QUALISCAPES – Assessing tipping points in Baukultur qualities

Project description

Globalisation has trivialised Baukultur, threatening people's sense of place and contributing to alienation and unprecedented social, physical and mental health challenges. A diminished sense of place reduces engagement in Baukultur processes, making it more vulnerable to globalisation. To break this cycle, QUALISCAPES aims to assess critical tipping points in Baukultur qualities as a basis for activating placemaking, i.e. an intentional change in the cultural landscape to create a sense of place.

On the one hand, QUALISCAPES will advance digital technologies to foster a sense of place. The project aims to develop an innovative approach and digital tool based on a participatory design-science loop, utilising 3D point cloud technology to transform both built and natural environments into spaces that enhance a sense of place. On the other hand, the project will propose a new monitoring system focused on the Davos Baukultur Quality System that promote a sense of place, designed for integration into a nationwide Swiss landscape monitoring programme (e.g. LABES) and aligned with the implementation of the revision of the Federal Planning Act. The new indicators will be validated and disseminated through a community of practice that includes citizens, planners, architects and engineers, fostering reflections on and promotion of high-quality Baukultur.

Project implementation

Anchored in demonstrator sites across Switzerland that reflect varying degrees of Baukultur trivialisation, QUALISCAPES aspires to make an impact that extends far beyond the development of tools for activating Baukultur processes. It seeks to promote innovative approaches to deliberative decision-making and governance, laying the foundation for stewardship strategies by offering insights into the processes that connect people's sense of place to their actions. Ultimately, QUALISCAPES aims to empower communities to reclaim agency over their built environments and support them in co-creating high-quality Baukultur.