For a geographical perspective on energy transition, see Gavin Bridge, Stefan Bouzarovski, Michael Bradshaw, Nick Eyre, ‘Geographies of Energy Transition: Space, Place and the Low-Carbon Economy,’ Energy Policy 53 (2013): 331–40. The concept of landscape – similar to other metaphors such as niche and regime – possesses spatial dimensions that resonate with geographical concepts, including location, territoriality, spatial differentiation, scaling and spatial embeddedness. For a historical perspective on energy transition that frames it more as an analytical concept, rather than merely a political objective, see Vaclav Smil, Energy Transitions: Historiy, Requirements, Prospects (Praeger Publishers, 2010).

André Corboz, ‘The Land as Palimpsest’, Diogenes 121 (1983): 12–34.

In this context, Corboz anticipated the thesis and arguments later developed by Studio Basel in Die Schweiz. Ein Städtebauliches Profil. This work, which has been expanded through cartographic analysis and theoretical frameworks, examines processes and relationships between metropolitan and peripheral spaces and is grounded in spatial planning policy. The consequences include socio-cultural, economic terms and environmental aspects. However, akin to Corboz’s approach, there remains a notable absence of architectural, urban or spatial theory analyses, and lack of critique, regarding the foundations and structures of energy production and consumption. In contrast, Neil Brenner and Christian Schmid’s theorising on a planetary urbanisation eventually emphasises ‘the production and circulation of energy (including fossil fuels)’ alongside ‘the remarking and spatial extension of large-scale land use systems devoted to extraction’ and ‘the water and waste management’ – viewing these elements as integral components of the ongoing reconstitution of urbanising landscapes. See Neil Brenner and Christian Schmid, ‘Towards a New Epistemology of the Urban?’, City 19, no. 2–3 (2015): 151–82.

Recently, there have been renewed attempts to frame architectural histories in terms of energy (primarily fossil fuels, coal, oil, gas and also solar), material and food systems. See: Barnabas Calder and G A Bremner, ‘Buildings and Energy: Architectural History in the Climate Emergency’, The Journal of Architecture 26, no. 2 (2021): 79–115. What remains necessary with respect to the geographies of energy is the reintegration of architectural, urban and regional scales with national, supranational and ultimately planetary scales.

For a global or product history that triangulates between different geographies, see Sven Beckert, Empire of Cotton: A New History of Global Capitalism (Penguin, 2015). For a nineteenth- and twentieth-century social and economic history of carbon, see: Timothy Mitchell, Carbon Democracy (Verso, 2011).

The internalisation of once externalised costs could be seen as a form of ‘common-ing’. Rania Ghosn, ‘Carbon Re-Form’, Log 47 special issue ‘Overcoming Carbon Form’ (2019), 106–07. However, if nature stays a resource and waste and pollution a commodity, this internalisation will be driven by market forces.

T P Hughes, Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society, 1830–1930 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983), 130ff. Electricity generated in a hydroelectric installation at the cement works in Lauffen, on the Neckar River, was transmitted to Frankfurt, where it powered an artificial waterfall among other things.

Alice Schirmer, Die schweizerischen Wasserkräfte als volkswirtschaftliches Gut (PhD diss., University of Zurich, 1920).

David Gugerli, Redeströme. Zur Elektrifizierung der Schweiz. 1880–1914. (Chronos Verlag, 1996).

The SBB was created in 1902 through the merger of private companies as a result of the ‘Eisenbahnstimmrechtsgesetz’ (Railway Voting Rights Law) of 1895, in order to increasingly serve the public interest and not speculative interests.

Pollux [Georges Baehler], Die schweizerische Elektrizitätswirtschaft (Verein für wirtschaftliche Studien, 1945).

In the Baden Group, ABB produced electromechanical material and apparatus and played an important role in the electrification of the railways; Motor-Columbus AG was initially a study and project office for applied electricity and took over planning and construction management of hydroelectric plants, primarily in the Alps, and their financing. Thus, it was a prime example of a vertical trust.

Schirmer, Die schweizerischen Wasserkräfte.

To strengthen the Swiss economy, hydroelectric concessions were only awarded to companies domiciled in Switzerland and that maintained a management structure comprising least two-thirds Swiss nationals who were also domiciled in Switzerland. Martin Lüpol, Der Ausbau der ‘Festung Schweiz’: Aktienrecht und Corporate Governance in der Schweiz, 1881–1961 (PhD diss., University of Zurich, 2008), 241.

