Baukultur [bow-cool-tour] means building culture and sees the entire designed living environment as a coherent whole, from existingbuildings 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 reuse. 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 planning and projects, competition judging, and participatory processes. It also incorporates and weighs social, emotional and cultural values equally in technical and functional aspects.
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.
The Davos Baukultur Alliance builds on the objectives, values and principles of the Davos Declaration 2018 and the Davos Baukultur Quality System since its launch in 2023.
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