A Vision for the Future of Geneva
Geneva, November 18, 2021: The American International Club (AIC) hosted its 808th speaking event since its inception in 1951 discussing the Future of Geneva. The event was led by Antonio Hodgers, Conseiller d'Etat overseeing land and development, David Montalba, FAIA, SIA, Founding Principal of Montalba Architects, and Mark Muller, Lawyer of the Geneva Bar specializing in real estate, and past President of the Conseil d’Etat.
Both Antonio Hodgers and Mark Muller emphasized the need for dialogue and cooperation amongst various political party factions in order to progress on long-term planning. Mr. Hodgers responded to concerns about housing affordability stressing that the future of Geneva will be all-inclusive for rich and poor alike. All new residential real estate projects, whether in Cologny or Meyrin, will be one-third for lower income, one-third for middle income, and one-third private for higher income earners. Class-exclusive neighborhoods will eventually become a thing of the past. He noted new environmental laws will soon be coming into place that will lower CO2 emissions by nearly 50%. He was quite positive on an environmentally-sustainable project in the La Praille area that will have a lot of open-space buildings, a river flowing through it, and 100% underground parking.
David Montalba shared a vision of humanistic urbanism that focused on people and their surroundings. He provided examples of sustainable dual-purpose designs that can endure and be re-utilized, such as Bex art exhibit structure that is now being used at the Bex salt mine. He featured some magnificent open-space project designs that were highly successful in California and Switzerland. He concluded that holistic and sustainable designs are all about people, space and flexibility.
AIC President, Paige Holt, closed out the event by thanking the three panelists, and presenting them with lifetime AIC membership certificates and bottles of champagne.