Similar to Zurich were the municipal power stations in Basel, Geneva and Lausanne, the cantonal power stations in Bern, Fribourg, Grisons and Neuchâtel, and the inter-cantonal power stations in St Gallen, Appenzell, Oberhasli, and northeastern Switzerland.

Motor Columbus AG (Baden), ‘Das Kraftwerk Lucendro’, Schweizerische Bauzeitung 123/124, no. 24 (1944): 307–12.

Pollux, Die schweizerische Elektrizitätswirtschaft. At that time, Baehler composed his writings under the pseudonym Pollux. For the Swiss cement trust, see Sarah Nichols, ‘Pollux’s Spears’, Grey Room 71 (2018): 141–55.

Baehler articulated similar arguments concerning the production, financing and lobbying of cement. Nevertheless, Baehler was fully aware at the time that hydropower could never entirely replace imported solid and liquid fuels. Pollux, Die schweizerische Elektrizitätswirtschaft, 9.

Christian Pfister, ‘The “1950s Syndrome” and the transition from a slow-going to a rapid loss of global sustainability’, in Turning Points in Environmental History, ed. Frank Uekötter (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010), 90–117. Pfister had already published on the topic in 1995. In the context of Anthropocene discourse, the changes occurring post-1950s have been characterised as ‘The Great Acceleration’. See Will Steffen, Wendy Broadga, Lisa Deutsch, Owen Gaffney and Cornelia Ludwig, ‘The Trajectory of the Anthropocene: The Great Acceleration’, The Anthropocene Review 2, no. 1 (2015): 81–98. In this context, the graphs depicting socioeconomic trends, originally published in 2004, have been revised together with graphs of corresponding trends observed in the biophysical spheres of the Earth system.

Modern energy landscapes, characterised by processes of extraction, production and consumption across various scales, have consistently been grounded in the earth and legitimised by contemporary scientific understanding. The Swiss geologist Albert Heim, a professor at ETH Zurich, elaborated on the exploitable resource deposits in his two-volume magnum opus, Geologie der Schweiz (1919). In addition to asphalt, ores and salts, he highlighted lime or cement stone, which was burned with coal as fuel in cement plants on an industrial scale throughout the twentieth century, as well as coal and oil deposits. In Ticino, bituminous shale was extracted and distilled at two mines near Mendrisio – specifically in Meride and Arogno – around the turn of the century, with increasing activity in the first half of the twentieth century aimed at the extraction of mineral oil.

In Switzerland, the teachings of Sigfried Giedion’s manifesto Befreites Wohnen (Orell Füssli, 1929) and his subsequent work Time, Space, and Architecture (Harvard University Press, 1941), along with the interpretations by his followers, indicate that petro-modern developments contributed not only to the construction of roads but also to the development of bridges. New housing typologies emerged, including the suburban villa and spacious, low-density row housing, which featured affordable and comfortable flats for all residents. The processes of suburbanisation, promoted by the principles of Neues Bauen, were exemplified by projects such as the Werkbundsiedlung Neubühl (designed by various architects between 1930 and 1932) and the Doldertalhäuser (developed by Alfred and Emil Roth in collaboration with Marcel Breuer from 1935–36), and were significantly facilitated, if not made possible, by advancements in automobility. Additionally, the asphalt road industry, which historically originated in La Presta, Val de Travers, Jura, was complemented by the concrete road industry in the 1920s, exemplified by Holderbank Betonstrassen AG, which operated in Holderbank-Wildegg, AG from 1925 to 1965.

Eva Horn,‘Tipping Points: Das Anthropozän und Corona’, in Imaginationen von Nachhaltigkeit, Band 2: Zukünfte von Nachhaltigkeit, ed. Frank Adlof and Sighard Neckel (Campus Verlag, 2020), 123–150.

Swiss National Committee on Large Dams, Behaviour of Swiss Large Dams (1964).

Swiss National Committee on Large Dams, Concrete and Earth Dams in Switzerland Today (1967). Between 1 October 1963 and 30 September 1964, Switzerland generated a total of 22.5 billion kWh of hydraulic energy, with domestic consumption amounting to 21.7 billion kWh. The per capita consumption during this period was 3,500 kWh, which was significantly lower than the annual rate of 4,900 kWh in the United States.

