An Ecological Redoubt: Assisting the Migration of Sensitive Flora in the Central Swiss Alps
2022
Stefan HERDA
Switzerland’s alpine ecologies are uniquely affected by climate change. Many of the country’s plant species are migrating higher in altitude due to rising annual mean temperature with extensive habitat loss expected in as early as 2050. Given the compounded effects of the growing tourism economy and the expanding presence of aggressive pioneer plant species, regionally significant alpine meadows have been displaced before their sensitive and rare plant communities can adapt. This impending loss of biodiversity is quickly becoming a national ecological redoubt. Situated at the crossroads of the Oberalp, the St. Gotthard, and the Furka passes, the town of Andermatt lies at the eastern end of the Urseren Valley, a floristically diverse region of Central Switzerland. Abandoned military bunkers and fortresses (Fort Stöckli and Artillery Works Gütsch) overlook Andermatt as relics of the Swiss National Redoubt defence plan. This project investigates how specific military infrastructure integrated into the landscape can be repurposed into living archives for research, preservation, and propagation of alpine plant communities. Can this design strategy combining active and passive interventions mitigate anthropocentric pressures on these alpine ecologies while providing a new purpose to outmoded military infrastructure? Will a strategically managed ecological retreat preserve Swiss identity beyond the non-human?
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