Opening the blinds on our AirBnB apartment on Via Tinus in Saint Moritz, the view is over the town to the lake in the distance and the towering mountains. Standing and enjoying an espresso while admiring this privileged view, my eye is drawn to a hooded figure on the balcony of an apartment opposite. The figure doesn’t move and my immediate thought is he is looking down at his phone. It soon becomes clear the figure is not moving and is not a person on the phone but a statue with a skull in his hands.
‘A Moment of Clarity’ is a bronze statue by the artist Marc Quinn made in 2010 and affectionately called ‘hoodie’ by its current owner, Lord Norman Foster. It stands on his balcony in Chesa Futura, a building he designed and lives in.
Chesa Futura (‘House of the Future' in Romansch) is a beautiful and sustainable three-storey apartment building with the usual unremarkable chalets and apartments on either side. Framed and clad in timber, the building's larch shingles have responded naturally to exposure to the elements, changing colour from dark brown to silver-grey. These should last for a hundred years without the need for maintenance.
The building is spectacularly located on the edge of a steep slope, its bubble-like form allows balconies on the southern side, while the north facade is a sea of windows. Its raised construction avoids the danger of the wood decaying due to prolonged exposure to moisture - a technique used centuries ago in stadels (grain-storage barns) you can still see today in Zermatt and Saas Fee. The stilts also helped prevent grain-loving rodents - less of a problem today. This raised outlook also allows the ground floor apartments views that would otherwise be denied.
During our week in Saint Moritz, the building attracted architectural enthusiasts and bemused tourists alike. I imagine some were keener on the traditional chalet next door, even though it was built more recently than its design leads you to believe.
Norman Foster has a remarkable collection of structures to his name and is clearly on the Apple speed dial list, judging by the number of projects he has undertaken with them including the 71-hectare Apple Park site. I was surprised by how many of his designs I had seen - the Millau Viaduct, the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court in the British Museum and the Gherkin.
Chesa Futura is remarkable for me not only because of its location but the use of materials and shapes that suit the environment better than any of the 'faux vieux chalets' that dominate much of today's alpine builds.