‘Opération “Béton”’, dir. Jean-Luc Godard, 1958, https://www.openculture.com/2013/06/jean-luc_godards_debut_ioperation_betoni_1955_a_construction_documentary.html.

Sarah Nichols, Opération Béton: Constructing Concrete in Switzerland (PhD diss., ETH Zurich, 2021). For a condensed version of the argument, see the lecture ‘New Material Histories’ at HSLU, delivered on 24 September 2020: https://www.architekturagenda.ch/videos/kim-foerster-sarah-nichols/.

Notable examples include ‘La Cité du Lignon’ and ‘La Cité Satellite Meyrin’ in Geneva, ‘Tscharnergut’ in Bern, and ‘Lochergut’ in Zurich, which features mountainous staggered and terraced towers. Additionally, various buildings designed by Göhner are prominent, as well as the Telli project in Aarau, designed by Hans Marti between 1972 and 1991, consisting of four elongated and slightly angled residential rows commonly referred to as ‘Staumauern’ (hydroelectric dams).

Lucius Burckhardt and Urs Beutler, eds., Terrassenhäuser. werk-Buch 3 (Winter, 1968). For ‘Terrassenhäuser,’ see two special issues: Werk. Schweizer Monatsschrift für Architektur, Kunst und künstlerisches Gewerbe 10 (1964) and 6 (1966). See also, Lorenzo Stieger, ‘Am Scheideweg von high und low architecture. Das Hangterrassenhaus in der Schweiz’, Bauwelt 23 (2018): 58–59.

Michael Fischer, Atomfieber. Eine Geschichte der Atomenergie in der Schweiz (hier+jetzt, 2019).

A project that appears absurd in retrospect involved the integration of hydropower and nuclear energy through the proposal to melt glaciers utilising a nuclear reactor. This proposal was evaluated by the Swiss federal government in 1945. See Guido Koller, ‘Gletscher schmelzen mit Atomenergie,’ NZZ, 5 October 2015, https://www.nzz.ch/schweiz/gletscher-schmelzen-mit-atomenergie-ld.13149.

Patrick Kupper, Atomenergie und gespaltene Gesellschaft. Die Geschichte des gescheiterten Projektes Kernkraftwerk Kaiseraugst (Chronos Verlag, 2003), 27.

‘Die NOK bauen das erste schweizerische Atomkraftwerk’, Schweizerische Bauzeitung 83, no. 16 (22 April 1965): 268–69.

The archives include the prominent Swiss architectural magazines and journals of the period, notably the Schweizerische Bauzeitung and Werk, the latter of which was published from 1962–72 under the editorial direction of Lucius Burckhardt.

In 1966, the Central European Line (CEL) commenced operations, facilitating the transport of crude oil from Genoa, Italy, to Ingolstadt, Germany, while traversing Swiss territory. Commonly referred to as the ‘Oleodotto del Reno’, this pipeline extends along the Hinterrhein and Rhine rivers, passing through Splügen, Thusis, Chur, Bad Ragaz and Sargans, before reaching St Margarethen.

‘Die Schweiz bohrt nach Erdöl, Mai 1960’, Schweizerisches Bundesarchiv, https://www.bar.admin.ch/bar/de/home/service-publikationen/publikationen/geschichte-aktuell/die-schweiz-bohrt-nach-erdoel--mai-1960.html; Moniker Gisler, Erdöl in der Schweiz: Eine kleine Kulturgeschichte (Verein für wirtschaftshistorische Studien, 2011); Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, ‘Carbon Architecture’, in Transcalar Prospects in Climate Crisis, ed. Jeffrey Huang, Dieter Dietz, Laura Traszic and Korinna Zinova Weber (Lars Müller, 2024).

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Umwelt (AGU), Umdenken Umschwenken. Alternativen, Wegweiser aus den Zwängen der grosstechnologischen Zivilisation: Energie und Gesellschaft, Landwirtschaft, Sonnenhäuser, Wohnen, Technik, Recycling, Schule, Kommunen (AGU, 1975) [reprinted by Achberger Verlagsanstalt in 1977]. See also: Kim Förster, ‘Umdenken Umschwenken: Environmental Engagement and Swiss Architecture’, in Routledge Companion to Architecture and Social Engagement, ed. Farhan Karim (Routledge, 2018), 271–88. From 1974–84, however, there were instances of bomb attacks on nuclear power stations, arson targeting the vehicles of executives in the energy sector and the sabotage of power lines, all perpetrated by a group known as ‘Do It Yourself,’ which was prosecuted for eco-terrorism.

