Category Archives: Architecture/design

Book Review: New Monte Rosa Hut Swiss Alpine Club

Review by Sam Demas; for pictures of Monte Rosa Hut, see photo gallery

Hut design is a prized architectural specialty in Switzerland, and this book is a prism through which to view this specialty — as well as to learn about the remarkable New Monte Rosa Hut.  This beautifully produced book comprises 6 thoughtful introductory essays providing historical and architectural context for the project, 15 informative technical notes on key aspects of the project, many architectural drawings, and dozens of beautiful photographs.  Published shortly after construction, it is a both a form of public documentation and a celebration of this remarkable design and construction project of ETH-Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.  It was published in conjunction with a 2010 exhibition on the hut.

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What is a hut? Towards a hut definition

 What is a hut? A pictorial romp and an initial typology

What is a hut?  Is it a hovel, a shelter, a hostel, or a hotel?  Quick answer: all of the above, and much more. In everyday useage it is a catchall term for forms of shelter and specific definitions are elusive.  These are notes towards a workable hut definition.

We’ll touch on the most common definitions and perceptions of the term “hut”, then focus specifically on the use of the term in the context of long distance walking. My purposes are to briefly illustrate the wide range of huts for walkers (and skiiers & bikers, which are lumped into the terms hikers and walkers here) and to attempt an initial typology clarifying the uses of the term.

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Founder Profile: Fritz Benedict 10th Mountain Division

Frederick “Fritz” Allen Benedict, 1914 – 1995, founded the 10th Mountain Division Hut in the early 1980’s.  It has grown into the largest hut system in the USA.  His vision, energy and experience were key ingredients in this remarkable story.  It is in part a tale of a young man’s formative dreams coming after a lifetime of preparation.

[Louis Dawson has lived and studied the history of 10th Mountain Division and their website includes a history of the hut system and a separate history of the U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division (about which many books have been written). The following notes are intended to supplement Mr. Dawson’s history.]

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Book Review: Huts of the Swiss Alpine Club

The Huts of the Swiss Alpine Club

by Marco Volken and Remo Kundert

AS Verlag, 2013.

 WOW.…a comprehensive view of the world’s premier hut-to-hut hiking systems! This is a luscious feast for trip planners, armchair trekkers, architecture mavens, and dreamers and designers of future hut systems in America and elsewhere!

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The Diverse Huts of the Swiss Alpine Club — essay by Marco Volken and Remo Kundert

“The SAC huts are open to all and serve as a meeting place for a variety of outdoor enthusiasts. They are both objects of identification for members and an important infrastructure for alpine tourism.” This is how the Swiss Alpine Club summarizes the purpose of its huts in its 2006 hut regulations.

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