Chancellerie Suisse
Chancellerie Suisse Alger2014
‘Peasants carrying large cheeses descending down an Alpine path’. The same image applies to the new chancellery, where countless peasants bear the roof over a Garden of Even.
The building structure is created by a dense ring of dancing columns upon which the roof is placed, evoking the classic image of a caryatid in a gymnastic effort.
The X‑shaped columns are 26 Swiss crosses (as the number of different cantons in Switzerland) together forming a complex structure recalling filigree abstract motifs of Arabic art. Made of granules of marble and white cement, the armature is reinforced in the diagonals to secure the building of horizontal forces during intensive earthquake exposure current in Alger.
