The Dolder Grand

In 2009, the Dolder Grand celebrated its first birthday since reopening, following a four-year remodelling carried out according to plans by Foster+Partners. The photographers from the Zurich studio nave, Nadja Athanasiou, Michael Bühler, and Peter Lüem, documented the entire project throughout every stage of the refurbishment, charting in detail the scope of the hotel’s metamorphosis. The resulting photographic narrative is not simply a linear documentation, but a rich and complex tapestry in which text and image are interwoven with a lyricism that brings the architecture to life on the pages of the book. Journalist Judith Wyder’s texts provide a manyfaceted insight and complement the photographs with anecdotes and background information. Dutch novelist Cees Nooteboom has contributed an essay in which he describes the hotel as a microcosm and a home away from home, musing on how guests tend to take possession of the hotels they stay in.

With contributions by Judith Wyder and Cees Nooteboom