High Modernism

There are few places in the world other than the Alps where it’s possible to combine exceptional off-piste skiing with true old-world decadence, like, say, an après of caviar-topped baked potato and a vintage bottle of Krug. Sprawled across the borders of France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy , the majestic mountain range has long attracted the jet set of luxury winter sport tourism throughout its many ski resorts, each of which has its own distinctive charm, tradition, and terrain. Beyond the great variety of gastronomic experiences, excellent shopping, and superb skiing, the Alps are also dotted with a number of modernist architectural germs that are well worth knowing about.

Les Arcs is an expression of French designer, architect, and modernist master Charlotte Perriand (as seen above, raising her hands) at the height of her career. Begun in 1967 and opened for the winter season a year later, Les Arcs made use of Perriand’s passion for prefabrication, combining thoughtful design with mass-market affordability into a fun and flexibly built structure. Its forward-thinking design aimed to settle harmoniously into its environs, rather than stand out like the grand chalets and traditional resorts elsewhere in the region. The buildings of Les Arcs seem to melt into the cliffside, minimizing their visual impact on the mountainside while creating a distinctively sloped silhouette.

Flaine was born from the mind of none other than Marcel Breuer, the Bauhaus-trained architect who designed a number of modernist icons, including the building in New York that formerly housed the Whitney Museum of American Art. Flaine, too, is a design-forward ski resort that stands out from the sleepy, cuckoo-clock aesthetic of traditional mountain architecture in the Alps. Flaine’s hotel and ski buildings are built out of pre-cast concrete, reflecting Breuer’s brutalist leaning; juxtaposed against the crumbling granite shards of the Alps, it’s a look that somehow fits right in. The luxury experience here isn’t about grandeur and pampering. Stripped of a typical Alpine resort’s cozy scale and materials, Flaine demands a certain kind of appreciation. But to those in the know, the resort is a destination-worthy combination of winter sport and cultural significance - he resort also features an impressive collection of public sculptures by Picasso, Vasarely, and Dubuffet.

Norman Foster has built a handful of works spread throughout St Moritz. But Chesa Futura has the most stylish of starting points: the architect’s beloved 1950 Porsche 356 in Fish Silver Grey. A private apartment building, the Chesa Futura (“house of the future” in Romansch, the ancestral language of the region) has a distinctive form inspired by the sweeping curves of both the vintage car itself and the winding Swiss roads through which Foster drives, ski rack at the ready. “Chesa Futura is very alive - just like the Porsche,” Foster says. The building itself is a prime example of the architect’s aesthetic signatures, with its unconventional and organic form. A timber framework clad in some 250,000 locally sourced wood shingles echoes the historic wooden chalets of the region, and its hillside perch affords views of downtown St. Moritz and the surrounding mountainscape.

Anyone for a game of polo? The regal and storied Kulm Hotel in St. Moritz - home to the annual Snow Polo World Cup and legions of well-heeled travelers - is one of the first hotels to have popularised the region as a winter retreat for the jet set rather than just a summertime hiking destination. The Kulm’s cozy-meets-opulent belle époque charm has since set the standard for old-world Alpine luxury. The lakefront pavilion with its sweeping views played host to both the 1928 and the 1948 Winter Olympics, but it’s been made even more notable now in its recent reincarnation by Foster + Partners. Graceful and sleek, the pavilion made its grand reopening for the 2017 World Ski Championships. As part of the effort, Foster also updated the adjoining Kulm Country Club, complete with a highly rated restaurant and cocktail lounge for some architect-approved après-ski.

For those who fancy a day in the city in between ski runs and raclette, the Kunsthaus Zürich has recently been given a much-lauded extension by Sir David Chipperfield. A sharp and striking display of pale stone, the slender vertical “fins” of the exterior are hewn from local Swiss limestone and used to create rooms of sleek and angular space inside, where you’ll find an array of works from European impressionism, classical modernism, and dadaism, as well as a nicely curated rotation of noted contemporary artists.