The times., 1901-04-28
ART IN SWITZERLAND.
Fine Carvings Made by Builders in
the Alps Region.
From the Architectural nlustFatiou.)


(From the Architectural nlustTatiouj
At first glance the typical qualities of
the Swiss chalet seem picturesqueneSs,
harmony with the surrounding features,
and a certain fauciful ana Joylike aspect.
To compare 1t with the bare rectangular,
white-painted and grcen-piinded wooden
dwelling that has grown up Indigenous in
the United States seems a far cry; and
yet the fundamental principle which gave
birth to the two IS identicai-namely, the
logical attempt to meet in wooden archi-
lecture the needs of climatic conditions as
simply as possible Indeed the most direct
way 10 examine the typical features of
the chalet is, perhaps, to take up the sue
cesSiVe conditions which the Swiss build
ers were forced 70 meet, and to observe
how they have met them.
Wood, rs q material, was almost forced
upon them, both by its righteousness and
by the difficulty of transporting stone to
the inaccessible heights where the dwell
ings were required to be niched. But
wood once accepted by them as a ma
terial. they did not, like out New England
builders, strive to conceal the cOnstruc-
tive features which it neceSSitated, b.
an unintereSting veil of clapboardS and
| by further coating OF paint, but on the
contrary, emphasized the constructive
skeleton to it's utmost. The brackets
which support the roof are enormous:
the floor beams, the division into stories,
show from the front, and nothing of the
framing of windows is hiduen. The wood
itself, too, instead of being painted, IS
left in its natural color, merely being
treated with a preSerVatlVe coating or
linSeed oil and thus the eXteriors of these
chalets have acquired with age an eX-
quisite tone which makes the habttatiOn
a thing in natural harmony with its sur
roundlngs.
The climate Of such a mountainous
| country Switzerland, where both rain
and snow are abundant and the winter IS
very cold induced other marked peculi-
| arities in the chalet. 1t was necessary to
protect the wooden walls against moist
ure, and this necessity Var1ouSly mOdlhed
the shapes of the roofs according to the
| climate and altitude of the situation. In
| the chalet OF the plain, the roof Is very
| steep and nigh, built to allow the ram
/ water to run off rapidly The caves are
| brought forward to shelter the front, ana
| the steep slope causes the rain to run inn
mediately into the cutters instead of re-
| naming on the thatch-planks. This type
| of roof is extremely graceful, ana not
/ only very picturesque IN ITS outline, but
| IL is the sole logical and rational form un-
! der the conditions
| on the other hand. in the chalets built
/ for the mountain sides where snow is
| heavy and abundant, roofs instead of be-
/ ing built so as to throw off the snow, are
| fiattened that the snow may accumulate
| upon them. and by its covering protect
| the dwelling from the extreme cold
| These fiat roofs are accordingly usually
! crossed by long, horizontal beams pro-
| iecting beyond the house and forming
| lodges against which the snow may rest
/ though in some cases large stones laid at
| intervals not only serve the same pur-
pose but weight the roof against the
! mountain gales.
! In both types of roof the extension OF
! the caves. originally intended merely al a
protection for the walls, was exaggerated
| bS the Swiss builders, until the roof often
| projects from four TO ten feet on the front
! and on the sides sometimes it is so widely
| extended as to come down within three OF
! four feet of the ground, where it is sup
| ported bv posts. The sides being thus am
/ pIv sheltered, galleries and balconies arc
/ placed there, and an exterior staircase is
/ not an unusual feature. There are aisc
! occasionally small balconies on the front
] hut only on the upper story. where they
| may be sheltered by the roof,
, The decoration of the exterior by cary
, ing painting, and paneiing only empha
/ sizes the organic members. 1t accentu
! ates the lines adds force 10 the shadow:
/ and briChtens the light parts. In tht
I plain and empty spaces of the front anC
/ ON the fat sides of the consoles it eN
! pands into carving of the most decora
tive character.
The ingenious fancy of the Swiss car
! penter-a rchitects has been pleased to IN
finitely vary the types of chalet, wTite'
! NJ Jean Schopfer, but they have Away
| remained faithful 30 the spirit and re
! cuiTements Of the art of building in wood
/ they have not attempted to apply u
/ wood the law of stone architecture, ant
| it is TO this fact that We owe the beauty
/ thu elegance and the originality OF tn
| Swiss chalet. which holds place quit
apart in the history of architecture