The Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) never fails to impress with its imaginative architectural projects, and this newly completed museum in Switzerland is no exception. Located in the small village of Le Brassus, Museé Atelier Audemars Piguet is one of the firm’s most striking buildings yet, rising out of the earth in a grassy spiral.

Located adjacent to the original Audemars Piguet watch workshop where founders Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet began their business in 1875, the new facility offers exhibition, workshop, and archive space for the brand. The interior rooms are divided by glass walls so daylight can penetrate all the way through its partially subterranean interiors.
The structure is part of a larger renovation of that preexisting building, which itself is set to become a hotel. The architects excavated the hillside to insert the spiraling museum and backfilled it to make it seem like a natural extension of the earth, puncturing it with large skylights on three sides. The green roof of the building is also a walkable ramp, allowing visitors to explore the entire property from an unusual vantage point.
“It must be rooted in the heritage of watchmaking in La Vallée de Joux, which goes back centuries and is nested in the nature and culture of the place and the people of the valley. And finally, it must incorporate the inner tension that characterizes Audemars Piguet and resonates throughout the brand, the craft, and the designs as...