Morphosis skyscraper planned for Vals
Morphisis Architects has unveiled plans for a new 381-metre-tall luxury hotel in Vals, Switzerland.
The proposal, selected by 7132 Ltd (and denounced by the jury) following an international competition, has been praised by the client for its “minimalist approach”. Comments stated that the hotel will “help the hotel blend with the mountain landscape at the existing resort campus.”
The ultra-thin tower will be one of three Pritzker laureate-designed projects at the 7132 resort, joining Peter Zumthor’s Therme Vals Spa and Tadao Ando’s Valser Path, slated for completion in 2017. “The transparent and slim ‘7132 Tower’ will create a completely new world of hospitality in Vals,” commented Ando. “I believe it will harmonise in the beautiful landscape and will attract and impress various guests and visitors from all over the world.”
“Specificity is really the central driver in our practice,” said Thom Mayne, Design Director at Morphosis. “Each design starts from unique conditions in site, program, performance. The architectural solution generated is correspondingly unique to each project. For the 7132 hotel and arrival, the incredible setting demands reducing materiality and presence in the design so that, as in all our work, the connection to site becomes paramount. As much as possible, the hotel is a minimalist act that reiterates the site and offers to the viewer a mirrored, refracted perspective of the landscape.”
The new 107-suite hotel will be defined by three forms, explained Morphosis: “a podium linking the building with neighbouring structures; a cantilever containing a restaurant, café, spa, and bar – public amenities shared with the town; and a tower holding a sky bar, restaurant, and 107 guestrooms with panoramic views.”
The building’s slender profile and reflective skin intends to camouflage itself with the surrounding landscape, while offering unprecedented views of the Alps.
Upon completion in 2019, following planning permission being granted, this will be Morphosis’ first project in Switzerland.