Andrew Liston, The Ecological Voice in Recent German-Swiss Prose (Peter Lang, 2011).

For the Anthropocene discourse, see Eva Horn and Hannes Bergthaller, The Anthropocene: Key Issues for the Humanities (Routledge, 2019), 109. For energy narratives, see Resilience: A Journal of the Environmental Humanities 6, no. 2–3 (Spring/Fall 2019), titled ‘Stories of Energy: Narrative in the Energy Humanities’ and edited by Axel Goodbody and Bradon Smith.

Walther Kauer, Spätholz (Rowohlt Verlag, 1981). Following his relocation to Ticino, Kauer became an environmental activist.

Max Frisch, Der Mensch erscheint im Holozän (Suhrkamp Verlag, 1979). English edition: Man and the Holocene, trans. Geoffrey Skelton and published episodically in the New Yorker ((1980). The setting bears a resemblance to Berzona in the Onsernone Valley, where Frisch himself owned a residence.

Jeff Diamanti, ‘Energyscapes, Architecture, and the Expanded Field of Postindustrial Philosophy’, Postmodern Culture 26, no. 2, (January 2016).

Monika Dommann, Hannes Rickli and Max Stalder, eds., Data Center: Edges of a Wired Nation (Lars Müller Publishers, 2020). A data center responsible for monitoring Swiss weather is located in Lugano, Ticino.

Over the past 30 years, approximately 300 wind turbines have been constructed at 37 locations, with the largest wind farm situated at Mont Crosin, Bern, featuring 16 turbines. In Ticino, a wind farm comprising five turbines has been operational on the Gotthard since autumn 2020, following an extensive planning period of 18 years and a protracted approval process – marking the first inauguration since 2015. The plan to develop 1,000 turbines by 2050 is rather modest compared by international standards. See Helmut Stalder, ‘Windkraft am Gotthard’, NZZ, 3 August 2020, www.nzz.ch/schweiz/schweiz-windkraft-am-gotthard-ld.1568544?reduced=true.

As of today, there are 167 larger dams in the Swiss Alps with a height exceeding 15 metres. The majority of these dams are situated in the cantons of Valais, Grisons, Ticino and Bern. They are often operated by Axpo, an energy service provider based in Baden, which is owned by the cantons of northeastern Switzerland. For repair and maintenance of infrastructure, see Cymene Howe et al., ‘Paradoxical Infrastructures: Ruins, Retrofit, and Risk’, Science, Technology, & Human Values, 41, no. 3 (May 2016): 547–65.

Köbi Gantenbein, ‘Fridolin Walcher. Die Pyramide am Berg’, Du 868, July–August 2016, 60–65. With photographs by Fridolin Walcher.

Online: https://www.bafu.admin.ch/bafu/en/home/topics/waste/info-specialists/waste-disposal-methods/cement-plants.html.

Marcel Gauch, Cecilia Matasci, Ingrid Hincapié, Raphael Hörler and Heinz Böni, Material- und Energieressourcen sowie Umweltauswirkungen der baulichen Infrastruktur der Schweiz, (EMPA, 2016), https://www.empa.ch/documents/56122/728861/MatCH_Bericht_Bau_v8_161017.pdf/3a733b91-ab69-43cd-ad81-2b6817716eff.

In a special issue of Log titled ‘Overcoming Carbon Form’, Elisa Iturbe addresses the architectural and urban dimensions shaped by fossil fuels. Log 47, 2019.

In his 2020 novel The Ministry of the Future, primarily set in Switzerland, the climate fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson emphasises the ‘2000-Watt Society’ as a forward-looking model. One significant development is the proposal of a carbon tax in Switzerland. Meanwhile, corporations, entrepreneurs and private foundations in other regions advocate for the reduction of electricity taxes, aligning with the slogan ‘electrify everything’. Concurrently, the field of energy humanities begins to acknowledge the critical importance of electricity.