Baukultur
Schweiz

Davos Baukultur Quality System

Eight criteria for high-quality Baukultur

Governance

Functionality

Environment

Economy

Diversity

Context

Sense of Place

Beauty

High-quality Baukultur is defined by well designed cities, villages and buildings. High-quality places create a pleasant living environment. They are good for people‘s well-being and health. But what exactly is high-quality Baukultur? How can it be defined and put into practice?

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 planning and projects, competition judging and participatory processes. It also incorporates and weights social, emotional and cultural values equally to technical and functional aspects.

The quality system includes an assessment form with a questionnaire for each of the eight criteria. 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 maintenance and design of diverse high-quality Baukultur places.

Davos Baukultur Quality System. Eight criteria for a high-quality Baukultur

The Davos Baukultur Quality System is the first method for the objective and comprehensive assessment of the quality of Baukultur, and offers an aid to the practical achievement of excellence in the field.

Order the printed booklet free of charge here (Item Number: 306.003.ENG).

The Davos Baukultur Quality System – the whole story

More information about high-quality Baukultur, the need for an objective quality assessment and the relevant criteria.

The Davos Baukultur Quality System. Assessment form

Use the comprehensive form provided by the Davos Baukultur Quality System to assess the Baukultur quality of your place.

Versions in other languages

You can access the quality system in German, French and Italian by changing the language in the website menu.

Case Studies

The Davos Baukultur Quality System 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.

The Swiss Federal Office of Culture has applied the Davos Baukultur Quality System to specific places using the assessment form. These case studies are complemented by a brief description of the place with photos and plans.

The range of case studies demonstrates how the Davos Baukultur Quality System can be applied. It is also meant to encourage assessment of other places. Let us know if you have used the Davos Baukultur Quality System to evaluate places.

The case studies are available in French only.