Iachen Ulrich Könz (20 February 1899 – 25 December 1980) was a Swiss architect,

conservator-restorer A conservator-restorer is a professional responsible for the Conservation-restoration of cultural heritage, preservation of artistic and cultural artifacts, also known as cultural heritage. Conservators possess the expertise to preserve cultural ...

, and author.

Biography

Iachen Ulrich Könz was born in 1899 in

Arezzo Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

. He was the son of the merchant Peider Könz and Constanza (born Vital). He studied architecture at

ETH Eth ( , uppercase: ⟨Ð⟩, lowercase: ⟨ð⟩; also spelled edh or eð), known as in Old English, is a letter used in Old English, Middle English, Icelandic, Faroese (in which it is called ), and Elfdalian. It was also used in Sca ...

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and

Stuttgart Technology University of Applied Sciences The Hochschule für Technik Stuttgart - University of Applied Sciences (, HFT Stuttgart) is one of ten institutes for higher education in Stuttgart. It was founded in 1832 as a school for construction craftsmen (Winterschule für Bauhandwerker) a ...

in Germany. Könz was married to Dora Geer and they had four sons. One of them is the painter Constant Könz. In 1939 Könz remarried with the author Selina Chönz (born Meyer). They had one son, the painter . Guarda 47

Work

Könz started an architecture firm which he ran in

Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

(1926–1927), then Zuoz, and from 1939 in Guarda. Könz worked on a number of different constructions and restorations in Grüabunden, such as the machine house of the power station at Zervreilasee, the Wildenberg castle in

Zernez Zernez is a village and a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Engiadina Bassa/Val Müstair Region in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Lavin and Susch ...

, and the house Casa Grande (Ciäsa Granda) in Stampa. One notable category is the restoration work on several churches in Graubünden, e.g. the reformation church in Zuoz, the reformation church in Giarsun and the tower of the reformation church in Guarda. His main work is, however, the major building restoration of the village Guarda between 1939 and 1945. File:Kirche Giarsun Apsis.JPG, Church in Giarsun File:Guarda water fountain.jpg, Guarda File:Stampa Museum.jpg, Casa Grande in Stampa File:Zernez_Schloss_Wildenberg.jpg, Wildenberg castle in

File:Zervreilamauer.jpg, Machine house of the power station at Zervreilasee

Awards

*1954 ''Premio per l’architettura e l’urbanistica montana'' from

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

*1978 Culture prize from the Kulturzentrums Laudinella in

St. Moritz St. Moritz ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in the administrative region of Maloja in the Swiss ...

Bibliography

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konz, Iachen Ulrich 1899 births 1980 deaths Swiss architects ETH Zurich alumni People from Graubünden