Martina Ulbar — Urban Regeneration & Industrial Heritage

§ 02

Metodology : the map as a tool to discover the narratives of Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds

The strategy adopted for the observation of the city has consisted in following the path suggested by the maps provided by the tourist office: a walking itinerary that proceeds along the main streets and proposes a number of stop-off points located at those which are considered to be the most important spots of the two cities (respectively, 38 “attractions” for La Chaux de Fonds and 14 for Le Locle). Given the emphasis placed on the métropole horlogère concept by the city's institutions, it seemed coherent to follow a pre-planned route that would allow us to discover the urban key-points on which the UNESCO candidacy was based.

On site, then, the rigorous route gave way to a freer exploration of the two cities with deviations from the main route, longer stops at some key points rather than others and, finally, observation of some more peripheral parts of the city (especially in La Chaux de Fonds where we moved in a south-westerly direction).

A large part of the time was spent visiting La Chaux de Fonds – also due to the different size of the urban area – and therefore most of the observations refer to the latter, rather than to the village of Le Locle.

The physical characteristics of the location and personal observations were recorded hand-in-hand by means of instant photographs and sketches. At the same time, starting from a discussion of our own doctoral research, the constant exchange between us allowed common issues related to the heritage observed to emerge. The attention has been focused on the contrasts found within the city, paying more attention to the pairs of opposites visible/invisible, controlled/spontaneous, formal/informal.

Outcome of the observation: expectations vs. reality

The survey has turned out in an analysis that, while starting from common assumptions related to the opposites theme, has a richness linked to the provenance from three different disciplinary fields and, consequently, to different attitudes to observation.

§ 03

Firstly, what has emerged is a discrepancy between the official narrative of La Chaux de Fonds – developed in conjunction with its candidature as a World Heritage Site – and the effective experience of visiting the city. The map points out the most important spots of the village's architectural heritage, trying, in this way, to make them evident to the person who is about to begin his visit. The emphasis on urban and architectural richness (“the wealth of cultural heritage [...] can hardly fail to surprise you” quoting the introductory paragraph to the walking tour) makes one imagine a structured itinerary in which singularities are well manifested inside an orderly and iterative pattern.

The reality, however, is different: the researched buildings are completely invisible, especially if the person looking for them does not already have a background on the history and the culture of the city. Finding the signs, which are so explicit on the map provided, is quite a difficult task for those who do not actively search for them, making it difficult to appreciate their value and significance. What is expected to be visible within a mainstream narrative is only displayed on paper. The watchmaking heritage becomes invisible and fades away: company museums are closed and can only be visited by appointment, other key buildings can only be viewed from the outside and there is no adequate signposting for the stated prestige.

Field notes by Martina Ulbar, section 03, plate 1 — § 03 · Plate 01 — Martina Ulbar

Field notes by Martina Ulbar, section 03, plate 2 — § 03 · Plate 02 — Martina Ulbar

§ 04

The situation seems to be partially different in Le Locle where, at least, the key points indicated on the map also present an explicative plaque on the façade concerning their importance for the town’s history. Most of them remain, however, inaccessible to the public to a large extent also because they are currently private establishments, so with limited access and timetable.

Moreover, the dialectic between the visible and invisible has further implications at the urban level that we have been able to observe. The UNESCO candidacy has been built around the concept of urbanisme horlogère, an expression coined ad hoc to describe a precise planimetric configuration of the village, organised on parallel strips that follow the slopes of the valley. The buildings are thus disposed on different levels, so as to have a rhythmic alternation of built space, public space and private gardens.

According to the narrative linked to the urban grid, what is most emphasised – in the suggested path – are the buildings that housed watchmaking activities and the collective public space, mainly consisting of wide streets and small public parks, located where a city block jumps.

Formal activities, linked to the world of work or public city life, are hosted inside these regulated and regular spaces: an ordered plan corresponds to an equivalently ordered community life based on work and community activities.

Inside the grid, however, there are at the same time interstitial spaces – made up of the green strips of private gardens laid out between the buildings in Le Locle and parallel to them in La Chaux de Fonds – that hide a community life that proliferates undisturbed from the external eyes. These are places that the inhabitants have taken possession of and which, for this specific reason, encourage greater interaction and a widening of their sphere of sociality.

In the course of the urban exploration, it was possible to observe these dynamics personally: one of the places where we have stopped mainly was the Parc de l'Ouest, where the residents’ movements were exclusively transitory, while peeking inside the gardens have revealed a more active and familiar life. Thus, visible spaces enclose a further antinomian pair: what is ordered and controlled has a spontaneous and more intimate counterpart.

§ 05

The same characteristics are also found when observing the vegetal component. At first glance, one would not say that La Chaux de Fonds is a “green” city: there is only one of the green spaces proposed by the predefined tour (Parc de l'Ouest), the rest are grass carpets in front of the houses. What they have in common is perfect control through architectural design and careful selection of plant species. Again, what is visible is orderly and educated.

Meanwhile, there is an invisible biodiversity or, in any case, a biodiversity ignored by narratives which has a unique character given by its spontaneity and wildness: natural life explodes uncontrolled within private gardens and, above all, in the forest surrounding the urban agglomeration. The dichotomy between controlled and spontaneous is tangible, particularly at the boundary between city and forest, a point where there is no mediation, no dispersion: it is an aut aut.

Personal considerations linked with my PhD research: the UNESCO candidacy’s issues At the end of this experience, it is therefore questionable whether the construction of the UNESCO dossier and the narratives related to the watchmaking industry have not overshadowed some other important aspects of the city. Through a flat storytelling, the process of patrimonialisation of the city seems to have made visible only specific urban characteristics – linked to an idea of order and control – thus leaving invisible the historical, cultural and architectural richness of which the city is the embodiment. These considerations are also crucial for the construction of my doctoral research.

Although my investigation is more related to the history of architecture in the Olivetti world and the technical experiments in the building design process, the aim I have set myself is not to limit my investigation to architectural aspects but to expand the reflections to a wider panorama. The intention is also to take into account social and cultural aspects, labour issues and the corporate culture of the time: these are fundamental factors in the construction of the Olivetti company identity, as well as in La Chaux de Fonds.

The UNESCO candidacy, in both cases, has allowed them to transform their industrial and manufacturing sites into a cultural resource with two very different outcomes, as the urban and architectural nature of the two centres under consideration is very different.

On the one hand, huge buildings signed by important 20th century Italian architects, on the other, a silent and fragmented tradition within the urban structure.

Being able to come into contact, thanks to this experience, with an industrial heritage so different from my case study has been an opportunity to broaden my perspective on the issues of management and valorisation of architectures whose recognition has taken place over the last years. The reflections that emerged within the seminar leave open questions - which are transversal between La Chaux de Fonds and my specific research - that focus on the theme of the creation of narratives and the possibility of transferring production culture and technical knowledge without flattening the multiplicity of aspects that characterise the two case studies

Field notes by Martina Ulbar, section 05, plate 1 — § 05 · Plate 01 — Martina Ulbar