The challenge in transforming this listed 1958 residence for the World Economic Forum was not simply to preserve a remarkable piece of architectural heritage, but to engage in a dialogue with an existing masterpiece without either imitating it or overpowering it. Echoing the villa’s Cubist interplay of volumes, perspectives and shifting viewpoints, the design introduces a new chapter in which architecture and landscape promote human exchange and growth.

Mondrian Meets Le Corbusier

How do you introduce another layer of life to a modernist icon without disturbing its essence? The answer lay in creating a visual language that connects the original architecture to its new purpose. The Mondrian reference is more than an aesthetic gesture—it becomes the thread that weaves together old and new, architecture and furniture, volume and surface, memory and reinvention.

Rehabilitating an existing building rather than replacing it is the first act of permanence. Here, that philosophy extends across traditional craftsmanship, recycled and natural materials, responsible technologies and carefully curated artworks, each chosen to honour the spirit of the 1958 residence while carrying it gracefully into the future.

Landscape becomes architecture by other means, extending the villa’s language of perspective, geometry and encounter into the garden.

Preserved from demolition, the original concrete staircase now rises through the landscape as a sculptural landmark, transforming a forgotten fragment of the villa’s history into a gesture of memory and continuity.

The project achieves a rare balance between honouring the past and embracing the future.

Hilde Schwab, Project Initiator