Neue Monte Rosa Hütte

2,883m above sea level, inaccessible by car or ski lift and a three-hour hike from the base of the mountain, the Neue Monte Rosa-Hütte is a destination for only the most dedicated architecture fans. The lodge and restaurant for Swiss hikers, on the icy slopes of the Monte Rosa mountain in the Swiss Alps, was a collaborative project to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the ETH university of science and technology in Zurich. The university worked with Swiss practice Bearth and Deplazes and the Swiss Alpine Club, a mountaineering club looking for a contemporary replacement for its existing 19th-century hut. "The idea was to build a sustainable building as an exemplar building project," says project architect Marcel Baumgartner. "The conditions were so extreme up there, with no electricity, no water supply, no roads, no streets. It had to be self-sufficient and provide energy on site. In a way it was the perfect test for the university."