A milestone in modern housing estate architecture - Halen
Overview
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Intro
The Halen estate lies in a forest clearing near Bern. The 1950s terraced house concept was a contemporary response to the then widespread unstructured development of rental apartment blocks. The Atelier 5 architects drew their inspiration from Le Corbusier and from Bern's historic core with its rows of houses and continuous covered walkways.
The Halen estate (“Siedlung Halen”) forms a separate, small locality in the Zwigart forest clearing near Herrenschwanden. The work of five young architects, it was built in only two years (1959–1961). Driven by an antipathy for detached single-family houses and ragged urban peripheries, they designed a self-contained estate with fair-faced-concrete houses lined up like dominos and forming intervening alleyways.
The 79 three-storey houses are arranged in five rows, three above and two below the main square and alleyway. All houses are now privately owned and occupied by some 220 residents. The title to each terraced house also includes a one 79th interest in the streets, squares, laundries, shop, sports ground and swimming pool. Over the years, the estate has been “taken over” by nature: the wild grass on the flat roofs together with the gardens and ponds now offer a vibrant contrast to the austere grid of grey concrete walls.
Trip tip
In the middle of the forest, a small tarmacked road branches off from the road between Üttligen and the Halenbrücke bridge and, after 100 metres, opens out onto the estate. The nearest bus stop is Thalmatt. A two-hour walk along the River Aare on the ViaBerna trail, which passes below the Halen estate, will take you to Bern.
ISOS
ISOS is the Federal Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites of national importance. The inventory is maintained by the Federal Office of Culture (FOC) and lists the most significant settlements in Switzerland. Today, some 1,200 places are included in the inventory, from hamlets right through to cities. The inventory provides information on the development and identity of the settlements listed in it, thereby contributing to the preservation of architectural diversity in Switzerland and promoting both sustainable planning and a high-quality Baukultur.
