Melting Landscapes

MELTING LANDSCAPES Sight and Sound Observations of the Morteratsch Glacier Institute of Landscape Architecture | Chair of Christophe Girot

© Chair of Christophe Girot Institute of Landscape Architecture ILA Network City and Landscape NSL Departement of Architecture D-ArCh, ETh Zurich Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5 8093 Zurich, Switzerland Telefon +41 (0)44 633 29 87 www.girot.arch.ethz.ch Teaching Team: Christophe Girot, Matthias Vollmer, Johannes rebsamen, Ludwig Berger Participating Students: Christina Akesson, Michael Beerli, Shalin Bhatt, Philipp Bosshart, Lloyd Broda, Altair Cerda Tirado, Weilun Chen, Jenyben Dave, Devashree Dvivedi, Camino Escosa García, Nadia Gaiarin, Masahiro Gokita, Andrea Gonzalez Palos, Camilla Gormsen, Benjamin Graber, Dennis häusler, Yufei he, Anna hermann, James horkulak, Marie Jacobsen, Seonju Kim, Aleksander Kongshaug, Bess Laaring, Jungwoo Lee, Xijie Ma, Viktoriya Maleva, Stephan Mauser, Marc Over, Vasiliki Papadimitriou, Bhoomi Parmar, Shailaja Patel, Thalia Poziou, Timon ritscher, Laura Schütz, Dhruvil Soni, Jean-Marc Stadelmann, Dharal Surelia, Tulsi Vadalia, Oliver Walter, Jan Westerheide, Sonja Widmer Concept: Ludwig Berger, Dennis häusler, Johannes rebsamen, Matthias Vollmer Graphic: Jacques Borel Paper: Lessebo rough Natural Copies: 300 Print: ropress, Zürich Vinyl: DMS, Berlin recording assistance, editing and mixing: Ludwig Berger Sound Mastering Assistance: Stéphane Claude Photographic assistance, Image editing: Matthias Vollmer, Johannes rebsamen Negativescan: TrICOLOr Bild Produktion Special Thanks: Laura Endres, Géraline Burger, rebekka hofmann, Giulia Cereghetti, Michael Beerli, Nancy reuland, ALPA of Switzerland, ralph rosenbauer, regula Schweizer, Nora howald, Isabelle Fehlmann

Rapid ice melt has been profoundly shaping the alpine region in recent years. It has become an omnipresent and tangible phenomenon, and an iconic symbol of ongoing climate change. Over the past three years, the Chair of Landscape Architecture of Professor Christophe Girot and students of ETH Zurich have been documenting the melting landscapes of the Morteratsch Glacier region. Using large- and mediumformat analog photography as well as underwater and contact microphones, images and sounds were recorded. The impressive sounds of the moving ice mass contrast with the eerie silence of the black and white pictures. The selection of works shown in this publication turn the evanescent beauty of the glacier into a strong sensory experience; they thus become meaningful witnesses of the rapid changes to come in the alpine landscape.

Christophe Girot

Schmelzendes Eis prägt den alpinen Raum als allgegenwärtig spürbares Phänomen und ist damit zum ikonischen Symbol für den Klimawandel geworden. Über drei Jahre hinweg dokumentierte der Lehrstuhl für Landschaftsarchitektur der Professur Christophe Girot mit Studierenden der ETH Zürich die schmelzenden Landschaften des Morteratschgletscher-Gebiets. Mittels analoger Grossformat- und Mittelformatfoto grafie sowie Unterwasser- und Kontaktmikrofonen entstanden Aufnahmen in Bild und Ton. Die aussergewöhnlichen Klänge der bewegten Eis masse kontrastieren die unheimliche Stille der grossformatigen Schwarzweissfotografien. Die Arbeiten in dieser Publikation machen die vergängliche Schönheit des Gletschers zu einem sinnlichen Erlebnis und werden damit zu aussagekräftigen Zeugen des rapiden Wandels der alpinen Landschaft.

Christophe Girot

Bess Laaring, Tulsi Vadali | Winter 2017

Camino Escosa GarcĂ­a, Thalia Poziou | Winter 2016

Michael Beerli, Dennis Häusler | Winter 2015

Jeny Dave, Bhoomi Parmar | Winter 2016

Marie Jaccobsen, Aleksander Kongshaug | Winter 2017

Jeny Dave, Bhoomi Parmar | Winter 2016

Jan Westerheide | Summer 2017

Sonja Widmer | Summer 2016

Camilla Gormsen | Summer 2015

Vasiliki Papadimitriou, Stephan Mauser | Summer 2017

Philipp Bosshart, Oliver Walter | Summer 2017

Jan Westerheide | Summer 2017

SIDE A — Winter 1. Freezing: Piezo microphones freezing into the glacier.

Collective student recording | Winter 2016 2. Accumulation: Hydrophones buried in deep snow while snowing.

Vasiliki Papadimitriou and Stephan Mauser | Winter 2017 3. Drone: Hydrophones inside glacier near river.

Aleksander Kongshaug and Marie Jacobsen | Winter 2017 4. Wind: Microphone frozen into glacier during a snowstorm.

Weilun Chen and Masahiro Gokita | Winter 2017 5. Bubbles: Piezo microphones on ice above water exit.

Benjamin Graber, Laura Schütz and Lloyd Broda | Winter 2016 6. Milk: Hydrophones on ice above stream.

Oliver Walter and Philipp Bosshart | Winter 2017 SIDE B — Summer 1. River: Omnimicrophone at glacier river.

Nadia Gaiarin | Summer 2016 2. Pond I: Hydrophones in melt pond.

Seonju Kim | Summer 2016 3. Pond II: Hydrophones in melt pond.

Seonju Kim | Summer 2016 4. Crevasse: Piezo microphones inside ice of a crevasse.

Nadia Gaiarin and Sonja Widmer | Summer 2016 5. Sand: Hydrophones under rock on sand river bed.

Collective student recording | Summer 2016 6. Ablation: Hydrophones in large melt pond.

Sonja Widmer | Summer 2016 All sounds recorded at Morteratsch Glacier

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