suave and suggestive” best describe the lines of the 42 mm shining-armour case and double bezel in polished steel that exquisitely frame a dial with open-work feuille hands and a domed sapphire crystal.
STYLE FILE
#09 JAPAN
DISCOVER HAT MAKER GRIS UCHIYAMA’S JAPAN IN THE NINTH EDITION OF WALLPAPER* AND TUDOR WATCHES STYLE FILE SERIES
STYLE FILE
#10 USA
DISCOVER GALLERISTS STEVE PULIMOOD AND PAYAL PAREKH’S USA IN THE TENTH EDITION OF THE WALLPAPER* AND TUDOR WATCHES STYLE FILE SERIES
As seen in Wallpaper*, photographer Jeremy Liebman
STYLE FILE
#11 HUNGARY
DISCOVER FASHION DESIGNER LUU ANH TUAN’S HUNGARY IN THE ELEVENTH EDITION OF THE WALLPAPER* AND TUDOR WATCHES STYLE FILE SERIES
As seen in Wallpaper*, photographer Carol Sachs
STYLE FILE
#12 UK
DISCOVER FASHION DESIGNER CHARLIE CASELY-HAYFORD’S UK IN THE TWELFTH EDITION OF THE WALLPAPER* AND TUDOR WATCHES STYLE FILE SERIES
STYLE FILE
#01 FRANCE
Even seasoned travellers welcome the insight of the right sort of local, a gently guiding hand in new territories or a fresh take on the familiar. With this in mind, we’ve put together a series of Style Files, country-specific, cliché-dodging dossiers and in-the-field notes for the contemporary explorer who really knows where they are going.
Discover designer Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance’s France in the first edition of the Wallpaper* and Tudor watches Style File series
As seen in Wallpaper*, photographer Andy Barter
STYLE FILE
#02 AUSTRALIA
Discover Architects Anthony Burke and Gerard Reinmuth’s Australia in the second edition of the Wallpaper* and Tudor watches Style File series
As seen in Wallpaper*, photographer Jordan Grahan
STYLE FILE
#03 CHINA
Discover Fashion designer Masha Ma’s China in the third edition of the Wallpaper* and Tudor watches Style File series
As seen in Wallpaper*, photographer Alexandre Guirringer
STYLE FILE
#04 BRAZIL
Discover architect Juan Pablo Rosenberg’s Brazil in the fourth edition of the Wallpaper* and Tudor watches Style File series
As seen in Wallpaper*, photographer Vava Ribeiro
STYLE FILE
#05 SWEDEN
DISCOVER DESIGNER SUSANNA WÅHLIN’S SWEDEN IN THE FIFTH EDITION OF THE WALLPAPER* AND TUDOR WATCHES STYLE FILE SERIES
As seen in Wallpaper*, photographer Elisabeth Toll
STYLE FILE
#06 GERMANY
DISCOVER PERFUMER GEZA SCHOEN’S GERMANY IN THE SIXTH EDITION OF THE WALLPAPER* AND TUDOR WATCHES STYLE FILE SERIES
As seen in Wallpaper*, photographer Noshe
STYLE FILE
#07 ITALY
DISCOVER FASHION DESIGNER MASSIMO ALBA’S ITALY IN THE SEVENTH EDITION OF THE WALLPAPER* AND TUDOR WATCHES STYLE FILE SERIES
As seen in Wallpaper*, photographer Riccardo Bagnoli
