The Villa Vals, from Christian Muller Architects, is an innovative (and totally cool) house dug into the side of a Swiss alp. More pictures from Iwan Baan.
posted by OmieWise on Dec 18, 2009 - 12 comments

The Sphinx Observatory atop the Jungfraujoch in the Swiss alps is one of the most amazing man-made objects I've ever seen. A UNESCO world-heritage site, it holds the distinction of being the highest (in altitude) structure in all of Europe. Approachable by a train that runs inside the mountain (via a tunnel dug between 1896 & 1926 at the cost of a small fortune, not to mention many lives), the Observatory rests atop a glacier which has been hollowed out to feature a year round gallery of never-melting ice scultptures (glacial ice is spectacularly pretty), and an elevator up to the research station.
posted by jonson on Jul 24, 2007 - 30 comments

Schaulager, Basel, Switzerland. "If art is not seen it is dead. If art is not conserved, it decays. Schaulager - a new type of space for art." Originating from the Emanuel Hoffmann Foundation, whose collection is stored at Schaulager under optimal conservation conditions, Schaulager is an institution dedicated to contemporary art – its conservation, research and dissemination. Building designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron.
posted by booksprite on Jul 12, 2006 - 5 comments

The Blur Building. Now you can spend your day in a literal fog.
posted by srboisvert on Sep 28, 2003 - 5 comments