Swiss architect Renata von Tscharner has spent over two decades championing the cause of the Charles River in Massachusetts.
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Not content to mind her own business, Susan studied journalism in Boston so she’d have the perfect excuse to put herself in other people’s shoes and worlds. When not writing, she presents and produces podcasts and videos.
Having grown up swimming in the River Rhine in Basel, Renata wants to get people swimming in the once badly-polluted Charles. The CRC is developing plans for a swim park that would give Bostonians the chance to enjoy the river that inspired the song “Dirty Water” by The StandellsExternal link.
The gallery below shows Renata on both sides of the “big pond”:
Renata with her daughter (right) swimming in the Aare River in Bern
Courtesy of RvT
Renata shortly after she moved to the US
Courtesy of RvT
On the Weeks Bridge spanning the Charles River and connecting Boston and Cambridge
Courtesy of Charles River Conservancy
Renata windsurfing on the Charles
Courtesy of RvT
Renata jumping into the Charles in 2005
Matthew J. Lee of the Boston Globe
Renata at the Conservancy’s City Splash event in 2017
Aram Boghosian
Renata and Olympic Swimmer Alex Meyer at the Conservancy’s City Splash event in 2017
Aram Boghosian
Renata also got the wheels rolling on the Lynch Family Skatepark, situated near the Cambridge side of the river
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Renata and gala guests at Renata’s retirement gala in 2018
Paige Brown Photography
Renata surveying the section of the Charles River where she hopes a swim park can be built
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This artistic rendering shows how a swim park could fit within the urban landscape of Boston.
Charles River Conservancy
We first met Renata in 2018. This episode of The Swiss Connection podcast was updated during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Renata also consulted on this travelling exhibition on urban swimming:
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The rise of urban swimming in Swiss cities
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‘Swim CityExternal link‘ also looks at contemporary river-swimming projects from Europe and the US, such as ‘Flussbad’ in Berlin, ‘POOL IS COOL’ from Brussels, ‘Thames Baths’ in London, ‘Ilot Vert’ in Paris, ‘Charles River Swimming Initiative’ in Boston and ‘+POOL’ in New York. (S AM Swiss Architecture Museum)
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
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Thomas Amsler: Loves lobster, misses Bratwurst
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After living in coastal Massachusetts for over 50 years, Swiss architect Thomas Amsler says he loves New England, but misses Swiss sausages.
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Two expats living in Basel tell us why they think the Swiss city deserves to be in the rankings for the world’s best places to live.
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Squeezing in a lunchtime swim – and being able to get there by bus – is just one example of why Swiss cities keep topping quality of life surveys.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.