Rheinfelden, a town along the Rhine River, has won this year’s Wakker Prize from the Swiss Heritage Society. Its planners were lauded for having improved the quality of life in the town “step by step”.
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Located across the river from its sister city in Germany, also named Rheinfelden, the Swiss town in canton Aargau was also praised for having had regular contact with its German counterpart regarding planning issues.
According to the Swiss Heritage Society, Rheinfelden decided a decade ago against building isolated developments, choosing instead to include more aspects of the town in each construction project. The result has been architecture “that transcends borders between tracts of land, neighbourhoods and countries”.
The Wakker Prize, which comes with a CHF20,000 ($19,900) cash prize, has been awarded since 1972 to a Swiss community that shows particular innovation in urban planning. This is the fourth time a community in canton Aargau has won. Last year’s winner was the community of Bregaglia in canton Graubünden.
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Graubünden commune wins Wakker architecture prize
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The mountain commune of Bregaglia in southern Switzerland has won the 2015 Wakker architecture prize. The idyllic valley that connects canton Graubünden with Italy was praised for its mix of modern and traditional architecture.
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How can cities deal with growing numbers of commuters and the bane of concrete landscapes? The city of Aarau in central Switzerland is setting an example, having won the 2014 Wakker Prize for developing and preserving its residential neighbourhoods.
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Aarau, less than 40 km west of Zurich, is the capital of canton Aargau. In 2013, Swiss voters came out in favour of zoning-law revisions that call for quality development of population-dense inner-city areas. The Wakker Prize committee praised Aarau for its effort over many years to develop its downtown area in this way, by…
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Specifically, the city, which is home to 31,000 people, was lauded for preserving its strong modernist architectural heritage when planning new public spaces and revitalising its historic downtown area. The Wakker prize has been awarded annually since 1972 by the Swiss Heritage Society. It recognises communities that demonstrate special care and effort in undertaking urban…
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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.