From Principles to Practice DIGITAL

Baukultur [bow-cool-tour] means building culture and sees the entire designed living environment as a coherent whole, from existing buildings to contemporary design, from small, handcrafted details to buildings and open spaces to large-scale infrastructures, and from the planning process through construction and operation to re-use. It recognizes the shared responsibility of all involved in transforming it to achieve high-quality Baukultur, with the aim of providing a more liveable and prosperous environment for all. Building is a cultural act and creates space for culture to thrive. The Davos Baukultur Quality System applies eight criteria for creating well-designed places with an emphasis on cultural context and human-centred design. That is the purpose of the Davos Baukultur Quality System. It is an instrument enabling the assessment of Baukultur qualities in places with the help of the following eight criteria: governance, functionality, environment, economy, diversity, context, sense of place and beauty. Furthermore, the quality system supports plan- ning and projects, competition judging and participatory processes. It also incorporates and weighs social, emotional and cultural values equally in technical and functional aspects. The quality system includes an assessment form with a ques- tionnaire for each criterion. This questionnaire can be adapted to the specific situation of a place or project and expanded if necessary. The completed questionnaire is used to determine the Baukultur quality of a place as well as its strengths and weaknesses from a Baukultur perspective. The Swiss Federal Office of Culture (FOC) created the Davos Baukultur Quality System in cooperation with international partners. The quality system is a contribution to the ongoing Davos process that began in 2018 with the adoption of the Davos Declaration “Towards a high-quality Baukultur for Europe”. The quality system complements existing instruments and contributes to the mainte- nance and design of diverse, high-quality Baukultur places. The Davos Baukultur Alliance builds on the objectives, values and principles of the Davos Declaration 2018 and the Davos Bauku - ltur Quality System since its launch in 2023.The Davos Baukultur Quality System 6Baukultur [bow-cool-tour] means building culture 7GOVERNANCE High-quality Baukultur follows good governance. High-quality Baukultur promotes quality-oriented and place-specific processes, led by skilled actors working in teams. It facilitates public engagement and contributes to transparent and inclusive participatory govern- ance for decision-making, management and care for the place. FUNCTIONALITY High-quality Baukultur fits the purpose. The design and construc- tion methods of high-quality Baukultur satisfy the human needs for health, comfort, safety and accessibility. They are enduring and the results adaptable to existing and changing uses and purposes, whilst safeguarding built heritage. ENVIRONMENT High-quality Baukultur protects the environment. High-quality Baukultur contributes to conserving natural resources and biodiver - sity, mitigating climate change and thus supporting sustainability. It preserves, promotes and develops an intact natural environment and diverse cultural and natural landscapes through responsible land use and settlements, sustainable mobility, energy efficiency and use of durable construction materials and methods with regard to the whole life cycle. ECONOMY High-quality Baukultur adds economic value. High-quality Bauku - ltur prioritizes cultural values and long-term investments over short-term economic gain, conserves and increases economic value, and is high value in use. It maintains and develops resources through long-term uses in alignment with the location and design, economy of construction and operation, and through the use of high-quality, long-lasting building fabric. DIVERSITY High-quality Baukultur connects people. High-quality Baukultur reflects and promotes inclusive societies and encourages mixed uses, thus facilitating interaction and shared responsibility, which lead to social and spatial cohesion. It contributes to a diverse culture of planning. CONTEXT High-quality Baukultur results in spatial coherence. Places of high-quality Baukultur refer to their built and natural context. They embrace built heritage and contemporary creation, and dialogue with local features and their characteristics in terms of age, scale, typology and materiality. SENSE OF PLACE High-quality Baukultur improves the sense of place. High-qual- ity Baukultur shows characteristics that foster people’s emotional response to the place, establishing a positive relationship with it. It promotes attachment to the place through its strong identity and distinctiveness, thus contributing to fulfilling social, psychological and cultural needs. BEAUTY A place of high-quality Baukultur is beautiful. High-quality Bauku - ltur takes into account the sensory perception and understanding of the relationship between objects, spaces and people, increas- ing people’s life satisfaction and quality of life. It emphasizes the need for positive aesthetic appreciation and a fulfilling relationship between people and the place. Read more about the The Davos Baukultur Quality System: Eight criteria for a high-quality Baukultur