Conference in honour of Gottfried Semper held at Villa Garbald

It was spring 1863 when work first began on building Villa Garbald in the Bregaglia Valley. The villa stands in contrast to the major architectural projects designed by Gottfried Semper (1803-1879) in the great cities of Europe, ranging from the Semperoper opera house in Dresden and Vienna’s Burgtheater (National Theatre) to the city hall in Winterthur and the Zurich Polytechnikum – now known as ETH Zurich. The villa, which was originally commissioned by a young couple by the name of Garbald, is situated in Castasegna, the last village in the Bregaglia Valley before it meets the Italian border.

The conference which took place on 8 and 9 September focused on the latest findings from research into the great architect, exploring aspects such as his attitude towards Romanesque and Gothic architecture or his relationship with the English language.

Prized annexe

The conference was a public event held by ETH Zurich and organised at the request of the Fondazione Garbald, which was set up by descendants of the Garbald family in 1955. For the past ten years, Villa Garbald has been used as a venue for seminars, retreats and cultural events. Architects Miller & Maranta renovated the villa in February and added the striking new “Roccolo” annexe, which was awarded the “Gute Bauten Graubünden” (“Best buildings in Graubünden”) architectural prize in 2013.